Hey Everybody,
I came across a pretty narfed TurboExpress on eBay. The previous owner either left the batteries in for YEARS, or it was stored in a damp place, where water seeped into the battery port. Regardless, the inside of the battery port was covered in acid and rust, and two of the connectors had broken off. (top right, and bottom center). This photo is after the cleaning. I used a scoring pad, a toothbrush and 70% alcohol to remove the corrosion, then used a needle-nose pliers to remove the pieces of the two rusted connectors.
**I made sure to mind the little plastic clip-tabs that held the original wires in. (6 tabs on the TOP of this photo, horizontal with the BLUE ARROW holding in the battery connectors) If these break, its gonna be tricky. I used a fine jewelers flathead screwdriver to clean them up, and followed up with alcohol on a q-tip.
With the chop5 's advice, I went to Ace Hardware, and tried to find some bare wire with a comparable thickness to replace the original coiled connectors. I went with the cheapest; 1.2mm 18 gauge aluminum wire. $1.99 for 50 feet and I can now make 70 more of these. I recommend trying a bit smaller, firmer wire (for the coil-spring effect) but this soft stuff will do for now.
Grabbing a set of needle nose pliers, I kinked the wire at a 90 degree angle and bent it around twice. It begins to look like the coil at this point, and the positive side (the left, flat side) begins to take shape.
I removed the wire from the pliers at this point because the coil needs to be bent into a round half-figure-eight pattern, and coiled it tight by hand. Make sure you coil it the right way, If the connector is flipped around, it WILL NOT FIT. The image below is coiled in the correct pattern, though unfinished and cut off on the right side to illustrate the point; All six battery connectors are identical.
Ok, the left side is done! At this point, bend down and curl the wire up around counterclockwise around a thin screwdriver or something comparable. Below in picture 6, I actually used TOO much wire, again to illustrate the point, and had to trim it down a coil and a half. The wire isn't spring-loaded and isn't going to act exactly like the original (but once again this may be accomplished with slightly thinner, firmer wire).
Now, the right side is done too! The coil is flattened, but works perfectly. Make sure to carefully insert the new connectors in the bottom groove first, and then clip into the top tab (Again, horizontal with the blue arrow in picture 1). Now, It's installed!
When it powers up, and the batteries all fit O.K. with no major clearance issues, THEN use a match-head of superglue or epoxy (in the center downward bend, between the two coils) to secure it.
This last photo is the finished product. Thanks again to chop5, The Old Rover, and Custm42435 for all the shoutbox help!
