Saturday, June 2, 2018

Fixing Vtech MA3222 / MA3222-17 Bluetooth Speaker Battery Problems

 FIXING  Vtech MA3222 -  Bluetooth Speaker


I bought a couple of these speakers as travel companions some years ago.  But both developed the same problem -- they would not hold a sufficient charge ; and would not play for more than 30-40 mins without completely powering down.   That wasn't going to work for me, and I knew something had to be wrong with the (thankfully) removable battery pack.

However, a replacement was far too pricey ; and did not make sense -- you might as well buy the same entire device again!

Prices for these $$$ stupid


The batteries are basically 3x AAA flat top batteries connected in series .  Using my battery rule of thumb, (first positive cell or cells are usually faulty in a a series array) I tested them individually.  They all checked out at first, so I hooked up a load (LED lights) to see which cells were failing or discharging first.

Right off the bat, I saw a total discharge from the first AAA cell in the positive series.  So I pulled the
tab off of that cell, replaced with another aftermarket cell and the Vtech has worked perfectly ever since. 

 I will probably just build a new AAA battery pack from better quality flat tops when I get the time to do so, since obviously they used some pretty cheap cells for these units to begin with, or so it seems.  


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