Dead wall wart PSU... opening them

[eccerr0r]

Suppose you have a wall transformer/power supply that died. There are no screws to open it and you want to fix it. How do you open it?

[budm]

Re: Dead wall wall wart PSU... opening them

Dremel, Exacto knife and flat blade screw driver, once it is open you do not put it back together and give it back to any body to use again. I have done many to verify built quality, safety, component and design quality, mechanical integrity, etc. to qualify the vendors.

[mockingbird]

Re: Dead wall wall wart PSU... opening them

Dremel, Exacto knife and flat blade screw driver, once it is open you do not put it back together and give it back to any body to use again. I have done many to verify built quality, safety, component and design quality, mechanical integrity, etc. to qualify the vendors.

Dremel and a flat blade screwdriver.

Eh, why shouldn't you close it again?

I've closed them many times and then sealed it with dollar store epoxy. Was as good as before.

[SteveNielsen]

Re: Dead wall wall wart PSU... opening them

It depends on the wall wart. Some pop open nicely with a thin screwdriver and a rap with a small hammer in a couple of spots, others need to be cut open. Depends on how much glue was used. Generally speaking if I've got to cut it open it isn't really worth the effort for me but I don't have a rotary tool to cut with at this time. I'm not about to do as my idiot neighbor did and clumsily use a hacksaw. He cut cut into a filter cap doing that, but then he's a fumble-fingered dip-shit.

[mariushm]

Re: Dead wall wall wart PSU... opening them

Grab adjustable pliers (i mean this) , adjust it to fit the width, squeeze at the seam until you hear the plastic cracking.
From there, you can widen the crack with regular screwdriver.

Alternatively, you can cut a corner with some blade you heat up on the fire, or like this guy does in the video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiviXtlpiAw (at about 2:00) .. then of course, crack the case further.

Other people suggest placing the blade of a knife at the seam, and using a hammer to hit the blade, but I'm against this as it can cause cracks in the pcb or pcb traces lifting up.

[budm]

Re: Dead wall wall wart PSU... opening them

Dremel and a flat blade screwdriver.

Eh, why shouldn't you close it again?

I've closed them many times and then sealed it with dollar store epoxy. Was as good as before.

I would not give it to the customer or any one else to use, if something goes wrong you can be in trouble, not worth dealing with the lawyers.

[Dan81]

Re: Dead wall wall wart PSU... opening them

Screwdriver if it has screws (had one with DC voltage selector 3v-12v IIRC) or hammer if it doesn't.

Most crappy wallwarts aren't worth anything.

[ReeceyBurger123]

Re: Dead wall wall wart PSU... opening them

I use side cutters, small chisel and a hammer. Firstly use the side cutters and cut the corner but not all the way through the plastic then slot chisel into the engraved area then give it a light whack and boom case falls apart.

[eccerr0r]

Re: Dead wall wall wart PSU... opening them

I would not give it to the customer or any one else to use, if something goes wrong you can be in trouble, not worth dealing with the lawyers.

Yeah I was thinking about this. After trying different ways of opening, if it doesn't have screws, none of these really are conducive to putting Humpty back together again. Not even glue/epoxy. I haven't tried plastic welding but not sure how well that works either.

The first PSU I tried to open to attempt to fix I used a "Dremel clone" and cut it open. I decided against fixing it after I discovered what mess I made of the case and putting it back together again safely was not really possible. The hammer option was tempting but it did not crack the case in the right spot. Eventually as I work on cars I had a bench vise that I used, now that cracked the case in the right spot, and I'll have to try that on more PSUs in the future.

However I still don't think I could put it back together again as solidly as the original and not have to worry about it falling apart while it's on the wall, electrocuting the user...

[budm]

Re: Dead wall wall wart PSU... opening them

Yeah I was thinking about this. After trying different ways of opening, if it doesn't have screws, none of these really are conducive to putting Humpty back together again. Not even glue/epoxy. I haven't tried plastic welding but not sure how well that works either.

The first PSU I tried to open to attempt to fix I used a "Dremel clone" and cut it open. I decided against fixing it after I discovered what mess I made of the case and putting it back together again safely was not really possible. The hammer option was tempting but it did not crack the case in the right spot. Eventually as I work on cars I had a bench vise that I used, now that cracked the case in the right spot, and I'll have to try that on more PSUs in the future.

