Repair Oral B 3D Pulsating Toothbrush

You may find the main barrel comes apart at a mould line somewhere along the barrel. Grip and twist at any mouild line.

I used to repair an expensive contra-rotating bristle one, not "Oral", so some repair tips on my file

Note the tip about not charging these things with the business end uppermost, charge inverted, so any human goo does not migrate into the works

-- Diverse Devices, Southampton, England electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on

I'm curious..... how long did it last before pooping out?

How old is it?

I recently took a similar unit apart, the charger post engages in the base of the toothbrush and can be used to twist the bottom of the unit off and the guts then slide out. Mine had an O ring seal so it would, theoretically, be possible to reassemble it; the top bush on mine was so worn that it had leaked and it wasn't worth the effort to clean up as it needed a new NiCd anyway. Other similar units have a cross slot moulded into the base and a matching, for want of a better word, screwdriver blade moulded on the underside of the charging base; the dismantling procedure is similar. Martin

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martinwhybrowntlworldcom

I had a similar 5 year old Sonic Care brush that failed. I tried to open it, but had to resort to cutting open the case with my Dremel tool and cutting blade. It was not repairable and never intended to be opened back up after it left the factory. Good luck to you.

Bob

I looked at an Oral B (number 366 on the moulding), not opened, and the closure line is at the charger coil. I would try warming the end with hot air before trying to insert a large blade across the 2 slots or a dart point in the join.

-- Diverse Devices, Southampton, England electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on

Mine came with instructions on how to remove the battery to dispose of it at the end of it's life and you do indeed twist the slot by 90 degrees. Unfortunately that breaks the wires to the pickup coil (I think) since the instructions say that the brush will no longer work and the battery cannot be replaced.

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Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
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Only after having bought a Sonicare had I access to the manual. It says that the accumulator is not meant to be replaced and that I should safely dispose of the device after its lifes end. No need to mention that I'm foaming with anger and that that is the last product I will ever have bought from Philips.

Regards, H.

Useful to know that. Assuming the wire would break where it goes into the surrounding plastic . It should be possible to excavate with Dremmel and ball-mill around the tails and resolder with longer wire, only mA anyway.

-- Diverse Devices, Southampton, England electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on

At Costco, right? Their regular price is quite low, and they had a $5 off coupon.

Crab's behind.

Girven the "slots" on the bottom, my gut feeling is that the end cap unscrews. The worse that could happen is that you'll wreck it trying to unscrew it.

I realize there is a legitimate need to make devices of this type watertight, but this is a situation where there ought to be government regulations. I don't like throwing away something that could be reused ("reduce, reuse, recycle") by replacing the battery.

Yes - my wife's OralB toothbrush has stopped working a couple of times and this is how it opens. The main problem is corrosion. It has suffered a corroded main pcb track (along the edge of the pcb)to the power FET - replaced with wire link. Also corroded through charging coil wire at the pcb solder pad. I think the charging coil wires were short to begin with but I was able to get some extra length (forget how) so that it now opens without breaking them. I sprayed the pcb with varnish a couple of years ago but it has recently been playing up again so will have to dismantle again soon. Couple of 74 series chips LV00 and LV4060. The timer stopped working so suspecting leakage/corrosion again.

Geo

And you expected them to include a service manual with schematics and step-by-step repair instructions? Of course these things are considered disposable. If the mfg. can save 0.01 cent on the cost, that's significant. It's not like they stuck a couple Alkalines and said they aren't replaceable. This is a rechargeable batter which should last a reasonable length of time.

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Mine said that too. It didn't. Obviously I can't vouch for yours but if it's dead anyway....

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Clint Sharp

On Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:27:44 -0400, Nelson wrote (in article ):

Well, as life would have it, after sitting over night (not in the charger) the thing miraculously came back to life. I let it run to fully discharge the battery which took about two hours so I know that the original problem wasn't that the battery was discharged. During the discharge cycle it spontaneously stopped for about 10-15 seconds and then restarted two or three times. After it finally stopped for good, I fully recharged it and it has been working without a hitch for the last day or so. However, I doubt if I have seen the last of whatever the problem was.

I also found the manual and, as others have said, it says to break the case open by twisting on the base to recover the battery for disposal. This will render the toothbrush permanently inoperative according to them. It seems to me that you could do this a little less aggressively and perhaps worry the case apart gently doing less damage. My current guess is that the problem was/will be caused by some kind of corrosion or mechanical contact malfunction within the handle, but the only way to troubleshoot that is to take it apart.

Thanks to all who provided information and suggestions. I have always found this a friendly and helpful place and a great source of information and knowledge.

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Nelson

** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

On Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:11:03 -0400, snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net wrote (in article ):

I received it as a gift over 5 years ago but have only been using it regularly for the last two years. I initially thought it would be about as useful as an electric ass wiper but can really notice the difference in plaque and tartar buildup since using it. In fact, I have been able to stop getting regular cleanings at the dentist ("Oh, your teeth are so clean!"). One of those alone will pay for the toothbrush. I am now a convert :-) I use it in conjunction with a Water-Pik.

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Nelson

** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

Would you please define your phrase 'reasonable' in terms of time.

Why didn't they print onto the box 'Usable during a period of ' ?

Regards, H.

In the end everything stops working. Nothing lasts forever.. And to that end most products don't list their MTBF on the retail package. I understand why your upset, but we live in a disposable world and thats just the way things are.

being pushed along. Don't tell me that it would have been a major task to make the rechargeble replacable.

Physicians make efforts to prolong life, Philipsicians to shorten it. Finally, we will live eternally, with products dying after purchase

Regards, H.

PS To decrease energy wasting we make tremendous efforts to decrease the longevity of our products :-).

end

why

things

All the rechargeable electric toothbrushes I've ever seen have the charging point on the base . This leaves the motor head uppermost and spittle , via gravity, passes through the "seal" into the electrics. Turn the things upside down for charging and they go on for years with no trouble.

-- Diverse Devices, Southampton, England electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on

I've never had one fail other than by battery failure.