Where should I take old electric toothbrush that no longer holds charge or can I change the battery?

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user225688
user225688 Posts: 146 Forumite
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in Green & ethical MoneySaving
They make it so it is really hard to change the battery so I was advised on here some years ago when it was last due to change that I should just throw it away and buy a new one. I hate to do that but can't really see how else to do it since they really seal them up and make it difficult for a layman to change.

I have seen videos on youtube to change the battery; I guess it could be done. Maybe I could give it a go...

Thoughts?

Or else how to dispose of it so it is not gonna be a landfill job? Hate to waste an otherwise perfectly good product.

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  • GDB2222
    GDB2222 Posts: 24,670 Forumite
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    I think you have to accept that the best that will happen is it will be dismantled and various bits recycled. Nobody will fix it unless you do, and it’s not at all easy.

    It’s not just the battery. There are lots of plastic moving parts that have a limited life. A properly made one, with metal gears, would cost far more both in pounds and resources, and most people would just throw them away, anyway.
    No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?
  • EricMears
    EricMears Posts: 3,232 Forumite
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    Our local recycling centre has a bin marked "small appliances". I believe our collection bin is later sorted and one of the streams is also small appliances. Alas, recycling is a postcode lottery so you need to enquire locally.
    NE Derbyshire.4kWp S Facing 17.5deg slope (dormer roof).24kWh of Pylontech batteries with Lux controller BEV : Hyundai Ioniq5
  • roddydogs
    roddydogs Posts: 7,478 Forumite
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    edited 18 January 2020 at 10:54AM
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    You can get a decent oral b for 20£, hardly worth the bother. Or do what I do have 2 so one is always charging, and you always have a charged one. It goes in the electric goods at the dump, ut I doubt if they get recycled.
  • GDB2222
    GDB2222 Posts: 24,670 Forumite
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    roddydogs wrote: »
    You can get a decent oral b for 20£, hardly worth the bother. Or do what I do have 2 so one is always charging, and you always have a charged one. It goes in the electric goods at the dump, ut I doubt if they get recycled.

    They might hit them with a hammer and extract the battery?
    No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?
  • coffeehound
    coffeehound Posts: 5,674 Forumite
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    On Oral-B ones you can use the charger as a lever to open the base by rotating it anti-clockwise to unlock and remove the battery
  • GDB2222
    GDB2222 Posts: 24,670 Forumite
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    On Sonicare, you can remove the base. The problem is not dismantling it to remove the battery. It’s putting it back together after replacing the battery.
    No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?
  • user225688
    user225688 Posts: 146 Forumite
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    edited 18 January 2020 at 12:04PM
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    GDB2222 wrote: »
    I think you have to accept that the best that will happen is it will be dismantled and various bits recycled. Nobody will fix it unless you do, and it’s not at all easy.

    It’s not just the battery. There are lots of plastic moving parts that have a limited life. A properly made one, with metal gears, would cost far more both in pounds and resources, and most people would just throw them away, anyway.

    Yes I didn't expect someone else to use my dirty old toothbrush! Yuck. The parts to be recycled (melted down etc) is what I would hope for.
    roddydogs wrote: »
    You can get a decent oral b for 20£, hardly worth the bother. Or do what I do have 2 so one is always charging, and you always have a charged one. It goes in the electric goods at the dump, ut I doubt if they get recycled.

    Sadly I no longer trust recycling points either. I recently moved from Sheffield (which is supposedly one of the most 'green' cities priding itself on waste management, or so I thought) and on my move while placing stuff that I thought would be recycled I noticed that all the electrical items were just dumped in a big skip which was open to to rain, while the website gave a heart warming story of how all the items would be sent to this charity or that charity to find new loving homes. So I have become more cynical after seeing that.

    Do they even bother to melt down the products for these small items? I can't really imagine a team of workers taking everything apart on these items. Disgusting to think what is going to happen a few years down the road with the population multiplying up and up and very few people giving the slightest care about it. We will run out of real estate for living and be butted up against these waste cesspools as the landfills overflow into our back yards.
    GDB2222 wrote: »
    On Sonicare, you can remove the base. The problem is not dismantling it to remove the battery. It’s putting it back together after replacing the battery.

    Yeah this is what I found last time on videos I watched. Easy to open but I think it even needed some soldering last time I looked. Certainly not designed to be replaced.
  • GDB2222
    GDB2222 Posts: 24,670 Forumite
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    Yes the batteries were soldered on the couple I’ve opened up.
    No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?
  • Ectophile
    Ectophile Posts: 7,331 Forumite
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    Electricals recycling is just smashed up to get at the valuable things inside. Copper is valuable. Gold can be extracted from any gold plated terminals (tiny amounts, but worth money). Steel bits aren't valuable, but are easily recycled anyway. Some of the plastics can be recycled.


    It's not economically viable to fix stuff that's broken and obsolete.
    If it sticks, force it.
    If it breaks, well it wasn't working right anyway.
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