Bottle battery bracket - any cunning plans ?

[KirstinS]

Hi all

My bottle battery catch is utterly caput. This means there is nothing to keep it in place

Other than the obvious , and ugly, strap/belt type solution does anyone have any bright ideas for a fix/bodge ?

I do need to get it on and off to charge

Many thanks !

 

[JohnCade]

I use a strip of black velcro on mine to stop it rattling and possibly flying off. It looks quite neat IMO and it's easy to take off and put on.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Has the bit broken off the battery?. If so you can cast a new one out of epoxy. You need to find something about the same diameter as the old hole. Wrap it in cling-film and hold it in place while you stuff epoxy into the space where the missing catch is. You should add some short cut strands from fibreglass cloth to give the epoxy a bit of strength and to act as a filler to stop it running back out. When it's set, remove the cylinder and finish with a Dremmel. You should be able to make it better than new (stronger). You can colour the epoxy with a black permanent marker afterwards. IIRC, the hole isn't quite round. It's oval towards the catch. You can shape it with the Dremmel until it's a perfect fit.

 

[KirstinS]

Thanks d8veh - you are correct as ever ! See the photo here - can see the screw where the plastic nobble has broken off

Don't suppose you have a photo of what it ought to look like ? I can't recall !

 

[Deleted member 4366]

If you can imagine the semi-circle at the back being a circle, then the rest should be level with the top. That's your starting point. Then you have to adjust the circle at the front (maybe) because the catch doesn't quite engage. It's dead simple to do. Leave the screw in to give a better anchor for the epoxy.

I think I used an inverted hex 6mm or 8mm cap screw to make the circle.

 

[KirstinS]

Sorry d8veh - having a slow morning it seems. Do you mean the shape of the catch I'm going to build would look something like this if viewed from above ?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You need to change your thinking. You're not building a catch. Instead you're building a hole. You find a cap screw who's head diameter is a snug fit in the round part of the slot. While it's there, you fill the front part of the slot, where you can see the screw thread in the photo,with epoxy. When the epoxy is set, you remove the cap screw to leave a round hole which is where the catch will engage.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Here's a picture of the missing piece. Note that it's fixed in place by the screw underneath, which weakens it and lets in water. I can't understand why it's a separate piece.

 

[KirstinS]

Ahh gotcha - many thanks for the help. Penny has dropped

I'll give this a go tonight - seems very doable

 

[KirstinS]

Found a perfect sized cylindrical pen cap, did the cling film and epoxy thing.

Worked perfectly first time !

Very happy chappy

Thanks very much !