LUC V4 charger breaks

[Vaslovik]

I went to put a battery in my LUC V4 charger just now, and was dismayed to find the no. 2 charging slot broken, the spring had gone, somewhere, I don't know where. I can't hear it rattling around in there, and I can't see it at all. Bummer in the summer. I'd like to fix it, but I can't get the charger apart. They put this thing together in such a way you'd have to break it to get it apart. So now I'm faced with having to get another one, which I'm pretty bummed out about, and how do I know that one won't break too? I've had this charger just over a year.

Has this happened to anyone else? Were you able to fix it?

 

[englishmick]

I had a look at mine. Does seem to be glued together, not a pressure fit, so I think you're out of luck. Seems like the end of the spring attaches to a tab underneath the slider where the hole is. Presumably the other end is hooked onto something up under the screen end and the spring got pulled up to that end. So you would need to be able to get to the back to reattach the spring, assuming the spring hadn't lost the hook on the slider end.

Do the other 3 bays still work? The loose spring shouldn't cause a problem.

 

[Froth]

Friend of mine had this happen to two of his bays on the LUC V4, mostly I think because he always lets the tabs slap back closed when he pulls the batteries off the charger which I've told him to stop doing. He ended up shoving a 1/2" thick piece of foam rubber between the bottom of the charger and the metal tab which is wedged in with an 18650 charging, so the slots will still work without the spring present if you feel comfortable rigging it.

 

[Bunnykiller]

the spring is still in there but its pulled itsself tight ( thats why it isnt rattling around)
you can go to a hardware store and get a spring a bit smaller in dia than the battery about 1/2" long and place the spring between the tab and the case. Install spring, install battery, spring will push tab against battery to make contact....
seems the case is ultrasonically welded so getting it open will make a mess of it...

 

[wheelie]

One of my bays has broke the same as yours. Never really charge 4 batteries at once anyways and very rare I use 26650's. As any hobby, wanta play you gotta pay. CHEERS!

 

[wheelie]

Friend of mine had this happen to two of his bays on the LUC V4, mostly I think because he always lets the tabs slap back closed when he pulls the batteries off the charger which I've told him to stop doing. He ended up shoving a 1/2" thick piece of foam rubber between the bottom of the charger and the metal tab which is wedged in with an 18650 charging, so the slots will still work without the spring present if you feel comfortable rigging it.

Brilliant idea. I just tried a piece of 1/4 inch drain hose and it works perfect. Thank you.

 

[Vaslovik]

Friend of mine had this happen to two of his bays on the LUC V4, mostly I think because he always lets the tabs slap back closed when he pulls the batteries off the charger which I've told him to stop doing. He ended up shoving a 1/2" thick piece of foam rubber between the bottom of the charger and the metal tab which is wedged in with an 18650 charging, so the slots will still work without the spring present if you feel comfortable rigging it.

Well that's a brilliant piece of innovation. I was told, however, that the charger has a two year warranty on it, so I emailed the place I got it, 101 Vapes, asking how I go about getting it replaced. In the meantime I still have three charging slots, so all is not lost.

 

[Jimi D.]

Port 3 did the same thing to me. I ordered a Xtar VP4. Looks very nice. I like the fact that it charges 1/4 amp and higher. I bought mine at a vape show directly from Efest. I'm not sending it back to China.

 

[edyle]

the $10 nitecore um10 makes for a nice little backup charger
$9.54 Nitecore UM10 Single Slot Lithium Li-ion Ni-MH Battery Charger - black / DC 5V input / DC 4.2V output / w/ USB cable at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping