# Sram etap battery tab broken and battery falling off rear derailleur



## charlitin

Hi recently my rear battery in my etap fell off after a series of hard bumps. I noticed that the tab that goes at the bottom of the battery was broken and it had remained in the derailleur. That was Saturday. Today I go to recharge the other battery and the same thing happened. This time I noticed it when I was placing the battery to charge and it wouldn't click. I went back outside and there it was sitting in the front derailleur tab the tiny piece of plastic. 
I live by the ocean and sweat a lot so I have to lubricate everything or it rusts. I started lubricating the etap when I noticed some rust In the exposed front derailleur springs. My etap is 5 months old. Riding average 5x week. 
Any one with this issue?



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## ceugene

I had the issue with one battery early on, but not since. I had been using degreaser liberally in the area along with pulling my derailleur out of the way of my cogs using the battery as a handle, so any insight I have is inconclusive. It's certainly possible something like Simple Green can dry out a plastic really quickly and make it brittle. It's also possible exacerbated the issue by using the battery as a gripping point for moving it out of the way during wheel changes.


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## charlitin

I saw a review in amazon with the same issue. 
This is what happened to me. To both batteries. 1 broke in the rear derailleur and the other in the front one. 












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## harryman

Warranty those babies, I bet they will replace them no questions asked. It's apparent that there's an issue.


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## charlitin

ceugene said:


> I had the issue with one battery early on, but not since. I had been using degreaser liberally in the area along with pulling my derailleur out of the way of my cogs using the battery as a handle, so any insight I have is inconclusive. It's certainly possible something like Simple Green can dry out a plastic really quickly and make it brittle. It's also possible exacerbated the issue by using the battery as a gripping point for moving it out of the way during wheel changes.


I think you have a valid point. I have done both things you mentioned. I was going to sell it back I'm undecided . I love the way it shifts but if I'm in The middle of a ride and hit a pothole and the battery falls then that is no bueno. I love reliability above all. 


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## charlitin

charlitin said:


> I think you have a valid point. I have done both things you mentioned. I was going to sell it back I'm undecided . I love the way it shifts but if I'm in The middle of a ride and hit a pothole and the battery falls then that is no bueno. I love reliability above all.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


It happened again. I crazy glued it. Now I had a spare. It only happens on the rear derailleur. I think the metal hitting the plastic is a bad thing. I wonder if sram is going to do something about it. 


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## ceugene

charlitin said:


> It happened again. I crazy glued it. Now I had a spare. It only happens on the rear derailleur. I think the metal hitting the plastic is a bad thing. I wonder if sram is going to do something about it.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I haven't had issues with my batteries ever since I stopped yanking on them and using solvents in that area.


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## charlitin

This is what happens

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## charlitin

Here are the pics










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## ceugene

https://www.instagram.com/p/BG2TAvTyOel/?taken-by=dorkeugene

As you can see it happened to me once early on. Hasn't happened to me again once I started using a little more care. I do think the tab needs to be bulked up, but I also think it can be avoided with even the slightest caution.


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## charlitin

ceugene said:


> I haven't had issues with my batteries ever since I stopped yanking on them and using solvents in that area.


But how can you yank them? When you release the top tab the battery just falls. Maybe that is the problem. Letting it fall instead of pulling it up so it doesn't bend by falling back? It makes no sense. I'm going to create a complaint with the BBB so they get a recall or someone looks into it.


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## ceugene

charlitin said:


> But how can you yank them? When you release the top tab the battery just falls. Maybe that is the problem. Letting it fall instead of pulling it up so it doesn't bend by falling back? It makes no sense. I'm going to create a complaint with the BBB so they get a recall or someone looks into it.


I used to dank the derailleur by the battery to swing the parallelogram out of the way when removing wheels. Also when I remove the battery now, I don't just let the battery fall out. I press the battery firmly against the derailleur and pop the tab. I do the same thing when inserting the battery. I make sure it's sitting cleanly in the hook.


