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Do it yourself for the win
Sep. 28th, 2018 12:02 amI've had an electrical toy for many years (Erostek ET-312B if anybody cares). Some time last year the internal battery quit holding a charge. It still works ok, with the wall wart plugged in though.
The manufacturer offers a replacement "battery assembly" for $60. So I'd just been making do.
this month I had a fair bit extra left over at the end of the month so I was seeing what I was going to get off my "wish list".
One of the items was replacement batteries for some of my old UPS boxes. I noticed that *their* prices were around $10-30 and there was no way anything that big would fit in the case for the ET-312B.
So I got suspicious. I'd already downloaded the instructions for replacing the battery assembly, so getting case open was fairly simple. Getting the battery assembly out wasn't hard either.
The assembly consists of a metal bar that bolts to the case, the battery, and a U shaped bracket that fits over the battery and has "feet that bolt to the metal bar.
Unscrewing the feet was easy. Getting the battery free was not easy. They had large strips of double sided foam tape between the battery and the bar and the battery and the bracket. Getting *those* pried loose was not easy, especially since I had to worry about cracking the plastic case of the battery.
Once the battery was free and the tape removed, the battery proved to be a relatively standard sealed lead acid rechargeable. 12V 1.2 Ah.
When I looked it up online, prices ranged from $25 down to some discounters who had it for a bit less than $6.
With shipping, it came to under $14 when I ordered it from one of them. Less than a quarter of what the manufacturer wanted. Yeah, I'll need to buy some double sided foam tape, but I need that for other projects any.
So, for the same price I'm getting the battery for the ET-312B, one for one of my UPS's, and a couple of thumb drives with hardware write protect.
The manufacturer offers a replacement "battery assembly" for $60. So I'd just been making do.
this month I had a fair bit extra left over at the end of the month so I was seeing what I was going to get off my "wish list".
One of the items was replacement batteries for some of my old UPS boxes. I noticed that *their* prices were around $10-30 and there was no way anything that big would fit in the case for the ET-312B.
So I got suspicious. I'd already downloaded the instructions for replacing the battery assembly, so getting case open was fairly simple. Getting the battery assembly out wasn't hard either.
The assembly consists of a metal bar that bolts to the case, the battery, and a U shaped bracket that fits over the battery and has "feet that bolt to the metal bar.
Unscrewing the feet was easy. Getting the battery free was not easy. They had large strips of double sided foam tape between the battery and the bar and the battery and the bracket. Getting *those* pried loose was not easy, especially since I had to worry about cracking the plastic case of the battery.
Once the battery was free and the tape removed, the battery proved to be a relatively standard sealed lead acid rechargeable. 12V 1.2 Ah.
When I looked it up online, prices ranged from $25 down to some discounters who had it for a bit less than $6.
With shipping, it came to under $14 when I ordered it from one of them. Less than a quarter of what the manufacturer wanted. Yeah, I'll need to buy some double sided foam tape, but I need that for other projects any.
So, for the same price I'm getting the battery for the ET-312B, one for one of my UPS's, and a couple of thumb drives with hardware write protect.
