Battery stuck in pre-amp

[Gerben]

Hello everyone,

I'm a new user here and unfortunately my first post is a scream for help... I hope to be able to post more after this, though i know fairly little about guitars (except about playing them, but even at that I'm no pro).
I bought a guitar about a year ago in Israel (I'm from the Netherlands myself): the Guild CO-1C. I loved it - still do, actually. It sounds amazing, plays amazing...

Anyway, I put in some AA batteries to use the pre-amp; no problems. But a while ago I put in batteries again, this time different, rechargeable batteries, and they wouldn't come out. I have no idea what may have caused it, as the other batteries came out just fine, and I can't imagine these being thicker, and I don't think they're leaking either...
After a lot of poking, shaking, wiggling and whatever I could think of, I finally got out the first battery. But the second battery, that's in way deeper of course, wouldn't come out after ages of trying.

Does anyone have any idea on how to get out the battery? Or, as a last resort, is it difficult to take out the pre-amp (or at least the bit the batteries go in), to open it up and remove the battery? I won't do it myself, but a friend of mine is a guitar builder and can probably do that... I hope...
And we don't even have a guild service center in the Netherlands, so there isn't any place I can get it fixed...
Any input would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks in advance

 

[krysh]

welcome to ltg gerben,

and we are proud to have the owner of the unofficial netherlands guild serviecenter and worldwide guildguru amongst us:
hans moust in breda.
shoot him a mail but he should be around soon anyway :wink:

 

[hansmoust]

Hello Gerben,

Not sure if I would have a solution.
Try sending an e-mail to: sales@d-tar.com
They might be familiar with the problem.

Good luck!

Hans Moust
www.guitarsgalore.nl

 

[Gerben]

Thanks guys! Breda is a bit far away for me, though. Not that I wouldn't go there for repairs, but I can't get there easy, so it would be kind of a last resort (sorry, Hans ;-).

I did send them an e-mail at that d-tar e-mail address, thanks a lot. But what if they can't really help me? Do you guys know how difficult it is to remove the pre-amp for the guitar? I mean, is it stuck to the inside or is it simply slacking the strings and put your hand in to undo some screws?

 

[chazmo]

For electronics, we used to have these things called "chip pullers" that were little suction cups at the end of a small hollow stalk that was capped with a rubber bulb (like a turkey baster). I think you want something like that to attach to the neg. end of the battery and pull it out. I'm not sure where you'd get one like that, but you might try an electronics store. Most of the chip pullers I remember were not long enough, though, to reach down the battery cavity.

I think what might work is a stick with a dollup of that sticky adhesive that folks often use in mail (coins attached to paper).

Last, but not least, I'd use an awl to puncture the neg. end of the battery and pull it out. Most rechargeables will not leak, but you might want to check the vendor.

Just thinking out loud. I was looking at the specs for this thing, and as far as I can tell the unit completly contains the batteries; so, I'm not sure that removing it (rather than working on it in situ) will help. But, you should be able to just unscrew the collar if that's what you want to do. See: http://www.d-tar.com/load_n_lock_install.shtml Best wishes.

 

[cjd-player]

First, try some two-sided tape on the end of a pencil. Stick it in the hole and press it against the battery. If the tape adhesion is not stong enough to pull the battery out, replace the tape with a drop of super glue.

All AA bateries are not the same diameter. There is no industry standard size. Sounds like the batteries you used were just slightly too big.

Taylor Guitars had the same issue with their first ES system that used AA batteries. From what I have read, the above pencil trick usually worked, although they also had a hole in the inside end of the battery compartment so you could push the batteries out with a paper clip after reaching inside the guitar through the sound hole.

 

[Gerben]

Thanks for all your solutions.

After a lot more trying I got tired of this problem (the battery had been stuck in there for several weeks already). After reading Chazmo's comment "Most rechargeables will not leak" I decided to take the chance: I had my guitar with the body down so that any leaks would drop out of the tube rather than into it, used a hammer to hammer a screw into the battery, then a screwdriver to get it in further. Then it was pretty easy to remove it.

Phew. Finally good ;-). I put in some other batteries and the pre-amp finally worked fine again...

So to all: DON'T use Hama 2700 AA batteries!


Thanks all for your help. I'll be off reading other posts on the forum, and hopefully be able to join the conversation...

 

[dapmdave]

Thanks for all your solutions.

