DIY shaver batter changing?

[Brian Gaff]

I have a reasonable Remmington Shaver that works, beard cutting wise unlike their latest one does. Its a rotary. However it has now ceased to work on batteries unless you plug in the charger get it going then unplug the charger while its going and then it will only last a few mins. My diagnosis is that a cell or cells have gone faulty so that when you power on there is not enough ooomph to start the motor and a protection circuit stops it. You can hear the tick as it tries. So the thing is can one get these things apart so one can reassemble them and can one change the batteries as it seems daft to have to junk the whole thing when its merely a rechargeable batter issue. there is of course no obvious screws on the thing. I did wonder if the makers fix them but I suspect they will just try to sell me a new one which I have got one of and its rubbish. Brian

[John Rumm]

Not done it on a remington, but I have changed the batts on a Braun. In that case there were a couple of screws under rubber plugs in the base of the case, which once removed allowed the shell to slide off. A pair of radial leaded NiCds in that model which could then be de-soldered from the PCB and replaced.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Similar on a Phillips.

[Brian Gaff]

Hmm, well this seems at least by feel to have no screws. Its got one of those semi detached head things ands there is a hole in the back, but there seems to be no screw in it. On the charger hole end you can feel the join. I guess it needs a pair of eyes to look at it. There is apparently an lcd display on it that shows battery with a different amount shaded according to the amount left in the charge, but somebody looked and said it was always blank which is not a good sign! In the old days these things used to just have a string of cells in series and a little plug on the internal pcb that fitted in two slots.

The bit I need to protect is the trimmer, as its the best one I've ever had. it can cut hair, not just the sides. The weak link as always is the batteries in these things. You would think by now some bright designer might have looked at the power tool market and used a battery pack system for all models. My guess though is that they consider 70 quid to be a disposable item even though its only five years old. I'm beginning to warm to these people who are trying to get the right to repair established. Its relatively recent that security screws, and welded shut devices have become the norm.

Brian

[Harry Bloomfield]

Brian Gaff pretended :

I warmed to that, years ago. lol

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'd be surprised if it's anything like as good as a proper trimmer.

[Clive Page]

I've done it on a Philips, which is held together by regular screws and hex sockets. But my modification was to unsolder the tagged battery from the PCB and then use a couple of bits of scrap brass to provide contact plates so it would take a standard AA rechargeable cell just pushed in place. I found that tagged cells were *much* more expensive than regular ones, and I find that I have to change the battery every few years.

I've learned over the years to avoid buying an appliance that won't allow me to change the battery fairly easily. The mobile phone is a case in point, some have easy battery change, others require return to manufacturer.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Clive Page explained :

I agree, tagged cells are more expensive, but using a more aggressive plumbers flux, you can solder wires to ordinary cells. You can also spot weld wires, with a bit of experience.

[Johnny B Good]

That's not always true. I found the tagged version of the 3 cell NiMH replacement for the original plug in NiCad battery for our Potterton 2000 controller was less than half the price of the plug in version a year or so back. I just ordered the tagged battery and removed the tags to convert it to the more expensive battery. At least there was no risk of heat damage converting from tagged to untagged. :-)