Battery replacement experience

[ZimbiX]

Hey folks,

I thought I'd share details of my recent experience trying to get a Cosmo battery replacement.

The battery in my Cosmo Communicator started to noticeably balloon, as of a few weeks ago. It was only slight, but the lid no longer completely closed (about 2mm gap), and the middle of the backplate was raised in the middle (about 1mm).

I emailed Planet to ask if they'd be able to send me a replacement battery. I really didn't want to part with my device, especially for an indefinite period of time, given I rely on it and how screwed up the international shipping network is right now. So I was preferring to install the new battery myself (or take it to a repair shop here in Melbourne, Australia).

I take it that it's not under warranty anymore (if it ever was, having backed it on Indiegogo).

Sadly, they said it was prohibited to ship the battery only, and needed me to send them the Cosmo. They'd install the battery for £75.00 plus £20.00 P&P. Surely posting a device containing a damaged battery is far less safe than sending an intact battery on its own, safely encased? And I thought the restrictions only applied to airmail anyway? I said I was happy to wait for surface mail (sea shipment) if necessary.

They responded saying the company needs to follow the rules governing shipping batteries; and that if I could find a suitable carrier to pick it up from them in London, they could do that. I spent a couple of hours researching last night, and could not find anything suitable for a reasonable price that would not leave Planet liable for potential mispackaging. I had no idea how arduous shipping is from the UK/EU!

Thanks to this teardown guide thread, I discovered that the Cosmo and my now-unused Gemini use the same battery (SXX600). I disassembled both and installed the battery from the Gemini; I'll see if there's enough life left in it.

The 3rd-party battery linked from there is no longer available; I have ordered this one just in case the one from my Gemini is not good enough. Whilst still expensive, this is significantly cheaper than sending my Gemini to Planet for a new battery (3rd-party battery = AU $94.66 = £49.93. As opposed to: £42.72 sending to them + their £75.00 & £20.00 P&P = £137.72 = AU $261.11!)

I highly recommend that Planet Computers set up the ability to have batteries be sent from elsewhere (the factory in China maybe) where the restrictions are less.

Hopefully this information is helpful for others As these devices age, I'm sure more and more people will be in need of new batteries!

It is so satisfying to have my Cosmo able to snugly snap shut again!

[idc]

Thanks for posting your experience. Would love to hear how it goes when your battery arrives. My gemini seems to have been running out of battery mighty quick recently. I may need to try purchasing a new one. (Though I hate the British system for applying customs charges when you order from abroad, which threatens extra costs of unknown amounts, and punitive extra charges from the delivery companies—it's very irritating.)
Ian
Here's a UK link: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/114815668118

[Zarhan]

Anyone know a seller that would ship to Finland?. My Cosmo battery is clearly dying.

Although I guess I could always send the Cosmo to Planet for battery replacement after I get my Astro...

[ZimbiX]

No worries, Ian; will do.

Hey again Zarhan I don't know why the eBay seller's made country-specific listings, of which it doesn't look like Finland is an option. In the hunting I did before, the only other place I found that's selling it was Canadian Batteries, but they only ship to US/Canada. Their price with postage to Ontario (as an example) is CA $69.21 = AU $76.49. I'd suggest messaging both the eBay seller and Canadian Batteries to see if they could accommodate you. Otherwise, you could always use a mail forwarding service. I wonder if using them with direct shipping or with a forwarding service would have worked out slightly cheaper than the Australia eBay listing...

[Zarhan]

I'd suggest messaging both the eBay seller and Canadian Batteries to see if they could accommodate you. Otherwise, you could always use a mail forwarding service. I wonder if using them with direct shipping or with a forwarding service would have worked out slightly cheaper than the Australia eBay listing...

That's probably what I'll do.

The other alternative is of course that I just ship this think to Planet and ask them to fix Codi at the same time, as soon as I finally get the Astro in the coming weeks - I can probably live with Cosmo until then. It seems to have about 30 mins of usage time these days and maybe 4-6 hours of standby (with the broken Codi turned off, in powersave mode), but since I have a charger around most of the time this is not such a huge issue.

[jakfish]

I purchased a Gem battery from Canadian Batteries today and was promptly refunded--they do not have them in stock.

Sigh,
Jajke

[ZimbiX]

The battery I ordered on ebay never arrived btw, so I got a refund on 26 Apr 2022. They said they were sad it didn't arrive and didn't have a replacement to send, so could only offer a refund.

I haven't used my Cosmo since I got my Astro, so it's not a problem for me anymore. But now my Astro's battery is getting a little long in the tooth too =P