First and foremost, this is not a "zomg, I got sent a bad item and I'm gonna cry about it" thread. 
This is simply information being provided about a piece of hardware, so that consumers can take appropriate safeguards. If this has been covered previously and my search missed it, I apologize.
*It should be noted however, that these observations should NOT be considered eGo specific, and may apply to all USB chargers of this size & shape.
The Facts:
1. Since the moment I recieved my eGo kit, I've handled everything with "kid gloves", and ensured I was NOT overtightening or rough handling the hardware at any time.
2. From the first charge, I noticed that the eGo USB charger was "acting up", and not changing to the green LED when the battery should have been charged completely. At first, I simply thought it was an eGo specific quirk, or worst case, juice in the connection.
3. I had to "wiggle" the battery (after charging for hours), or slightly loosen then re-tighten it to get the LED to change to green (charged).
The Findings
Case gap
I normally held the charger down on the shelf in front of me as I screwed a battery in, so I wasn't seeing this gap at first.
Flush screws
After seeing the gap, I compared the eGo charger to a regular 510 (150mA) charger, and noticed the screws were not recessed.
Gutted
Opening the case, I found that;
The Fix - 2 Birds one stone?
I had considered ways of "marking" the eGo charger, as a visual quick reference to avoid grabbing the 510 charger by mistake. 100 m.p.h. (duct) tape seems to fit that bill fairly well.
“All of life’s problems can be solved with two things—duct tape and WD40. If it moves and it shouldn’t, you need duct tape. And if it doesn’t move and it should, you need WD40.”—Unknown
This is simply information being provided about a piece of hardware, so that consumers can take appropriate safeguards. If this has been covered previously and my search missed it, I apologize.
*It should be noted however, that these observations should NOT be considered eGo specific, and may apply to all USB chargers of this size & shape.
The Facts:
1. Since the moment I recieved my eGo kit, I've handled everything with "kid gloves", and ensured I was NOT overtightening or rough handling the hardware at any time.
2. From the first charge, I noticed that the eGo USB charger was "acting up", and not changing to the green LED when the battery should have been charged completely. At first, I simply thought it was an eGo specific quirk, or worst case, juice in the connection.
3. I had to "wiggle" the battery (after charging for hours), or slightly loosen then re-tighten it to get the LED to change to green (charged).
The Findings
Case gap
I normally held the charger down on the shelf in front of me as I screwed a battery in, so I wasn't seeing this gap at first.
Flush screws
After seeing the gap, I compared the eGo charger to a regular 510 (150mA) charger, and noticed the screws were not recessed.
Gutted
Opening the case, I found that;
- The screws were in as far as they could go, and the tapered end of the screws barely cleared the circuit board.
- Even though the screws barely extended past the board, both screw holes on the opposite case half had been broken. (The broken case section simply fell off as I separated the 2 halves)
The Fix - 2 Birds one stone?
I had considered ways of "marking" the eGo charger, as a visual quick reference to avoid grabbing the 510 charger by mistake. 100 m.p.h. (duct) tape seems to fit that bill fairly well.
“All of life’s problems can be solved with two things—duct tape and WD40. If it moves and it shouldn’t, you need duct tape. And if it doesn’t move and it should, you need WD40.”—Unknown
