I hesitated to post a new thread just after posting another, but I think this is substantially different from the previous one although related, so here it goes...
When I opened up the battery cap and inspected inside my PowerTap SL hub due to the lack of signal reception I described in my other recent thread, I found the wire on the battery holder is broken like this: proxy.f2.ymdb.yahoofs.jpPTSL batt holder.jpgOpen ↗ From the look, I think the wire's loose end used to be soldered at the round labeled "B" in the picture, but if so, the wire connects two rounds that are already connected by a printed circuit pattern, so I suspect I maybe wrong here... (it's not entirely implausible that the wire connects two rounds that are already connected on the PCB, but I'm just being very cautious cause I don't want to break this thing I cannot readily buy new one...)
So, I ask kind owners of PowerTap SL to open up their hub's battery cap and tell me how the wire is soldered on their battery holder...
Have you tried called tech support and simply asking them for a diagram of where the wire should go? They probably won't be thrilled about the idea of you servicing your own hub, but i'm sure they'll understand that soldering a battery wire isn't worth the freight to ship it back to them for repair, it's also not rocket science, and any damaged caused by a blauched repair should be pretty evident.
Have you tried called tech support and simply asking them for a diagram of where the wire should go? They probably won't be thrilled about the idea of you servicing your own hub, but i'm sure they'll understand that soldering a battery wire isn't worth the freight to ship it back to them for repair, it's also not rocket science, and any damaged caused by a blauched repair should be pretty evident.
Thanks, Krazyderek. I can view the JPEG no problem and it's allowed to be viewed by anyone on the server setting, so I wonder why it doesn't work for you... Well, that's not the main issue.
I'll try to call or maybe send email to the tech support.
The main reason why I'm willing to fix it myself is because I live in Japan therefore it'll take longer for me to ship it back to them and have them ship it back to me than those of you living in the US. But maybe I'll just have to accept the longer downtime afterall... 🙁
... tell me how the wire is soldered on their battery holder...
This is a very small (and, perhaps obvious) point, but although the battery holder is not a temperature sensitive component, you probably want to limit your soldering iron to a 15W soldering iron which is intended for electronics ... and also, use ulta-fine solder intended for electronics.
For what its worth Sugaken, you're not alone. I just opened my hub to change the battery and see one wire has worked itself off the solder. (Sorry, I can't open your file to see if its similar). I've contacted Saris, so will see what happens, otherwise will solder it myself. The battery pack looks like a simple item to replace anyway, so I'm sure they have parts.
Just to follow up after speaking with Saris (excellent customer service I found). The little blue wire is only to help pull out the battery pack, so no need for it to be soldered at both joints. My hub is now working fine after the chap showed me the error of my ways (battery in the wrong way!). 🙂