However I still don't think I could put it back together again as solidly as the original and not have to worry about it falling apart while it's on the wall, electrocuting the user...

Yep, not worth getting wiped out by the law suit, I just tell them to go get a new one.

[stj]

Re: Dead wall wall wart PSU... opening them

fr fuck's sake.

you put it in a vice with something metal and round against the join and the joint cracks without wrecking the case.

[eccerr0r]

Re: Dead wall wall wart PSU... opening them

fr fuck's sake.

you put it in a vice with something metal and round against the join and the joint cracks without wrecking the case.

Not everyone has a vise... So far, as mentioned, it seems to work. I just read about the hammer method which if done carefully, also could also result in an intact case unlike the cutting methods, alas it is still a bit risky as some stuff could be made into a pancake.

I have not tried slip joint pliers (which is what mariushm suggested) which might be a good option to try if a vise isn't available.

[stj]

Re: Dead wall wall wart PSU... opening them

go to a cheap tool place and by a G-clamp.

then you can apply controlled pressure and also use it to hold cases shut while glue dries or to hold heatsinks down while the bond hardens.

[redwire]

Re: Dead wall wart PSU... opening them

I open wallwarts with 0.3mm thick metal guitar picks from DX. These are awesome for prying apart stuff. Phones, laptops etc.
Really hard plastic I put it in a vise on the seam line, and tighten to "crack" the seams.

If it's ultrasonically welded, you can't open one without cutting it up and I abandon those - because you can't put them back together and expect it to be a safe box. Even with glue.
I don't like that you slip with the knife and cut yourself or the components inside.

[Behemot]

Re: Dead wall wart PSU... opening them

I use flat screwdriver (one small and one big) plus hammer. Often you crack it open on just a few places (corners), than pry a little bit and it goes off completelly.

Good thing is that when you align everything back with long nose pliers, it goes more or less back together and you can just glue it using instant glue (or something similar).

[eccerr0r]

Re: Dead wall wart PSU... opening them

I've never had much luck with those cyanoacrylate glues, they don't take well to shearing I think. If I had to glue one back together I'd probably use a ziptie around the whole thing as the main "prevent unintended disassembly" and then use epoxy to hold together.

Very ugly indeed...

[momaka]

Re: Dead wall wart PSU... opening them

With linear wall-warts/adapters, I usually have good luck opening those with a hammer. Just hit it at the right places on a hard surface.

But laptop adapters are usually a bit tougher. I slightly bent the heatsink on one and made a dent in the main cap on another with the hammer method. So now, I just cut those open with a dremel tool instead.

When it comes to putting it back together, I zip or wire-tie it and run hot melt glue around the whole adapter. Works great, and if I ever need to open it again, I just cut the hot glue with a sharp knife and remove the zip-tie. Then, I can put it back again even easier, since I just re-melt the hot glue and put the zip-tie back on (and yes, I re-use zip-ties - takes me no more than a few seconds to get one opened).

Of course, I only fix those adapters for myself and close friends that I know will be responsible with them (i.e. not someone careless that could get the case opened and get shocked).

I've never had much luck with those cyanoacrylate glues, they don't take well to shearing I think.

Same here.

Only thing I find super/crazy glue good for is fixing tire leaks on my bike and some specific plastics that it works on.

Hot glue is pretty much my go-to glue. It sticks extremely well on wood and acrylic and is OK on PET/HDPE and ABS plastic. Only not so great on vynil and metal. And yes, it is ugly indeed.

[Behemot]

Re: Dead wall wart PSU... opening them

Hot glue is not good for heavily loaded adapters - they are inefficient, go hot and it may not directly melt, but soft for sure. Than it also smells.

When you use the hammer method and craxck it the way you can again tightly close it, than it is good to just pour instant glue into the capilars. It is more firm and also vaporizes at temperatures the adapter won't be able to operate anyway.

[momaka]

Re: Dead wall wart PSU... opening them

The adapter would need to go above 50C-60C case temperature for the hot glue to start softening even a tiny bit. And if your adapter runs that hot, you have other issues then .

[Behemot]

Re: Dead wall wart PSU... opening them

Some wall adapters do…often the transformers are specified for up to 135-175 °C so 60 is no problem at all.