About this replacement
Creative Zen Portable Media Center — 3.7V Li-Polymer Replacement Battery (UCZPAB01)
This 3.7V, 3750mAh lithium-polymer battery replaces the original cell in the Creative Zen Portable Media Center. It fits the Zen PMC directly, restoring full playback capability to devices with degraded or dead batteries. OEM part numbers UCZPAB01, BA20603R79913, and PMA-BA0001 all cross to this cell.
- Zen Portable Media Center fit: The Zen PMC uses a single Li-Polymer pouch cell at 3.7V nominal. This replacement matches the original voltage rail, connector orientation, and physical footprint — 71.85 × 64.99 × 12.10mm — so it seats correctly in the chassis without modification.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this cell through charge and discharge on the Zen PMC platform. The BMS accepted a standard charge current without flagging an error, reached full capacity, and delivered consistent output voltage through the full discharge curve.
- First charge after cell swap: Media players coming out of storage or receiving a fresh cell often sit in deep discharge protection. Connect the Zen PMC to its charger and leave it for 30 minutes before attempting to power on — this allows the trickle stage to lift cell voltage above the BMS wake threshold.
Battery percentage jumping after cell swap on the Zen PMC
The Zen PMC reads battery level by measuring cell voltage against stored threshold values calibrated to the original cell. A new cell with a slightly different discharge curve will cause the indicator to jump or misread during the first few cycles. This is not a fault — it is the device recalibrating its voltage-to-percentage map. Run two or three full charge and discharge cycles and the indicator will stabilise. After the third cycle, the reported percentage should track accurately from 100% down to the low-battery cutoff at approximately 3.0V.
Playback cutting out before the battery indicator shows empty
The audio amplifier in the Zen PMC draws a brief current spike during playback, particularly at higher volume levels. Near the end of a discharge cycle, cell voltage sags under this load and can briefly drop below the BMS protection threshold, triggering a shutdown even though the indicator still shows charge remaining. This is a voltage-sag cutoff, not a capacity fault. To confirm, plug the device into the charger — if it powers on immediately, the cell voltage was low but not fully depleted. Keeping volume below 80% during the final portion of a charge cycle will reduce the severity of voltage sag.