Hi !

I hope someone here can help me with a issue I have with an expensive piece of golf simulator equipment:

Its a 4 year old Skytrak (2500 USD) with no warranty left, the USB port is unfortunately loose/broken (lower left of 1st image) so I can't charge the battery anymore.

I'm thinking of maybe extending the battery power connector with a cable to outside the box where I could connect an external battery which I also charge externally, do you think that could work ? Do you know if the battery connector is a standard one ? (pic 3) ?

Any tips for what kind of battery/charger/cable connector I should buy ?

 

battery

 

Welcome to AAC.

I would attach a new USB connector to the board. If the traces are unusable, I would attach wires to the point to which they connect, and route them to the connector. You could even use a pigtail with a USB connector on it.

This is a random example: https://www.amazon.com/Cellphone-Tablet-Female-Charging-Extension/dp/B071NR19BQ/

I would cut off the male and wire that end to the board, routing the female molded part to the outside.

 

Thanks for the answer Yaakov:

Its pretty badly hurt and the USB port is gone, I'm not sure I could manage to connect cables to the traces (or where/how to connect them), a bit of a noob I'm afraid, That's why I thought maybe it would be easier with an external battery which I connect to the battery connector instead,

 

Actually, it looks relatively easy because there are vias (plated holes to another layer) just beyond each damaged trace. These can act as pads. The other part goes to a large ground trace. You would just need to remove the green solder mask. The connector pinout is fixed, so working out what each pin is wouldn't be very hard.

On the other hand, the unpopulated spot adjacent to the battery connector appears to be in parallel with it. The red and black are probably the only thing you need since the white is probably a thermostat for charging management (unless the battery is 2 cells!). You could solder a pigtailed JST XH2.54 2 (or 3 pin) female and adapt the battery that way.

For charging you can use any cheap "drone charger". Some are just USB cables with a little electronics molded in.

 

I would suggest getting a replacement USB jack and soldering it into position.
You can still bridge the +5V and GND connections (which are the two outside pins) to the PCB traces. You only need to scrap off the green layer of solder mask.

 

I would suggest getting a replacement USB jack and soldering it into position.
You can still bridge the +5V and GND connections (which are the two outside pins) to the PCB traces. You only need to scrap off the green layer of solder mask.

The reason I didn't suggest this is the mechanical strength seems to really on the solder under the jack and flowing that without damaging the jack or PCB, for someone with little experience, seems iffy.

 

thanks for your suggestions, I'm inexperienced and the USB connectors are way too small and tight for me to be able to solder but I think I can manage soldering a JST XH2.54 to the empty battery slot, I guess I only need red&black in the same positions as the current battery slot. I think I'll try getting another 3.7V battery on Amazon. I was hoping it could work with a larger external battery such as

https://www.amazon.com/15600mAh-Lit...ywords=battery+3.7v+jst&qid=1638978511&sr=8-6

As long as it's 3.7V it should be fine right ?

 

thanks for your suggestions, I'm inexperienced and the USB connectors are way too small and tight for me to be able to solder but I think I can manage soldering a JST XH2.54 to the empty battery slot, I guess I only need red&black in the same positions as the current battery slot. I think I'll try getting another 3.7V battery on Amazon. I was hoping it could work with a larger external battery such as

https://www.amazon.com/15600mAh-Lit...ywords=battery+3.7v+jst&qid=1638978511&sr=8-6

As long as it's 3.7V it should be fine right ?

It should be fine but that is way overpriced. This would be better: https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Packs-Lithium-Pack-3-7V/dp/B0137IRGHG/

Also, be sure to check, with a multimeter, that what appears to be the case is and that the second connector is just in parallel with the first.

 

I'm really scared of soldering and thought about the option of extending the existing battery slot. Took some pictures of what it looks like, 3 pins and appears to be 1.5mm between each pin, about 3.1 from left pin to right pin.

Do you think that is a standard part I could find a fitting male part with 2 wires so I could extend it to an external battery instead ?

 

You could track down the connectors and necessary crimping tool to make up a cable, but this particular soldering job is very simple. You can get some cheap protoboards and practice. I would suggest you use 63/37 allot solder and a decent iron.