Battery Pins/Tabs

Thread Starter

tesla01

Joined Aug 24, 2014
2
Hi everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster here. I have a little project I'm working on that I thought maybe you guys could help me with.

Recently my Pulsonic electric toothbrush stopped working. Unfortunately I'm a little over my warranty period now and didn't want to pay for a costly replacement. Now being a tinkerer, I disassembled the toothbrush and tested the rechargable battery. It appears that it's dead and won't hold a charge anymore - a common problem with these toothbrushes. The battery is soldered on, which isn't an issue for me. I have a soldering iron and decent skill to desolder the existing pins and replace the battery. I also was able to narrow down an after market battery that has similar voltage, size, and current.

See the battery here:

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/7c/15/81/7c158193da1c888324f38fe031b5b8d5.jpg

(Tenergy 3.7V 800 mAh)

Now you can get these with or without tabs/pins. I bought one but the tabs they come with though are too wide and not long enough. So the issue is either finding a supplier for the correct pins or finding an alternative way to solder the battery to the PCB. If I were to find the right pins, I'd be soldering them on to the leads. I understand that this can be dangerous, but I think I can be careful and move the iron away before the battery heats up for too long.

Here's a picture of a similar battery with the right pins:

http://oi59.tinypic.com/154c0hy.jpg

The two joints that need to be desoldered:

http://oi62.tinypic.com/24giyyr.jpg

Opposite view:

http://oi60.tinypic.com/dyvmdh.jpg

The PCB with the battery fitted in, before soldering:

http://oi57.tinypic.com/2gvm1wp.jpg

Does anyone know where I could find similar pins or if there is an alternative way to attach the battery? I'd really appreciate your help. Thanks in advance :)
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
Isn't that battery held in with a spring? Yes, but the spring isn't the connector. OK. How about just adding a piece of wire to both of the pins you have now? Trim them back if you have to, then add some copper wire.
 

Thread Starter

tesla01

Joined Aug 24, 2014
2
Isn't that battery held in with a spring? Yes, but the spring isn't the connector. OK. How about just adding a piece of wire to both of the pins you have now? Trim them back if you have to, then add some copper wire.
I'm going to try just that! Thanks for your help.
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
Sometimes it isn't clear that a simple approach is going to fix the problem!
High-tech and high dollars isn't always the right way to go.
 
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