Any problems with slightly sloppy battery rewrap?

[ddirtyvapes]

Pretty self-explanatory... I had to rewrap some batteries tonight and didn't do my neatest job. I am ONLY asking about cosmetic problems... wrinkles, creases, the like. They're not terrible but a little unsightly. All of the obvious safety concerns are covered; i.e. there are no tears anywhere on the new wraps, insulators have been retained and kept on the battery, etc.

So, other than potential fit problems in my most snug mods, there should be no problems with a few wrinkles in a wrap, yes?

Tips on how to rewrap more neatly?

 

[DaveP]

Pretty self-explanatory... I had to rewrap some batteries tonight and didn't do my neatest job. I am ONLY asking about cosmetic problems... wrinkles, creases, the like. They're not terrible but a little unsightly. All of the obvious safety concerns are covered; i.e. there are no tears anywhere on the new wraps, insulators have been retained and kept on the battery, etc.

So, other than potential fit problems in my most snug mods, there should be no problems with a few wrinkles in a wrap, yes?

Tips on how to rewrap more neatly?

I lay my flattened wraps next the battery and mark a spot that allows about 1/4" overlap on the positive and about 1/8" on the negative. Cut on the mark. Slide the wrap in place and set the battery on a countertop. Hit it with the hair dryer on high and move back and forth to shrink. Roll it back and forth to heat all sides. The heat part should take about 10 seconds.

Wrinkles can be an issue in mods that have tight battery holders, but as long as you have the ends shrinked over the edges like the original they should be fine. The important part is the positive end where the wrap extends an eighth of an inch over the edge to protect against shorts from the center contact spider support to the outer case, it's fine.

Batteries are wrapped farther over the positive connector because charger and mod contacts can bridge between the center contact and the outer case if there's a crack or missing wrap in that area. Any cracks in the positive end are grounds for replacement.

At 15 cents each for wraps you can afford to do it until you are happy with the result. Start farther away with the hair dryer and move closer until you see the wrap start to shrink. Go back and forth and roll the battery. Slow is good because you can see it begin to conform as it shrinks. To much heat too quickly can cause and uneven shrink with wrinkles.

 

[ddirtyvapes]

Thanks, that's pretty much what I thought. Each end should be perfectly fine and the wrinkles aren't that bad, just noticeable compared to a factory-wrapped battery. I wasn't really thinking about the positive versus negative end in terms of covering one more than the other BUT I basically just copied the rest of my batteries, so I can't anticipate an electrical issue as they are right now unless I have totally missed something. I don't think I have. They're wrapped well at both ends and just a little wrinkly on the bodies where there were seams in the shrink wrap. I can always provide a photo if I'm really concerned but if anything I think my positive ends are covered slightly more than when they arrived.

 

[DaveP]

Thanks, that's pretty much what I thought. Each end should be perfectly fine and the wrinkles aren't that bad, just noticeable compared to a factory-wrapped battery. I wasn't really thinking about the positive versus negative end in terms of covering one more than the other BUT I basically just copied the rest of my batteries, so I can't anticipate an electrical issue as they are right now unless I have totally missed something. I don't think I have. They're wrapped well at both ends and just a little wrinkly on the bodies where there were seams in the shrink wrap. I can always provide a photo if I'm really concerned but if anything I think my positive ends are covered slightly more than when they arrived.

Yeah, the positive end is where shorting issues occur. Cracks are the first sign of problems and warrant a new wrap.

 

[ddirtyvapes]

They're on the charger right now (and appear to be charging fine) but I'm just gonna post a photo when they're finished and be done with it. I honestly jumped the gun on the rewrapping a bit; I was trying to be extra safe. The bodies of both of them were fine but I now use them exclusively in a tesla invader mini and it's got a tight sled and no ribbon and no room for a DIY ribbon. The tops were just getting a little funky but I probably could have kept using them. Hopefully, I didn't take a step backwards in safety but I'm not entirely incapable, usually. Photo in not too long... I'll feel better anyway.

 

[ddirtyvapes]

sorry for the hand check but there they are; the wrinkles pictured on the bodies are the worst ones, purposely. I would have frankly done a better job if I didn't feel like I'd be rewrapping these again sooner than later as a result of the mod. That part is a pain but it's a good knockaround mod for me and this is a relatively small price to pay.

 

[BreSha6869]

I have only rewraped a few but they came out perfect. I bought precut wraps from Fasttech (about 3-4 cents each) and a $19.95 hot air gun.

Well worth it to me as the results were perfect and I had no clue what I was doing!

 

[DaveP]

I haven't done it yet, but you can also use small rings of battery wrap to color code batteries that are matched pairs or triplets for dual and triple battery mods. I keep my matched pairs in battery boxes and that works, but I have a dual and a triple set of Sony VTC4's for different mods. Up to now, I've just used a felt tip to mark them.

 

[puffon]

sorry for the hand check but there they are; the wrinkles pictured on the bodies are the worst ones, purposely. I would have frankly done a better job if I didn't feel like I'd be rewrapping these again sooner than later as a result of the mod. That part is a pain but it's a good knockaround mod for me and this is a relatively small price to pay.

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They don't look too bad.
You might try giving them some more heat time, to remove the wrinkles.