I have a set of Profoto B10 strobes, and I just noticed that on a couple of them, the battery terminal metal strips are bent or broken off. Thankfully the contacts that are broken have a bit of metal left that I can solder onto.
I was wondering what type of metal I should use to replace the broken off metal battery contacts. I'm guessing nickel plated steel strips? Would I be able to use just normal electrical solder?
The strobes are a bit beaten from a lot of use, but still work fine. I think the terminal contact broke off from someone jamming a battery pack on upside down. I occasionally rent out my strobes to other photographers, and guessing they were just a bit hamfisted with them
Are they broken on the battery side? Never solder directly on batteries. Nickel strips are arc welded to batteries, for example when building a battery pack. You can buy cheap battery welders for a small job or find a battery shop that builds packs and can do it for a small cost.
EB-1 wrote:
Are they broken on the battery side? Never solder directly on batteries. Nickel strips are arc welded to batteries, for example when building a battery pack. You can buy cheap battery welders for a small job or find a battery shop that builds packs and can do it for a small cost.
Unfortunately the battery terminal on the strobe broke off a little below the plastic housing, which would make it challenging to do a clean solder repair, so I decided to try my hand at disassembling it, and realized pretty quickly why they aren’t considered user serviceable.
To take apart the case, one must remove the 2 torx screws hidden behind the rubber cover on the bottom of the strobe. Then you have to figure out a way to remove the front ring, because the two sides of the plastic case are held in place in part by the ring. Unfortunately removing the ring is impossible to do without specialized tools, because the tabs that must be depressed to rotate the ring off are behind the flash tube and reflector disc, which are behind the frosted glass cover. You have to remove the front frosted cover disc without breaking it (which unless you have a specialized Profoto tool, you’ll break it) then remove the flash bulb (which similarly requires a specialized tool because it is in there much more snugly than the flash tubes in a B1 or D2, which I’ve serviced myself before), then unscrew the two torx screws holding the metal reflector dish behind it. This uncovers two plastic tabs that must be depressed on the inside of the ring, and then you turn the ring counter clockwise I believe to remove it.
The plastic side casing on the side where the battery connects has a serial number plastic plate, that is held on with adhesive. You have to remove this, revealing two more torx screws. These screws hold the PCB that has the battery terminals soldered onto it. Thankfully because Profoto uses quick connectors for electrical components on even these small strobes, I can probably just replace the entire PCB. Looking at the battery terminals, simply soldering on a new piece won’t be durable enough long term. I’d hate to do all the work to repair the battery terminal, put it back together and then have it snap again, because it’s a pretty big pain to disassemble it.
At this point, I’m probably just going to throw it in the bin and pick up a new strobe. I’m not planning on getting any more of the B10/B10X design though, as they are designed in a way that seem a bit disposable, and I prefer strobes that are easier to service myself, like my D2s. It also makes me want to save up and just get one of the new B30s because they have a user replaceable tube
Your best way will be to send it in for contact replacement.
DIY contacts are not going to work well, unless you are a tool maker and can build forming jigs. The contacts are made from Berillium Copper and silver or nickel plated. Being as small as they are, it's going to be very difficult and expensive to make new ones. Never try soldering DIY contacts. It takes the temper out of the Berillium, and the solder is too soft for point contact and will fail quickly.
Thanks Charley! Interesting to know what material they are made out of. I figured a home repair of the battery terminal wasn’t going to hold up, considering those contacts see a lot of wear with swapping out batteries. Taking the strobe apart to see the extent of the damage was more out of curiosity, as it became more and more apparent as i disassembled it that it was not going to be a simple repair.
I might send it into Profoto to get it repaired, but it needs a new main board most likely, because the battery terminals are soldered and riveted into the PCB, so it might not be worth the expense. I’d want to get a new flash tube in there while it’s there for service, and being that this strobe is about 6 years old it might be time to just sunset it and cannibalize it for parts
CharleyL wrote:
Your best way will be to send it in for contact replacement.
DIY contacts are not going to work well, unless you are a tool maker and can build forming jigs. The contacts are made from Berillium Copper and silver or nickel plated. Being as small as they are, it's going to be very difficult and expensive to make new ones. Never try soldering DIY contacts. It takes the temper out of the Berillium, and the solder is too soft for point contact and will fail quickly.
