OESF Portables Forum

Model Specific Forums => Cosmo Communicator => Cosmo Communicator - Hardware => Topic started by: sup on November 14, 2020, 03:54:37 pm

Title: Teardown guide for battery and CoDi replacement.
Post by: sup on November 14, 2020, 03:54:37 pm
UPDATE: I went ahead and created a sort of teardown guide in the second post and edited the title of this post accordingly. Original post starts below:

My CoDi failed (the internal crack that many people suffered). Unfortunately, I then managed to crack the glass display. Even though I notified Planet Computers about the CoDi failure about two months before I managed to crack it physically and they initially promised to replace it free of charge, now they want 135 pounds for it - way more than it is worth to me. So I was thinking about removing it altogether, because even cracked, it can still suck quite a lot of power when I forget to turn it off in settings.

Has anyone tried to dismantle the part of Cosmo with CoDi? I found a FCC document covering internals of the Cosmo in this thread: https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?topic=36134.0 but it is not that informative regarding a procedure to open the device up. Any suggestions?
Title: Re: Has anyone tried removing CoDi? Is there a teardown guide?
Post by: sup on November 16, 2020, 11:29:46 am
So I tried it and here is a tear-down guide, sort of. Sorry for bad quality of the cameras - not sure how to make pretty pictures with a webcamera, Cosmo is my only other camera and I could not use that for understandable reasons.

There are two things I wanted to accomplish:
1) Check the battery code in order to possibly order a replacement for my weird problem of it showing -1% charge: https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?topic=36419.0
(byt the way, the code is SXX600, it seems it is possible to order it from Amazon for around 50 euros and it is common with Gemini)

2) Get to the CoDi and cut its ribbon since it was broken and just was draining battery when I forgot to turn it off. I hope this actually works, but at least the gemini stopped nagging me about updating the firewall.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Re: Teardown guide for battery and CoDi replacement.
Post by: ArchiMark on November 16, 2020, 01:03:13 pm
Wow!

Thanks for sharing the guide!

Although sorry to hear about your troubles with CoDi and Planet......

Was not aware of this potential crack issue.....hopefully, it won't happen on my Cosmo.

Best,

Mark
Title: Re: Teardown guide for battery and CoDi replacement.
Post by: Varti on November 19, 2020, 03:15:37 am
I have edited the post so that the images are shown as thumbnails, and set the topic as sticky so that it is easier to find. Thanks for sharing this!

Varti
Title: Re: Teardown guide for battery and CoDi replacement.
Post by: ianisthewalrus on January 20, 2021, 04:52:55 pm
i have the same issue. codi lcd kaput. glass seems fine. if i evert get my hands on a replacement, this will be very handy!
Title: Re: Teardown guide for battery and CoDi replacement.
Post by: sup on January 20, 2021, 05:09:55 pm
IF the glass is fine, it is a manufacturing mistake and Planet might replace it for you. For me, ti also failed and then I broke the glass. I still think it is a bit non-consumer friendly that they then refused to replace it even though they earlier promised they would
Title: Re: Teardown guide for battery and CoDi replacement.
Post by: hyrjana on January 22, 2021, 07:01:18 am
My CoDi LCD broke also without any signs of damage on the glass. Planet computers would charge me 125£ + shipping to UK to replace it. If only I could get replacement part somehow, I would definitely do it myself.
Title: Re: Teardown guide for battery and CoDi replacement.
Post by: sup on January 22, 2021, 07:08:31 am
Interesting. To me they initially promised to replace it for free.
Title: Re: Teardown guide for battery and CoDi replacement.
Post by: ianisthewalrus on March 22, 2021, 12:16:00 pm
i got the same smoke. they wanted me to send my phone back to them for the repair, rather than send me the parts to fix it myself... i cant afford to not have a phone for even a day, let alone weeks on end as it is shipped back to the UK.
Title: Re: Teardown guide for battery and CoDi replacement.
Post by: shinkamui on April 29, 2021, 01:04:54 pm
My CoDi LCD broke also without any signs of damage on the glass. Planet computers would charge me 125£ + shipping to UK to replace it. If only I could get replacement part somehow, I would definitely do it myself.

Its happened twice to me.  First time i sent it in to planet, they charged me 150$ + I had to pay for 70$ for shipping, and they sent it back 9 months later.   The oled cracked again with teh glass intact, while it was in the box in storage.  I'm done with Planet.
Title: Re: Teardown guide for battery and CoDi replacement.
Post by: jakfish on June 21, 2021, 11:31:42 am
Could somebody confirm that the Gemini and Cosmo battery are indeed the same? And could that kind soul point me to a buying link, preferably Amazon/ebay?

I can't seem to track one down for my worn-out Cosmo.

