Fixing a broken battery clip?

Hexy Questions, Problems and Suggestions
#1

Hi all, one of my battery leads has become detached from the battery clip. Rather than ask arcbotics for a replacement, it’d be much quicker to repair it myself or get a replacement (I live in UK). Thing is, I can’t seem to get the clip itself to open up so I can solder the wire back in. There are holes on both sides of the clip, it looks like it should be able to open but I’ve had no luck so far trying to force it open. Does anyone know how to open the battery clip?

This occurred during testing just now. I received the Powerex batteries and powered Hexy up, I selected ‘Get Up’ from PoMoCo and it tried to pull itself up. But 3 of the legs started shaking violently, banging so loud into the wooden floor … thud thud thud thud thud… that the people downstairs actually complained about it! I had the battery pack on the floor under Hexy and it appears the violent jerking around sheared that wire from the battery clip.

In addition to the shaking legs, one of the servos I received was DoA but I might be able to swap it with the spare or head servo (I’ll test when I can power Hexy up again).

Edit: If no-one knows, I’ll buy one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RIGID-PLASTIC-PP3-TYPE-9V-BATTERY-CLIP-SNAP-150MM-WIRE-/320711300548?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item4aabe215c4 and cut/join the Servotor connector to it.

#2

For those of us in the US, your friendly neighborhood Radio Shack carries 9v snap connectors along with a variety of battery holders.

With a little splicing I wired up two AA 4-packs in parallel so I could double the current without affecting voltage.

#3

Well I just had some fun with a Hexy on fire!

EDIT: This is purely my own fault as I was not using the battery connector supplied by arcbotics.

I thought “What the hey… it’s got the same connectors! I’ll use this.” Don’t! It worked for about 1 minute then suddenly there was a burning smell, smoke, and flames started coming from the battery connector wires! I quickly got it off the bed and onto my floor. Thankfully no damage done other than the battery connector, and now I have got 2 I need to fix!

Here’s some pics showing where the connector wires were on fire.


#4

Is there a difference between them, or did you just have a faulty connector?

#5

Is there a difference between them, or did you just have a faulty connector?[/quote]
Physically the one that went on fire has a soft plastic cap and shorter wires, whereas the other one has a hard plastic end cap and longer wires. Other than that, I did’t see any obvious difference. Well, before it went on fire anyway - it’s more different now :stuck_out_tongue:

#6

Somewhat hard to tell from the photos, but it looks like the wires probably heated up due to excessive current. That would usually mean one of two possibilities:

  1. A short in the connector itself
  2. Wires that were too thin

The wires on my Arcbotics provided connectors appear to be 26AWG rated for 300V and 80 degrees celsius.

#7

[quote=“sandro”]Somewhat hard to tell from the photos, but it looks like the wires probably heated up due to excessive current. That would usually mean one of two possibilities:

  1. A short in the connector itself
  2. Wires that were too thin

The wires on my Arcbotics provided connectors appear to be 26AWG rated for 300V and 80 degrees celsius.[/quote]
Thanks sandro, that’s what I expect too.

Edit: The battery connector I was using was not the arcbotics provided connector and clearly unsuitable to be used.

#8

We’ve used these wires for hundreds of hours without any issue. Its hard to say how it failed without seeing it more clearly. Would you mind if I sent you a return label? I can also send you new connectors if you email replacements@arcbotics.com

#9

Edit: non-arcbotics provided connector, nothing to replace :slight_smile:

As to my original question, do you know if there’s someway to open that hard plastic cap and repair the broken wire? Or knowing my luck should I just avoid it altogether until my luck changes :slight_smile:

#10

All, I owe Joe and arcbotics an apology. I was looking through my Hexy box for an empty plastic bag to return the melted battery connector in and came across the actual arcbotics battery connector. I don’t know how, but somehow I’ve ended up using a non-arcbotics provided battery clip and that is the one that went on fire. The one provided in my Hexy kit was still sealed and unused. Apologies again for my misunderstanding, I’ll edit the above posts to make it clearer that the mistake is my own.

Here’s the 2 clips side by side, the melted one on top and the arcbotics provided one below. The battery clip side is identical and they are (were) pretty much the same length. However, the Servotor connector side is more stubby in the one provided by arcbotics.

Let this be a lesson that although 2 battery connectors may look the same, not all are made alike! :wink:

#11

You may have run afoul of the “2.1 mm” vs “2.5 mm” pin issue in these type of plugs. I melted the power jack on a 3d printer when I (unknowingly) used a power supply with a 2.5 mm plug when a 2.1 mm plug was required. Seemed to work ok at the start, but I guess there was too little connection surface and everything overheated, wiring melted, etc. Some 2.5 mm plugs can be used in a 2.1 mm jack, but only if the barrel has a “springy” type center contact. The Adafruit.com 5V 10A power supply is a perfect example - it works fine with the Hexy even though it is of the “2.5 mm” design.