Wicked Lasers Arctic Spyder 3 battery will not charge

[Buzzsaw36]

I have been looking all over the internet for anyone who has had the same problem as I do but have had no luck! Basically what had happened was this. I purchased an arctic 3 spyder laser from wicked lasers, everything was fine and dandy but after just recharging it once, the cradle will not recognized the battery when i place it in its dock to charge. normally the charger would turn a red light on when a battery is inserted and turn green when it is done charging, but it only stays green and ill not turn red to charge the battery! I would like to know if their is a way that i can quickly fix it because i am not interested in buying a new battery and charger for it :/

 

[Livinloud]

Shoudktbt be a surprise to anyone. WL sells junk, including the batteries and chargers. 99% your charger is dead or broken and your battery is damaged since you tried to charge it in a broken charger. If you dont want to buy a new $15 battery or $30 charger then you basically got screwed. Welcome to the "WL screwed you over" club. There are hundreds of member in the club so dont feel too bad.

You can contact WL all you want but they wont help you out. Best bet is selling the laser to someone and let them spend the money on parts if you dont want to do it yourself

 

[Buzzsaw36]

Is their a way that I could just buy more reliable chargers as well as batteries? Like does anyone have a link of a bundle of a battery with charger that I could buy? I feel like its just a waste that I have this laser capable of so much but don't have a battery...

 

[ARG]

I believe it uses an 18650 battery. Shouldn't be more than $25 to buy a good charger and battery. Check out the nitecore i2, cheap charger that works. Illumination supply has them in stock IIRC. They also sell 18650's.

I wouldn't use the WL charger/battery. IIRC a number of people have had them catch fire.

 

[Buzzsaw36]

Would you be able to post links showing the batteries that would work with my laser as well as the charger? I was looking thru but I just don't know what batteries are proper and are protected so they don't explode. It would be reaaally appreciated! Thanks

 

[ARG]

18650 Panasonic 3400mAh NCR18650B Flat Top
And
Nitecore i2 Intellicharger (Updated Version)

 

[ScottW]

I would NOT use the chargers from WL. Some will certainly work, but they are the same junk chargers that get shipped with various flashlights/lasers from many Chinese companies, and they are horrible. I took one apart, and the solder joints looked like they had been made by a 5-year old in an alley. (And very possible that they were.)

So no matter what, get a good charger. The Nitecore I2 that ARG recommended is great, charges a variety of Li-ion and NiMH/NiCd, and is very inexpensive.

Last I knew (late 2013, early 2014), WL was sending unprotected Panasonic 3400mAh 18650's with the S3. If that's what you have, the battery is *probably* OK, unless it has been ruined by the flakey charger.

Finally... Are you sure the battery is run down? Are you sure your problem isn't with the LASER?? It is possible that the battery and charger are fine, and battery is fully charged, which is why the charger won't attempt to charge further. That would of course point to a problem with the Laser.

Do you have access to a voltmeter? Check the battery voltage -- if it is close to 4.2v, then it is already fully charged. If it is much below 2.7v, then it is over-discharged and most chargers will (rightly) refuse to charge an over-discharged Li-Ion battery because doing so can be dangerous (i.e., fire/explosion).

 

[Encap]

Could be the tailcap--a lot of arctics have had problems. The paint on the little tab with the phillips head screw holding it makes poor contact--you have to take it off and clean up the surfaces for good contact

With the tailcap off---try bridging the battery + end while in the host to the shell with tin foil or a paperclip to see if you get power from the battery