PLB and EPIRB Battery Replacement Whine

[Fishtales]

Hi,
My PLB battery went out of date in the spring and I need to replace it. I have both and EPIRB and PLB on the boat - EPIRB will come due next year.
The cost of the PLB is less than $250 for the ACR Model. The authorized repair places want $135 or more to change the battery pack. I'm throwing the flag. More than 50% of the cost for a battery replacement is insane. I took the unit apart and the battery pack is (3) 3v CR123 COTS batteries wired in parallel to produce the required 9V with the small connector/wires soldered to the nickel strips that attach the batteries positive and negative leads.

I went to the local Battery Plus Bulbs store. Unfortunately they don't do this work due to liability concerns. If you inadvertently wire them incorrectly you could have a meltdown.
The process for a DIY looks pretty simple. Obtain the batteries and pure nickel strips, solder the wires for the connector to each strip, spot weld the strips to the batteries and then shrinkwrap the cells and mark the date.

All in I'm at $10 for parts. Just going to use a buddys spot welder and heat gun to do the job. I'm surprised that Battery Plus Bulbs doesn't seize this market. You could halve the price and still make a boat load of money....

I'm just sick and tired of marine suppliers gaffing people relatively simple tasks. It's sad that they have to bend people over. I could see $40-50, but $135. That's just insane.

Next up - EPIRB.

 

[Halfhitch]

I agree about the out of sight, ridiculous charges levied just because they figure they are dealing with a bunch of bumpkins. At times it almost meets the criteria for fraud. If a person is competent at maintenance then there is no reason not to do some of the refurbishing required on some of our equipment. At times there are special tools or equipment required that makes it impractical but the guy that you hire to do the work is a human so there is no reason we bumpkins can't do it 'cause we are mostly human.