this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2024
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Beware of the Costco mechanical fish toy! The lithium battery is unsecured and easily damaged (files.catbox.moe)
submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Alt text: picture of a Costco mechanical fish (cat) toy taken apart.

I had one of these fail last night from the battery lead coming off as pictured. That is something I expected. Upon opening the mechanism, both sides of the lithium cell have very concerning damage in a piercing type of abrasion. The cell is relatively small.

Speculatively, I expect the stuffed toy is flammable, making this an ideal house fire starter if the cell gets bridged layers in the battery from a puncture and goes into a runaway state.

All it needs is a way to secure the battery with some double sided tape and extra insurance like some kind of soft filler fabric or material to stop it from rattling around. Maybe add a bit of hot glue to the battery leads at the circuit board to insure they do not fail from a lack of strain relief.

I haven't retraced the circuit, but the battery looks fine otherwise. It appears to have a DW01 like protection board at the cell, and a 4054 batman according to the silkscreen.

battery damage closeup image 1 on catbox.moe battery damage closeup image 2 circuit board close up image 1 circuit board closeup image 2

This is a serious issue that should not be ignored.

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 7 months ago

My cats don't like it so I've been thinking of returning it. This settles that.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 7 months ago (1 children)

[email protected]

[–] [email protected] 19 points 7 months ago (1 children)

You think they'd get upset if I posted a picture of my bed pillow covered in hot sauce?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Nah, there hasn't been a new post there in over a month, so that community needs some spicing up

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

Toss a few jalapeños on it as well.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago (2 children)

how powerfull is this thing that regular batteries weren't enough?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (1 children)

A normal AA battery is probably more powerful than this tiny thing. That cell is probably 3.7v 250 mah at best. My “shitty” ikea rechargeable AAs are like 900 mah, and the good ones are 2400 at 1.2V. 3.7 * 250 is 925 watt hours, 1.2* 900 is 1000, and 1.2 * 2400 is 2800.

The biggest benefit is these are easily and quickly rechargeable.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

An alkaline AA may have more capacity, but the LiPo has lower internal resistance and it's electrolyte is flammable. The worst the alkaline would do it shorted or punctured is get warm and poop out KOH.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 7 months ago (1 children)

By "regular" batteries I assume you mean alkaline ones like your standard AA and AAA. Lithium Ion batteries aren't really more "powerful", more likely the circuit was simply designed for constant 5V because that is cheap and easy nowadays. Small lithium batteries like the one used here and a simple charging circuit and port are dirt cheap when purchased in bulk.

Not to mention there's a size difference both for the battery itself and mounting area for it. For something like a AA battery there needs to be a user accessible battery compartment to replace them. It's cheaper and easier to just not do that.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

Other versions of this use coin cell batteries, not AA or AAA.