Speak And Spell Battery Contacts Replacement

Written By: bushing
  • Comments: 2
Speak And Spell Battery Contacts Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

5

Time Required

1 hour

Introduction

Never store an electronic device for long periods of time with batteries! Over time, alkaline batteries will leak and corrode any metal parts in your toy. The reality of the situation is that most old used toys (e.g. on eBay) that are broken can be fixed by repairing the corroded pieces; many times, this is as simple as repairing or replacing the battery contacts/terminals.

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    • Flip the toy over, so that the keypad is facing away from you.

    • Remove two Phillips-head screws.

    • Insert a plastic spudger (or 4!) into the marked holes, and push down and towards the edge to release each catch.

    • It's possible to release each catch one-at-a-time, but easier if you have 4 tools and do them simultaneously.

    • This requires quite a bit of force; be careful.

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    • Separate the two halves of the case to expose the inner PCB, speaker and battery holder.

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    • This is one of the worst possible cases of battery terminal damage.

    • The negative terminal was corroded badly, but could be cleaned enough to be usable.

    • The positive terminal had already decomposed entirely; there was no metal left, and the wire was just hanging loose.

    • The bus strip is clipped into the plastic case; it broke upon removal and needed to be recreated from scratch.

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    • Time to get creative! We need a new bus strip to connect the two pairs of batteries in series.

    • The old, corroded terminals fell apart when I removed them, so I found some random scrap metal from another toy and made something similar in shape.

    • Some people use aluminum foil for this, but it is not very durable and will not apply spring-pressure to keep the batteries in place.

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    • The old positive battery clip was completely disintegrated, so I made a new clip out of scrap metal and soldered the battery lead back on.

    • After our repairs, the device is as good as new!

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

bushing

Member since: 24/04/10

10298 Reputation

2 comments

What kind of metal would you recommend buying if you do not have any scrap metal available? Would metal studs work?

Ryan Gates -

An excellent way to clean battery contacts that are not too corroded is white vinegar. It will bubble and eat up the blue salt-like residue that is left behind from leaking alkaline batteries. If you cannot remove the battery contacts from the battery compartment and are worried about getting the vinegar inside the device, you can soak a paper towel and press it up against the battery contact repeatedly until it is cleaned.

D.G. -