SE HB2 Piezo battery wire snapped.

Roving_Drummer

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Apr 7, 2021
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Ever since I changed my first battery on this thing, I knew one day a wire would snap. It finally did last week. It snapped from the battery compartment luckily. If it snapped from the board I'd be in trouble. I reattached it with a small piece of electrical tape and it's held up so far.

The battery just doesn't sit comfortably in the container PRS uses.

Am I playing with fire with my fix? Or should I get it repaired by a pro. I cannot solder at all. I tried when building electronic drums with piezo so my soldering myself is out of the question. Even if PRS resoldered it its going to snap again. It's just too flimsy. I'd be scared to use this live if I was a gigging guitarist.
 
Ever since I changed my first battery on this thing, I knew one day a wire would snap. It finally did last week. It snapped from the battery compartment luckily. If it snapped from the board I'd be in trouble. I reattached it with a small piece of electrical tape and it's held up so far.

The battery just doesn't sit comfortably in the container PRS uses.

Am I playing with fire with my fix? Or should I get it repaired by a pro. I cannot solder at all. I tried when building electronic drums with piezo so my soldering myself is out of the question. Even if PRS resoldered it its going to snap again. It's just too flimsy. I'd be scared to use this live if I was a gigging guitarist.
Bring it over, I’ll solder it back on for you
 
Thanks for the offer.

The problem with soldering again is its going to snap eventually. I love this guitar but this was a poor design. The wires are so thin and exposed, and there is no relief on either side. So when you pull the battery compartment out, the wires are going to move.

I wish I could easily upload photos here. Either way, if/ when anyone's breaks off, tape will fix it.
 
I've had to re-solder my P22's twice. Seems pretty fragile compared to the rest of the guitar.
 
You could try putting some wire extenders and a snap lock connector on there then the flexing would be minimal...and I'm talking to PRS here as I also have this guitar...and expect the issue to occur! I wonder how the Core HB II Piezo has the battery compartment...
 
You could try putting some wire extenders and a snap lock connector on there then the flexing would be minimal...and I'm talking to PRS here as I also have this guitar...and expect the issue to occur! I wonder how the Core HB II Piezo has the battery compartment...

This. I'd seriously consider splicing a bit of wiring in to reduce stress if you can. I'm not sure what the connectors actually look like to get more specific.
 
When I first put in the battery I knew the wire wouldn't hold. First time I gigged with it the hot wire broke. The next morning when I pulled the compartment out to solder the hot wire the black one broke off just before the solder joint. I beefed up the end of the wires by tinning about an 1/8" of the end of the wire before soldering it and shrink tubed each end and connection. Real pain in the ass because the wire was already nearly too short to work with. Took extra time as a preventative measure because if it happens again I'll have to change the wire back to the board. Such a nice guitar and such a POS battery holder/connection. I guess that part of the design was some kids science project?
 
The design is worse than a kids science project, you can buy better online than this rubbish.
I have a 15year old electro acoustic with far superior quick change.
PBR should be ashamed and apologise for this crap and design a decent replacement.
Oh, and sack the people/persons that made and approved it.
Apart from that the guitar is o.k.
 
The piece of tape I used to repair mine is still holding up. 4 months now. I even changed the battery twice. I'll get it soldered one day, but I'm not looking forward to not having the guitar for a couple weeks since that's how busy the only luthier I'll use is booked out.

Love this guitar.
 
I have done a good bit of soldering so I would pull the unit out of the body and replace the battery connector at the board. You can buy good connectors for cheap. I keep some in the parts drawer. Then you can determine the length and gauge of wire you want to use. If you are not comfortable doing this, find someone in your area to do it for you. It isn't a difficult fix for someone that has soldering skills.
 
For soldering a Luthier should not be required and should take less than a minute. Find someone with soldering experience and they should be able to fix this up. I'm in the Chicago area and would assist!
 
