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Used Battery %&# - up

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Oct 22, 2019
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34
I bought a whole bunch of batteries from someone that crashed their drone. All of them were fully depleted and wouldn't register any leds at all so I got them for a good deal. although I did bring along a micro usb charging cable to verify they would take a charge.

The good news is I managed to charge all of them up normally and they seem to work fine

Bad news is I noticed on one of them the release tabs were slow to move and not very 'springy' making it difficult to release from the quad. Well i decided to spray some lubricant on it. Big mistake, for some reason it had the opposite effect! It seemed to harden on the battery like superglue. Now the pull tabs barely move at all and require even more force. Not sure what can be done, needless to say do not try this!
 
Unfortunately a lot of lubricants that are petroleum based can act as a solvent on some plastics. I needed a plastic-friendly lube for a joystick a few years ago and the stick's manufacturer said they use Tri-Flow, a teflon-based lubricant. I bought a can of the aerosol at a bicycle shop (great for chains). It had no ill effects on the stick material, lasted a long time and worked like a champ.
 
Ooh... You used a non-plastic-compatible lubricant. That one might be toast.
 
Unfortunately a lot of lubricants that are petroleum based can act as a solvent on some plastics. I needed a plastic-friendly lube for a joystick a few years ago and the stick's manufacturer said they use Tri-Flow, a teflon-based lubricant. I bought a can of the aerosol at a bicycle shop (great for chains). It had no ill effects on the stick material, lasted a long time and worked like a champ.


Thanks didn't know/think Jigaloo would have an issue with plastic.

I'll try cleaning it with some 90% alcohol i have laying around. At least get it back to the state it was in.
 
Thanks didn't know/think Jigaloo would have an issue with plastic.

I'll try cleaning it with some 90% alcohol i have laying around. At least get it back to the state it was in.

Did that work?
 
I ended up spraying it with a 70% alcohol spray bottle. Didn't seem to do that much. It's about in the same condition as when I got it.

Probably needs some sort of debonder applied or other chemical.

It's a bit dangerous placing a compromised battery on the spark as there's a chance you won't be able to get it off.
 
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It's a bit dangerous placing a compromised battery on the spark as there's a chance you won't be able to get it off.
I agree and simply no worth the risk for what you paid for the battery. I know I would never trust on or off the Spark. In this case one bad apple could spoil the whole bunch or rather the Spark it's attached to.
 
I ended up spraying it with a 70% alcohol spray bottle. Didn't seem to do that much. It's about in the same condition as when I got it.

Probably needs some sort of debonder applied or other chemical.

It's a bit dangerous placing a compromised battery on the spark as there's a chance you won't be able to get it off.
Go into a well organized electronics component store and ask them if they have a 'silicone spray'. silicone spray is used on for example motherboards to protect them from humidity among the many other purposes. Just a drop or two should be enough.
Plan B and C: You could also check a car detailing place for a similar products or in a sex store [emoji16]
As long as that majority of the ingredients is silicone. Does not have to be a spray.
 
It's a bit dangerous placing a compromised battery on the spark as there's a chance you won't be able to get it off.


If you have your heart set on keeping the battery, you could break the tabs and purchase a battery clip to hold the battery onto the Spark.

The battery has to slide back a bit before it "drops" off of the Spark.

The battery clip will secure the battery tight to the Spark, insuring a good electrical contact.

If the bargain battery is more than you want to risk, by all means, do as Tentoes has stated and toss it.

Uh, I mean recycle responsibly. :)
 
Ended up giving the battery away. Worse case, once the hard shell is stripped away it can be re-purposed for use in another small drone or plane.

Really liking this little drone more and more, video from a recent trip:

 

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