We are having a problem with the 9V battery connector for the VEXnet, we’ve managed to break all 6 of them. Is there some secret to getting the battery replaced without snapping them? Anyone else having problems with them?
Hi Foster,
We have had some issues with those too and simple replaced the rivet with a small 4-40 screw or a small rivet - works great (though not technically competition legal…)
I broke a few of them at worlds this past season. I think the trick is to unplug the end that plugs into the micro controller whenever possible so that you only need to unplug the battery from the connector when the battery is dead. Last season my bot was not designed to easily access the place were the 9v plug connected to the controller so i was always unplugging the battery from the chord and it was breaking quite a bit. I guess if you wanted to be really tricky you could use a rechargeable 9v batter and modify the charger so that instead of putting the 9v battery into the charger you could just plug in the whole 9v battery and 9v battery wire into the charger and charge through the battery wire. I am not sure how safe i would feel doing this but is is an option.
While i would like to see this product improve i may just buy a few more and hope for the best. I wonder if it would be legal to replace the plastic batter connector end with a different store bought end. I have had good experiences with 9v connectors purchased at radio shack. I know there is the new rule which allows motor wires to be repaired as long as the wire is not lengthened, i wonder if replacing the 9v connector would be legal under the same circumstances…
~DK