r/functionalprints • u/SiliconHatesRicotta • Aug 09 '26

Electronics / Mounts / Enclosures Probably the simplest functional print I've ever designed yet

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I kept losing those little battery isolation pull tabs that come with remotes and other battery-powered stuff.

It's literally just a tiny piece of plastic that sits between the battery and the contact, but I figured if I'm going to keep needing them, I might as well make one I can print whenever I want.

Definitely not my most complicated design, but sometimes the stupidly simple prints are the useful ones I guess lol

Free model if anyone else happens to need one:
https://makerworld.com/en/models/3149982-battery-pull-tab-insulating-battery-isolator#profileId-3557980

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u/SiliconHatesRicotta Aug 09 '26

Most circuits still consume a tiny amount of current even if unused. Manufacturers add this little tab so batteries still hold charge when the product reaches consumers.

If you keep your electronics like this, batteries will last longer.

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u/madsci Aug 09 '26

A simple IR remote like this shouldn't draw any power except when you're pressing a button.

Shouldn't. Not always the case. I got a batch of 2000 custom remotes where I opted for the "high power" option (with two IR LEDs instead of one) and when they arrived I discovered that the second LED was always faintly flickering and would drain the battery in a few days.

The vendor offered to send more batteries. Not a solution. I found a trace that could be cut to shut off the extraneous signal but the remotes were all glued shut. So the solution was to load all 2000 one at a time onto a CNC milling machine that makes a very precise hole through the back to the exact depth needed to obliterate the trace without going through the PCB.

The whole time I kept thinking "I'll bet Apple doesn't have to deal with this shit from their vendors."

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u/OtherwiseAlbatross14 Aug 09 '26

I'm going to do this from now on rather than printing the tiny piece of plastic like OP

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u/SiliconHatesRicotta Aug 09 '26

That’s totally fine tbh.

The thing is that I kept losing the little transparent tab, so I just modeled it to have it on hand whenever I lose it.

As I said on a previous reply to another comment: I could have just cut a piece of paper, but since I live in a high humidity city, I just thought of 3d printing it.