Dis-Assembly & Battery Replacement, Mighty (#MY0234XX, circa 10/2015)
-- New batteries, internal cleaning (June 17, 2020)
As I mentioned a couple posts up, the batteries came from
@JCat , though idk the spec, they are either 3,000 or maybe 3120 mAh versus 2700’s that came out. His thread for replacement battery, instructions, video, discussion etc.:
Custom Crafty Battery Packs for Easy Replacement
Separately, there’s a pretty good Youtube (below) of a battery job on a Mighty, very helpful; there don’t seem to be many around.
I cannot vouch for the safety of the soldering practices in this video (I just don’t know enough about it).
He also did not point out the bottom latch clearly.
To open the case he used a 1.5 mm hex driver. I believe the 1.5 mm is probably correct, but I could not get mine to fit. I used a 1/16” hex driver instead. It worked fine right up to the end; on re-tightening the last bit I probably did some damage to the screw. I hope I don’t need to open the case ever again.
The Youtube does show the tabs and slots at the top clearly and how to slide the case open.
I hope I’m not too imprecise or redundant in my descriptions below. I was not intending a full-blown instructional-type guide, just some of my experience.
I exposed the screw holes with a sharp knife:
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The two halves of the case interlock at three points, two at the top and one at the bottom. After removing the two case screws, remove the orange poker and under it is the tab to push. It is visible in next photo. Push in on tab and pry the halves apart slightly at the bottom seam using a screwdriver or poker. This took a minute or two; stubborn parts after years together.
Do not pull the halves more than about ½” apart at bottom -- they are attached by tabs at the top that can easily break. The Youtube shows these steps clearly.
You can see the 4 top tabs hanging down from the top edge in next photo. They fit into slots on the other half.
Slide the back cover up so it’s tabs clear their matching slots on the housing front cover. This also took some gentle persuasion. I did break both slots at the top, but one end of each did not break off, so I was able to re-assemble “okay” when the time came. Phew.
I now understand the reason some Mighty's seem to "come apart at the seam" along the top. The slots are not much sturdier than the little railings that break so easily near the chamber sides. The tabs you see here are stronger than the slots into which they fit.
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Next are existing internals. There is debris at the entry to the air path, seen in next two photos:
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And next shows the air path entry hole, cleared but not yet cleaned. It’s the crescent shaped hole at the bottom of the plastic case that holds the heater and its' housing, the heater's temp sensor and the chamber.
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The plastic housing and metal insert that holds the heater and chamber. The insert is shown again in the photo that follows this one.
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Next photo is the insert assembly that houses the heater and the air path and has the chamber fastened to it.
The round hole centered at the bottom is where the heater tube inserts, and the semi-circular hole is the air intake.
The heater itself is a tube-like stick, seen on the mat in the background of the photo below. I did not get a photo of the heater’s temp sensor.
Note the black o-ring (was originally blue, silicone) around the outside of the chamber. I should have measured this, it should be s.o.p. to replace this as part of this procedure; maybe a guess of size can be made based on the chamber it encircles. The ring broke into 3 pieces and I did not have a match, but I did fashion one from some high temp silicone tubing and was able to move forward. Unfortunately, no pics of that either.
I soaked the metal insert (all aluminum?) in iso alcohol for about 90 minutes. You can’t see light through this tube; there is some sort of baffle at the top just below chamber holes, that prevents seeing anything inside the tubes. It would be fascinating to see the insides! I could not ascertain if or where the two paths might join together; didn’t spend much time exploring that.
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Next are two pics of the new batteries.
@JCat soldered the leads on, added the proper plugs and wrapped all. Nicely done!
I swapped the temp. sensors on to them from the old batteries, and I also peeled/stuck some end covers from the old to the new. There was also a bumper stuck on top end of each battery, for snug fit.
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All back in place in next photo. On the left-hand battery I did have to move the temp sensor a little to the right before the cover would fit on. It is a fussy fit, all the stuff in there!
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As I mentioned, the two slots at top of case broke partially during opening, though they are holding well enough on assembly.
I also had to fashion an o-ring to replace the brittle one.
In the end, it all snapped together and looks just fine.
I replaced all the other seals, the chamber screen and the mouthpiece stem. I leave c/u screen off lately.
I admit that I wanted the chamber to look clean, so I used a very fine sandpaper on the aluminum chamber walls, just enough to clean it up. I’m sure this has created some fine scratches that will just trap gunk sooner, but I have been trying to use capsules a lot lately and using them keeps the bowl cleaner. I don't recommend the sandpaper treatment, btw. To the bowl, that is...
The draw is marginally better, I believe mainly due to the removal of lint/debris from the entrance to the airway. Deep cleaning (iso soaking) the air path had to help on some level as well.
The Mighty, when fully charged now heats in 1 minute, 15 seconds (29C to 180C). I believe this is faster than when new!
I've now got the "20% more battery power" Mighty.
Long may it run!
With a little luck, I won't need a Mighty+!
Thanks again
@JCat for taking the initiative, and to
@SquirrelMaster and
@Stu for teaching me how to do photos here.
I've learned that 10 pix per post is the limit, good thing that's all I had...
. I also picked up a few capsules.