After a lot more trying I got tired of this problem (the battery had been stuck in there for several weeks already). After reading Chazmo's comment "Most rechargeables will not leak" I decided to take the chance: I had my guitar with the body down so that any leaks would drop out of the tube rather than into it, used a hammer to hammer a screw into the battery, then a screwdriver to get it in further. Then it was pretty easy to remove it.

Phew. Finally good ;-). I put in some other batteries and the pre-amp finally worked fine again...

So to all: DON'T use Hama 2700 AA batteries!


Thanks all for your help. I'll be off reading other posts on the forum, and hopefully be able to join the conversation...

Glad to see it worked out OK. But... when I got to the part about using a hammer to punch a screw into the battery, which was in the guitar, I was holding my breath. I don't think I could have done that.

Dave

 

[evenkeel]

Welcome to LTG land. Glad it all worked out. The hammer method certainly is a bit nerve wracking. As I was reading I was thinking drilling a small pilot hole in the battery and then putting a screw in might work. But all a moot point now.

 

[Taylor Martin Guild]

Don't use rechargable batteries in it.
These batteries do swell up after several hot charges.
I have has the same issue in some cameras.

By the way,
Welcome to the Forum.

 

[Gerben]

Don't use rechargable batteries in it.
These batteries do swell up after several hot charges.
I have has the same issue in some cameras.

By the way,
Welcome to the Forum.

I didn't know that ;-). Good to know... From now on . I will -never- use rechargeable batteries again.


Also, "hammering" it in sounds a bit harsh. They were very gentle nudges with the hammer just to get the tip of the screw in deep enough that it could be turned in from there. And I couldn't do it either: it took me several weeks and loads of failed ideas before it came to that.

Now it's time to find a good amplifier. I mean, a Roland Cube 15x just doesn't do any justice to the sound of the Guild...

 

[chazmo]

Glad it worked for you, man! I'm sure I would've gone the same route.

 

[taabru45]

Welcome.......Its a good thing you got the batteries out when you did. We are an understanding bunch, helpful and nurturing....so If you hadn't solved it I'm sure one of us would have volunteered to adopt the guitar....at no cost to you of course..... :lol: :lol: Steffan

 

[West R Lee]

Don't use rechargable batteries in it.
These batteries do swell up after several hot charges.
I have has the same issue in some cameras.

By the way,
Welcome to the Forum.

I didn't know that ;-). Good to know... From now on . I will -never- use rechargeable batteries again.


Also, "hammering" it in sounds a bit harsh. They were very gentle nudges with the hammer just to get the tip of the screw in deep enough that it could be turned in from there. And I couldn't do it either: it took me several weeks and loads of failed ideas before it came to that.

Now it's time to find a good amplifier. I mean, a Roland Cube 15x just doesn't do any justice to the sound of the Guild...

I had a little problem getting one of mine out one time myself.....glad you got it. I think they make the battery clamps a bit tight, but for good reason when you stop and think about it. It it hadn't been for my wife's slender hand, I might still be trying to get that thing out.

On the amp, Roland has a AC90, 90 watt acoustic amp out that I've not tried, but I love my Roland AC60. I'm sure the 90 is that much more incredible.

West

 

[slow944s]

I was going to suggest a spring hook from an electronics tool store, but I'm glad you got them out. I had a 2700mA NIMH set of batteries smoke one of my servo's in my R/C sailboat. I was lucky as I had the boat on its stand and not on the water where it could have caught fire and sunk. I would have hated to see my $2K sailboat go down in flames but it would have been kind of liKe a Viking funeral pyre.

 

[dapmdave]

Don't use rechargable batteries in it.
These batteries do swell up after several hot charges.
I have has the same issue in some cameras.

By the way,
Welcome to the Forum.

I didn't know that ;-). Good to know... From now on . I will -never- use rechargeable batteries again.


Also, "hammering" it in sounds a bit harsh. They were very gentle nudges with the hammer just to get the tip of the screw in deep enough that it could be turned in from there. And I couldn't do it either: it took me several weeks and loads of failed ideas before it came to that.

Now it's time to find a good amplifier. I mean, a Roland Cube 15x just doesn't do any justice to the sound of the Guild...

Search LTG for amp ideas. Lots of good recommendations to be found.

And I forgot -- welcome to LTG!

Dave

 

[jcwu]

I had my guitar with the body down so that any leaks would drop out of the tube rather than into it, used a hammer to hammer a screw into the battery, then a screwdriver to get it in further. Then it was pretty easy to remove it.

You hammered a nail into the battery? That's shocking!

But really... I would've been worried about the whole punctured-batteries-exploding thing. Even if it might just be an urban legend.