Replacing The Coin Battery In the Specialized SL TCU Gen 1

[etgo]

any one having problem after chaging the tcu batt? (tcu gen 1)
before, once i press 1x my tcu turned on right away.
after replacing the tcu batt, i need to press 3x to turn on the tcu.

 

[Saratoga Dave]

Holy smokes, what a party that was! Finally got it with Art’s technique of the jeweler’s screwdriver all by itself, but it was my wife who finally made it happen. What a jackass excuse for a design, though!

As for etgo’s note above, it has almost always taken me two presses of the start button to get the TCU turned on, and now after the replacement, the same thing is true. Mind of it’s own.

 

[neighbor-ryan]

My wife got it, using just small bathroom scissors: depress the tab and work the battery out, from the tab side. Very relieved to not have to take it in.

We tried to "simultaneously hold flap open, depress tab with tweezers, and lever battery out with scissor" for a while, but gave up. Then she figured it out with just the scissors.

 

[matt-h]

Thanks everyone! I used the procedure you described (particularly Stefan) to replace the battery in my wife's TCU. One thing I did differently is that, rather than using a needle as Stefan suggested, I used the tool pictured (which I happened to have in my toolbox). I think it has a bit more leverage than a needle. If I do it again, I might try to wrap it with a thin layer of something to give it a bit more friction.

 

[BioWheel]

Thanks everyone! I used the procedure you described (particularly Stefan) to replace the battery in my wife's TCU. One thing I did differently is that, rather than using a needle as Stefan suggested, I used the tool pictured (which I happened to have in my toolbox). I think it has a bit more leverage than a needle. If I do it again, I might try to wrap it with a thin layer of something to give it a bit more friction.

View attachment 183351

Guy posted on FB recently he just hits the TCU into his palm and battery comes out - no tool needed.

 

[Phil Howell]

I tried plastic tweezers (the little needle-shaped tips broke off in the unit). Next, I tried a small metal pick, but that didn't work. I tried the hitting on my hand to get the battery to fall out method. That didn't work for me, either. I finally stuck a small zip tie down the side of the battery and pulled the zip tie out while depressing the clip. The battery came out far enough to get it with needle-nose pliers. What a stupid, stupid design!

I just ordered plastic tweezers with flat jaws from Amazon that may work the next time I need to replace the battery.

 

[Allan47.7339]

I have found the easiest method is to use either a small flat screwdriver (0.1in or 3mm blade) or a scalpel hobby knife (x-acto) to carefully flex the retainer lip down and let the battery slide out. May need to use the tip of the knife to help it slide out.

 

[Tarcher]

Guy posted on FB recently he just hits the TCU into his palm and battery comes out - no tool needed.

Easiest way I found that doesn’t risk damage to the tcu is to unplug the 2 connector wires from the tcu, remove unit from bike, depress retaining tab and lightly tap tcu housing on a hard surface and the battery just falls out. Once battery is replaced (note which side was up before removal), close rubber door, reconnect wires by carefully matching tabs on connectors and reinstall tcu.

 

[Allan47.7339]

Easiest way I found that doesn’t risk damage to the tcu is to unplug the 2 connector wires from the tcu, remove unit from bike, depress retaining tab and lightly tap tcu housing on a hard surface and the battery just falls out. Once battery is replaced (note which side was up before removal), close rubber door, reconnect wires by carefully matching tabs on connectors and reinstall tcu.

The was a post on the FB Creo site to use a magnet to pull the battery out while depressing the retainer. I may try that next time.