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I chipped off a bit of my otherwise perfectly usable laptop battery and would like to rebuild it. Consider the following picture:

chipped off battery connector of a Thinkpad x270 battery

Now compare it to what is visible e.g. here. I'm curious if it's possible to point a few cameras from a different angle at the bad and manually operate a typical 3D printer (let's say, Creality Ender 3) so that it's me operating the extruder, not a program. Does it have any chance working on that uneven surface?

d33tah
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  • Frame challenge: Does the battery clip securely into place in the laptop and properly power it as is? If so, just leave it alone. – FreeMan Mar 29 '22 at 13:37
  • @FreeMan that's the problem - it doesn't clip without that missing piece. And when it disconnects, the laptop shuts down, instead of using the back-up battery because it's not disconnected the normal way. – d33tah Mar 30 '22 at 15:12
  • That sucks. I asked because some batteries I've used have a latching mechanism that's totally separate from the electrical connections. – FreeMan Mar 30 '22 at 15:21

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In general, maybe. But you need to have plastics that will bond with each other (so you need to know what the existing surface is) and you need to have a clean unobstructed path for the nozzle to get where it needs to go.

In your specific case, this is a battery. Having a 200+ ˚C metal heater block and nozzle tip a few mm away from it, where any wrong move could puncture and short the battery, seems like a really bad idea. I would instead look at recreating the missing part with epoxy resin or something. You could 3D print a mold (note: apply a release agent to the surface!) for this, or you could just glob on more than you need and file the excess off.

If you have a steady hand, a 3D pen might also be an option, but the same concerns about "proximity to battery" as above apply.

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