replacement parts ripoff

I got a Coleman camping lantern a year ago, and it no longer works on the rechargable battery. It will with alkaline D cells. When recharging, the green LED quickly comes on, and voltmeter shows just over 7 volts. When the charger is unplugged, it rapidly drops to

3.7 volts. This happened with both 240 V and car 12 V chargers. So I deduce the SLA battery is fuggered. I have lost the receipt, so looked up cost of a replacement part. Coleman only sell the battery in a package with both chargers, costing $39.99 Hence Coleman have lost me as a customer.

Now the user instructions have a page on disposing of the battery. It tells user to prise the battery pack open with a screwdriver and disconnect the red and black wires, then take battery to recycling depot. Like who is going to do that? I thought perhaps I can get a matching SLA battery from Jaycar. The thing is ultrasonic welded. I tried 3 different small screwdrivers and can't open it without major damage.

Reply to
bruce56
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Do you have other evidence of the purchase, such as an entry on a credit card statement or EFTPOS transaction? Either of those will do if you are seeking a repair or replacement. Don't let anyone tell you it's receipt or nothing.

Sylvia.

Reply to
Sylvia Else

If you give up on the warranty / consumer protection laws, it might be worth trying Mikeselectricstuff's way of opening things (like plug-packs) by hitting they with a screwdriver handle. I tried it and it works very neatly on plugpacks.

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Closing the case securely after the repair is the remaining problem, which might be solved using adhesives, depending on the type of plastic involved. Chris

Reply to
Chris Jones

If Coleman are selling a replacement battery, then surely there must be a way to get at the existing battery (in order to replace it)?

What are the part numbers of the lantern and the battery? You'd be amazed at how many helpful sources there are in China.

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Bob Milutinovic 
Cognicom
Reply to
Bob Milutinovic

Methylene chloride (dichloromethane)will solvent weld most together again, just put a couple of drops along crack line.

Reply to
F Murtz

I have such a Coleman lantern with the same issue. A red SLA battery pack with a black base where the LED and charger connector are. I used a hacksaw to cut a couple of millimeters deep along the join on both sides of the pack. This provided entry for a broad bladed screwdriver and it was then easy to crack the joint apart quite cleanly all the way around. I think it was originally chemically welded with MEK or the like. There's a flange on the inside of the black part which positively locates the red part. There's a charge control PCB screwed inside the black base and the SLA battery is a 6v 2.4Ah cube. It was down to 0.7V and would not charge again. I looked around for a battery of same dimensions with no luck. The charge control PCB is all through-hole components, not an SMD in sight, so if I'd found a new battery and if the PCB turned out to be faulty it might have been easy to trace out and repair. However, no replacement SLA battery of same dimensions could be found. Instead, I stuffed the case with five NiMh 3300mAh sub-c tabbed cells, plenty of room, and added a second DC connector attached to a thermistor bundled with the cells. I re-glued the case with silicon RTV. I recharge the new pack using a NiMh charger design originally published in Silicon Chip that detects end-of-charge by monitoring temperature rise. PH

Reply to
Peter Howard

Use a bigger screwdriver and whack the seam with it all the way round. then just pull on the halves, this works great on wall warts and power bricks. it might work for you.

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umop apisdn
Reply to
Jasen Betts

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