Thanks,
Jake

EDIT: https://extrabatt.com/products/cs-plx600sl

$56USD/free s/h in the US at least. Will post back if/when arrives
Title: Re: Teardown guide for battery and CoDi replacement.
Post by: jakfish on June 21, 2021, 01:25:51 pm
If my Cosmo replacement battery does actually make it to me, I'm remain a bit confused about the initial part of the tear-down.

How does one get access to the screws in pic #1? Does the Cosmo bottom pop off the way the Gemini's top pops off (with the Gemini tool?)?

Thanks,
Jake
Title: Re: Teardown guide for battery and CoDi replacement.
Post by: Daniel W on June 21, 2021, 02:56:23 pm
Yes.

The bottom of a Cosmo pops off the same way as the top (and bottom) of a Gemini. On my particular Cosmo, I don't even need any particular tool, a few fingernails does the job for me, but it should be safe to use the Gemini tool, or a corner of some old credit card (or similar) that you don't care too much about.
Title: Re: Teardown guide for battery and CoDi replacement.
Post by: jakfish on June 21, 2021, 03:57:22 pm
Daniel, many thanks for the quick response.

Jake
Title: Re: Teardown guide for battery and CoDi replacement.
Post by: IK6yae0s on August 30, 2021, 04:58:06 pm
My Codi is defekt. The glass has a fine break line so I think the display is also destroyed.
Is there a replacement part for the display only? Would be nice to hear something like a p/n.
Title: Re: Teardown guide for battery and CoDi replacement.
Post by: ZimbiX on January 14, 2022, 10:06:04 pm
Thanks for posting this guide! I had to make use of it last night (https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?topic=36738.0) to replace my Cosmo's ballooned battery with the one from my Gemini. The information that they both use the same battery is much appreciated.

I just wanted to add that I found it very difficult to pry the battery and metal plate apart - the adhesive is very strong. I tried using a heat gun (for the first time), but struggled to get much loosening happening. I'm sure there's better tools for doing so, but I ended up using a thin and sharp splinter of wood to poke into the gap I was prying open to gradually cut the stretched adhesive. After I finally got it apart (thankfully without puncturing the battery!), the metal was a bit bent in the middle, and the wings were folded in. After I bent it all back, pulled off the adhesive strips, and rubbed off the adhesive residue, it went back into the phone fine.

I have ordered this 3rd-party battery (https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/303690828938?hash=item46b5624c8a:g:JhYAAOSwHZlhgBX8) just in case. The one linked by jakfish above is no longer available.

Cheers
Title: Re: Teardown guide for battery and CoDi replacement.
Post by: Spamlet on August 30, 2023, 05:05:35 pm
Hi all.
Many thanks for posting the stripdown pictures. My Cosmo battery never did last more than an hour or so from new, but I only use it indoors for watching YouTube, so have it plugged in most of the time.

Like others here, the battery soon started to swell and force the back off, and I got a shock when I flipped the back off (it tends to fall off anyway, as the plastic tabs that hold it on are incredibly fragile, and soon crumble off--as do the plastic rings that hold the screen side joiner rod on: I'll never risk an Astro if it's made of the same fragile stuff!).

Huge battery glued in so thoroughly that it cannot be removed without distorting the phone, and warnings stuck over the ID labels so I couldn't even see what make it was!  It's unbelievable that anyone would design a device to look eminently robust and easily dismantleable, only to gum it all up inside and fill it with warnings not to touch! And made of plastic that crumbles to dust almost just by looking at it!

My Cosmo is only holding on by a wing and a prayer, but my laptops are all broken, so I still rely on it, and will see if I can get a new battery, now you have given me the number.  It's a shame that Planet's service is so appalling once they have sold us the things. They don't really deserve us keyboard lovers.

Incidentally, a tip you might find useful to reduce keyboard jams, is to just cover the keyboard with transparent tape. It still works, and keeps out most of the dust. The hinge still fills up with grit and dust, that breaks off more and more of the plastic rings for the rod that holds it together, so it will probably be in two pieces before long, but at least the keys can be protected.  Outrageous to charge so much for things that are so poorly designed. :/

Another tip that works very well, that I adopted the first time the slippery metal slipped through my fingers and nearly broke my bare foot that I had to put in its way to stop it smashing on the kitchen tiles straight out of the box...  Is to put a strip of the fluffy side of sticky backed velcro along the edge of the lid nearest the hinge.  Then get some of the two sided velcro used for cable tidies and cut enough to fit comfortably around a couple of fingers.  Sit this ring of velco on the strip you've stuck on the device, and you can slip two fingers through it whenever you want to hold the phone in one hand while writing with the other.  I found it was almost imposible to use the device safely, except on a table, until I adopted this simple safety fix.  It's amazing how well the velcro around ones fingers works, and how comfortable it makes typing while standing up away from flat surfaces.

Anyhow: It's good to know I'm not the only one still using a Cosmo, and, many thanks for providing a service that the manufacturer couldn't be bothered with!

Cheers.