I’ve had to resolder the wires twice to the tabs on the battery compartment on my core HB II. When I first opened it up to replace the battery and saw the small wires, short leads, no heat shrink and then how you had to pry the battery out, I thought this was a bad design and I’d be fixing it. When I had time I took it apart and installed larger gauge wire and made the leads longer so now there’s not as much strain on the solder joints. Knock on wood but I haven’t had to fix it again.
 
I’ve had to resolder the wires twice to the tabs on the battery compartment on my core HB II. When I first opened it up to replace the battery and saw the small wires, short leads, no heat shrink and then how you had to pry the battery out, I thought this was a bad design and I’d be fixing it. When I had time I took it apart and installed larger gauge wire and made the leads longer so now there’s not as much strain on the solder joints. Knock on wood but I haven’t had to fix it again.
Next time the battery needs changing I'm going to do this same thing. I also use the same battery and mark the date as you do. I'm amazed the Amazon batteries work so well!
 
Next time the battery needs changing I'm going to do this same thing. I also use the same battery and mark the date as you do. I'm amazed the Amazon batteries work so well!
Ive been using the Amazon batteries for a couple years and so far I’ve had good luck with them.
 
I have the same problem as all of you. Had to change out the battery with about 1 1/2" of wire available coming out the battery compartment. Love this guitar and was EXTREMELY worried about scratching up the body BECAUSE i couldn't get the battery out of the clip, it was unbelievably tight. SO, grabbed a small flathead to pry it out after positioning a towel around the bottom so as not to scratch the guitar and the black wire broke off the solder point and THEN the red one. I have 3 electric acoustics I play and ALL of them have better battery compartments. It is a ridiculouse POS enginering that PRS should be apologizing for and come up with a fix. Sweetwater is willing to ship me another HB or reimburse me up to $150 for the repair as I can't solder worth a ****. Can't really imagine that a new HB would be any differnent. Have ordered another guitar (different brand) as a backup as I can't have this happen at the gigs I play. Looking at all the other piezo's PRS has on Sweetwater, the bottom end compartment is exactly the same. Has anyone talked to a rep on the phone and gotten any kind of response???? Sweetwater can't approach them as it is a PRS design and wants me to speak with PRS direct.
 
Why don’t you try putting the two wires together in one piece of heat shrink tubing? That way when you are pulling on the battery you are pulling evenly on both wires together which should be much stronger.

As for pulling the battery out easier.. You could always superglue a piece of electrical tape on the short side of the battery, obviously make it just long enough so you can pull on it. Then slide the battery back in and fold the tail of the tape over the back of the battery before you close the compartments lid. Just an idea that I have used in the past. The whole idea behind the tight battery cavity is so that the battery won’t rattle around or vibrate in the compartment, that and it keeps the wire leads from moving around which could cause them to prematurely break.
 
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Thanks for the response, Ruffone. I'm not a guitar tech or luthier and as a player, have never come across this issue. The clip that holds the battery in place is so tight that after the wire leads broke and I could get the battery out without damaging the top on the guitar, the 9 volt had a dent on one side. After my backup guitar arrives, will take it to a guitar tech and have him take a look. I have some pedals that can simulate the piezo on the songs that require it but my intention moving forward is to see what the tech thinks he can do and make a decision on whether I ask for a replacement guitar from Sweetwater or just get another brand guitar altogether......
 
Ever since I changed my first battery on this thing, I knew one day a wire would snap. It finally did last week. It snapped from the battery compartment luckily. If it snapped from the board I'd be in trouble. I reattached it with a small piece of electrical tape and it's held up so far.

The battery just doesn't sit comfortably in the container PRS uses.

Am I playing with fire with my fix? Or should I get it repaired by a pro. I cannot solder at all. I tried when building electronic drums with piezo so my soldering myself is out of the question. Even if PRS resoldered it its going to snap again. It's just too flimsy. I'd be scared to use this live if I was a gigging guitarist.
Got a picture of where/ how you placed the tape? Same issue here
 
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