Another possible Battery Fix

[PAValentine]

Having good results with G Scale Electric Trains using an Electrically Conductive Grease on moving electrical contact surfaces, I wondered how something like this would help on those erroneous spring loaded battery contacts'

I ordered a product from Amazon, manufactured by MG Chemicals, called Carbon Conductive Assembly Paste #847-40G.
http://www.mgchemicals.com/products/gre ... paste-847/

It arrived in todays mail. The first thing I did upon opening it was to test its conductivity with my volt/ohm meter.
Sure enough, the stuff passes current with the probes of the meter approximately 1/4th inch apart when inserted into a gob of the paste using the ohm meter.

I have yet to be able fly the Quad since updating the firmwear, so I don't yet know if I will get the invalid battery notification again, but if I do I intend to put just a tiny dab of this paste on the tips of the contacts to see if it helps. (Hopefully I won't have to and I will have a lot of grease for the trains.)

Point here is that this stuff does actually pass current, and it is designed to ensures electrical contact between loose or vibrating parts and small gaps

Just wanted tp pass this along….

Paul

 

[jadebox]

The two contact pads for the sensor pins are small and close together. I'm concerned that you won't be able to apply enough of the paste to each of them to improve the contact between the pad and its corresponding pin without having too much paste and possibly causing a short-circuit between the contacts.

-- Roger

 

[Topeeka]

Both of your posts sound correct. I just looked at my P2V battery and the contact pads are indeed, quite close together. I should say that I've never had the "Invalid Battery" message, so no actual experience with this on my Phantom, but I've had LOTS of electrical / electronic adventures...!

I think they method I'd use to get just a very tiny amount of the conductive grease on the terminals, would be to cut a flat end on a toothpick, smear a tiny amount of the grease on a paper, etc...touch the toothpick end to the grease...the goal being to get a very small amount into the fibers of the toothpick...then....with a good light...and a magnifier if available, touch the sections of the copper pads that are farthest away from the mid-point with the end of the toothpick. I'd say if you can see the grease with your naked eye, you might have applied too much..! All you want is a very small amount to help 'bridge' the connection in case of a momentary loss of contact.

And...as I mentioned, since I have not done this in actual Phantom practice, this is all just my 'two...or even three, cents worth'. I think that IF you would accidentally get enough of the grease between the contacts, you would know it as soon as you started the communication with the Phantom...as the points would be shorted...and would not get the "Genuine Battery" data from the Phantom Battery. Cleaning and trying again would be in order...

Best of luck....and keep posting your results.

 

[PAValentine]

What I figured to do was put a very very tiny dab of paste on the very tip of the pins with something like a toothpick or a straight pin. The contact point between the two must be very tiny so not much would be needed. Perhaps a tiny bit on the outer shaft of the pins to maintain contact on the two telescoping parts. This area could possibly an electrical contact problem too from my train experience. It depends on how the current is transferred from the moving pin to the aircraft. Through the spring or through the shaft????
None directly on the pads. Let the pins do that. I certainly would not want to bridge the gap between the pads. Just enough to maintain a contact in the event of vibration.
Clean everything and reapply between battery changes as needed. Hopefully it won't be needed.