Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I had a Vagabond Mini Lithium sitting on the ground with the power sockets facing up. It was tipped over and the battery casing cracked open.

What should I do to fix this? Can I buy a new plastic casing for the battery?

Should I epoxy it shut? If I epoxy it closed, will that affect any warranty on the battery? Any recommendations on epoxying it shut other than using a little bit all the way around and then having the plastic pressed together while the epoxy cures?

Thanks

Contact customer service for a replacement.

From another thread, seems like glue is fine: http://www.paulcbuff-techforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1117#p7282

No, glue will not hurt it. But it the consumer should not have to glue it back together after tipping it over. It is ultimately up to the OP.

I applied epoxy around the lip, put the two pieces together and then proceeded to wrap the assembly with string to hold it together so the glue could cure and the two halves of the shell would fit together nicely. This was a huge mistake as the string got epoxy everywhere. I tried to wipe it up, but that didn't work so well.

I then put the battery under a stack of books. Unfortunately, the halves of the casing must have become misaligned or the weight from the books was unbalanced and now the glue has cured with a gap between the sides. It looks pretty ugly. Here are pics.







I'm going to try to crack it back open again and see if it will be possible to reglue it with a better fit.

Again, you are welcome to do so, but a call to CS would probably get you a replacement by week's end.

I opened up the casing and it seems the electronics of this unit are glued to the top half of the casing (the part with rounded edges).

I imagine this was done because that half of the casing has the electrical connections.

However, I think this may be why it cracked open, as the mass from the heavy battery part provided extra force to pull the casing apart.

The electrical part of the battery assembly should probably be glued to the bottom half of the casing (the half with the rail that connects to the inverter), so the mass of the battery is held to the entire VML unit by the rail that connects to the inverter part, the glue holding it to that half of the casing, and also the top half of the casing instead of just by the snap connectors from the top casing.

I wish the battery casing was screwed together instead of snapped together. A recent failure of the flimsy clamp when moving a light stand and now my battery case is busted. Gaff tape is holding it together pretty well but snap together parts??? Why? When I received my two units in the mail, both battery cases were snapped open, a sign of things to come.

I shipped the one with the broken casing back and they sent me a new one. The casing was open when I received the new battery, which was fine. I put a very small amount of epoxy all around the rim on the new casing (if you put very much it will ooze out when the casing is pressed shut). Hopefully it will hold together better this way.

I agree that a design with screws would be better.

Contact customer service for warranty service. Early ones were only snapped shut and a small number would open. Cased are now being sealed before they are shipped.