The short answer
Use a Battery Terminal for handheld batteries and a Power Cell Terminal for vehicle cells. Swap charged spares in the field, then recharge the depleted ones at a powered base. A Tadpole can also recharge while docked.
Before you start
- Scanner, Habitat Builder and a base with power to spare.
- Keep at least one charged spare outside the charger before leaving.
Swap a battery during a dive
- Equip the depleted tool. Use the battery reload action: R on default PC controls or D-pad Up on controller; check your bindings if remapped.
- Choose a charged battery from your inventory. The unload action lets you borrow one from a less urgent tool.
- Keep the depleted battery for charging. Confirm the tool’s charge bar before continuing.
Unlock the Battery Terminal at Old Habitat
- Scan two Battery Terminals in Old Habitat, north of the Lifepod.
- Look beside the long corridor linking the habitat sections, then on the floor associated with Quaker’s black-box signal.
- Build the terminal on an interior wall and place depleted batteries in its six slots.
Sources for this section
Find Power Cell Terminal scans
- Search the platform and crate area roughly 260 m east-northeast of the Lifepod, about 60 m deep under a rocky overhang. A Power Cell Terminal scan is reported near the Tadpole and turbine fragments.
- At the Tadpole Pens, inspect the left wall in the backroom for another Power Cell Terminal fragment. Follow the Pens access guide if the room is locked.
- Scan distinct fragments until the blueprint confirms it is complete. Meanwhile, use a powered Tadpole Dock and spare cells.
Sources for this section
Build the right charger
| Facility or item | Ingredients | Station |
|---|---|---|
| Battery Terminal | 2 Titanium · 2 Quartz · 1 Copper Wire | Habitat Builder |
| Power Cell Terminal | 3 Titanium · 3 Copper · 1 Wiring Kit | Habitat Builder |
| Basic Battery | 2 Copper · 1 Acidic Raion Pouch | Fabricator |
| Power Cell | 2 Basic Batteries · 1 Strong Acid · 2 Salt | Fabricator |
Recharge the Tadpole
- Dock at a powered Tadpole Dock, or remove the cell from the socket on top of the vehicle.
- Put the depleted cell in a Power Cell Terminal and install a charged spare in the Tadpole.
- Confirm charge is increasing before relying on either method. A spare left in a locker at base cannot rescue a powerless vehicle on a distant trip.
Sources for this section
If the charge does not increase
Check charger type, enabled state and base power. Published charger-load figures disagree, so use the HUD with the terminal empty, then with charging items inserted. No fixed charge time is guaranteed here.
If scan progress seems missing, check the build before searching for extra fragments: Adaptive Measures fixed Battery Terminal progress being absent after the first scan.
- Wait for a visible charge increase at base.
- Check power again while other machines are running.
- Load the spare cell and battery into your departure inventory.
Your checklist
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Research checked 2026-09-12. This is a source-based guide; Kingy has not independently play-tested these steps. Evidence and coverage.