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## charlitin

ceugene said:


> I used to dank the derailleur by the battery to swing the parallelogram out of the way when removing wheels. Also when I remove the battery now, I don't just let the battery fall out. I press the battery firmly against the derailleur and pop the tab. I do the same thing when inserting the battery. I make sure it's sitting cleanly in the hook.



Ok so press the battery before it releases. Do not use the battery as a point of leverage and pull it up when releasing it? I am doing those. still I placed an electrical tape piece at the bottom where the battery sits. The metal grinding on plastic is not a good thing. 
I don't know how cautious you can be with an equipment that is made to take a beating. Literally the rear derailleur takes all the brunt of the road. This is the reason why the body (where the battery sits) is made of metal. 
I call it design flaw. A lot of people having this issue is not normal. 



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## Izack

charlitin said:


> Hi recently my rear battery in my etap fell off after a series of hard bumps. I noticed that the tab that goes at the bottom of the battery was broken and it had remained in the derailleur. That was Saturday. Today I go to recharge the other battery and the same thing happened. This time I noticed it when I was placing the battery to charge and it wouldn't click. I went back outside and there it was sitting in the front derailleur tab the tiny piece of plastic.
> I live by the ocean and sweat a lot so I have to lubricate everything or it rusts. I started lubricating the etap when I noticed some rust In the exposed front derailleur springs. My etap is 5 months old. Riding average 5x week.
> Any one with this issue?
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I have the same issue..bottom of the battery broken and also top of the battery start showing some crack. Wandering what’s going on. Submitted my complain to SRAM but yet to receive any respond.


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## jrizo1

Izack said:


> I have the same issue..bottom of the battery broken and also top of the battery start showing some crack. Wandering what’s going on. Submitted my complain to SRAM but yet to receive any respond.


Did you heard from them?


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## jrizo1

I just got mine and I was going to install it this weekend but now I am second guessing it. I don’t even want to open it so I can return it


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## Izack

jrizo1 said:


> Did you heard from them?


Not yet, will update once they reply.


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## jrizo1

Izack said:


> Not yet, will update once they reply.


Thanks


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## g-Bike

I have been running etap on my road bike for over a year and 4 months without any battery tab issues, I liked it do much I installed the etap HRD on my new cx bike at the beginning of the season and all is well so far....


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## cxwrench

I'm seriously wondering what is going on w/ these batteries. I've been working with etap for over 2 years and I deal with a pro team's worth of bikes, both road and tt. Not had one battery tab has broken.


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## squareslinky

Warranty it. They should give you new batteries. They announced something about cleaning loquids making it brittle months back.


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## djepayne

I cycled 13,000 miles in 2017 with SRAM eTap on my road bike, not a single battery issue.


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## 1001001

Hi I thought you all might be interested in the repair modification that I made to my etap batteries when the tab broke off. I have had three broken batteries in 2 years, luckily not while competing. The plate is made of 0.5mm thick brass plate and is fixed with strong double sided tape.


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## paulkilroy

Did the extra height of the brass plate and tape cause any fit issues? Seems like it would put more stress on the plastic part that clicks on the top of you don’t grind some material away.


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## 1001001

Hi 

I filed away some of the case to allow for the plate and tape there seems to be plenty of material but only go as far as you need, there is no strain on fitting the battery etc.


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## tejentejen

The short answer is SRAM does not care. I e-mailed the head of product at SRAM, Ron Ritzler and simply asked him to reply to three questions. 

1. Is SRAM aware of this issue?2. Do you feel it is an issue?

3. Is it being addressed?

 
He did reply, but instead of any sort of answer he told me to contact my local bike shop and have them contact the deal hotline. In other words he just told me to F-off. This is a known problem and SRAM is doing nothing to fix it. Nor do they care about their customers. Lesson learned, will go Shimano next time.


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## tejentejen

1001001 said:


> Hi
> 
> I filed away some of the case to allow for the plate and tape there seems to be plenty of material but only go as far as you need, there is no strain on fitting the battery etc.



The thing is you paid $3K for etap, SRAM should be fixing the problem, not their customers.


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## cxwrench

tejentejen said:


> The thing is you paid $3K for etap, SRAM should be fixing the problem, not their customers.


NO one pays $3,000 for etap, at least not American dollars...if they do they're stupid. 



tejentejen said:


> The short answer is SRAM does not care. I e-mailed the head of product at SRAM, Ron Ritzler and simply asked him to reply to three questions.
> 
> 1. Is SRAM aware of this issue?2. Do you feel it is an issue?
> 
> 3. Is it being addressed?
> 
> 
> He did reply, but instead of any sort of answer he told me to contact my local bike shop and have them contact the deal hotline. In other words he just told me to F-off. This is a known problem and SRAM is doing nothing to fix it. Nor do they care about their customers. Lesson learned, will go Shimano next time.


Jesus, you are dramatic. It's not that guys job to answer questions like this about product. I've definitely heard about it happening but I don't think there's a problem. Like I posted on the first page I've been working w/ etap since well before it was available to the public and in large quantity. Never had a battery break. I have had a few decide to die at rather inconvenient times but never had a tab break. Pretty sure I know what causes it and it's not the fault of the battery or SRAM.


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## Marc

cxwrench said:


> NO one pays $3,000 for etap, at least not American dollars...if they do they're stupid.



Well...you either pay MAP for the group...or you get sponsored....or you buy BikesDirect or other complete bike.

https://www.bicycleretailer.com/international/2016/10/26/sram-claims-victories-retail-pricing


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## cxwrench

tejentejen said:


> The thing is you paid $3K for etap, SRAM should be fixing the problem, not their customers.





tejentejen said:


> The short answer is SRAM does not care. I e-mailed the head of product at SRAM, Ron Ritzler and simply asked him to reply to three questions.
> 
> 1. Is SRAM aware of this issue?2. Do you feel it is an issue?
> 
> 3. Is it being addressed?
> 
> 
> He did reply, but instead of any sort of answer he told me to contact my local bike shop and have them contact the deal hotline. In other words he just told me to F-off. This is a known problem and SRAM is doing nothing to fix it. Nor do they care about their customers. Lesson learned, will go Shimano next time.





Marc said:


> Well...you either pay MAP for the group...or you get sponsored....or you buy BikesDirect or other complete bike.
> 
> https://www.bicycleretailer.com/international/2016/10/26/sram-claims-victories-retail-pricing


I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be getting from that link but you can get the upgrade kit for less than $1700...if you need the whole group it's still not close to $3k.


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## Animal

*Sram Red Battery*

This a design fault I've had my Cervelo R5 for about 5 months and both batteries have gone. The first battery broke after a few days of having the bike, I put hat down to operator error (rear mec), the second battery went yesterday (front mec). The tab is brittle and on the inside of the battery it is not actually connected to the body of the battery itself so it simply breaks away from the body of the battery.

Solution - the tab is nearly always left in the mec, fish it out and super glue it back and it will be stronger than the original.
If you have a new battery put a drop of glue behind the tab, this will ensure that it does not break off subsequently.

Great system but let down by a poor battery


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## normandbou

I had the same problem for about 5 month with my battery that always brake , especially when the Road is a bit rough. I broke so far about 8 batteries. I called Sram 3 times but always tell me to contact the retails saler and the retailer told me to contact Sram . Last time I go with Sram, next I go with Shimano. I will contact them again and will talk to them seriously otherwise will make film on YouTube . I bet when I will tell them that they will make a move !


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## cxwrench

normandbou said:


> I had the same problem for about 5 month with my battery that always brake , especially when the Road is a bit rough. I broke so far about 8 batteries. I called Sram 3 times but always tell me to contact the retails saler and the retailer told me to contact Sram . Last time I go with Sram, next I go with Shimano. I will contact them again and will talk to them seriously otherwise will make film on YouTube . I bet when I will tell them that they will make a move !


You need to tell your retailer that SRAM doesn't take call from customers, ONLY retailers. Well, that's the case in the US, not sure where you are.


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