Broke Bangle2 right at strap connection

Probably not much that can be done about this, but just in case someone has an idea. Through some bad luck I managed to hit my Bangle2 against a hard surface just enough so a small piece of the casing broke away from the one of the little extensions where the strap connects. Just enough of the plastic came off that while I can attach the strap it disconnects with almost any pressure applied (it flew off my arm twice before I took a close look and realized something was broken). Attached a photo, where you can see the metal on the one section is where the plastic broke off.

Any ideas? or am I just out of luck with a watch that I can no longer attach to my wrist safely.

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Argh, sorry to hear that.

I guess you never found the bit that came off?

I'm not sure how hands-on you are, but the case is made of ABS plastic, which is pretty common and could be repaired in a few ways:

• In the unlikely event you have one, it seems some models of '3D printer pen' (eg https://reprapworld.co.uk/3d-pen-filament/3d-pens/3d-pen-black-with-lcd-display-pro-version) go hot enough they melt ABS, so you could just use some ABS filament and 'draw' a replacement bit right onto the case.
  
• If you got another piece of ABS plastic (printer filament, or there are a bunch of normal plastic things that are ABS) then you could mix a little with some Acetone to make a bit of a 'mush', then you could put that all over the area, file it down and drill the hole again and it should be almost as strong as new.
  
• You could also just add a drop of 2 part epoxy (eg. Araldite) over it, and that supposedly has quite a good bond. It's a lot easier, but I'm not sure it'll be as good as using ABS plastic.
  
  

Hope that's some help!

If you got another piece of ABS plastic

AFAIK legos are made of abs 😉

Hmm... might it be the same type of plastic fantasy/sci-fi wargame miniatures are made of?

Expoxy might be something for me to try. I don't think I can find the piece it is very tiny and there are tons of places it could have flown where I broke it.

At worst I guess, I do something subpar, my watch flies off my arm while I'm outside and I lose it. In which cause I'd need to get a new one anyway.

Maybe I can find a kid somewhere and steal one of their legos.

:) I think epoxy is a good try - if it does come off you can always clean up the area and try something else...

FYI I had the exact same bit break off, although I was using a metallic (so maybe less flexible) strap which could have increased the stress on the connection.

I seem to have tightened my nylon fabric band too much and one of the pegs (?) broke for me today. I still have the small piece that came off so I'll try to glue it back and see if it can handle any load again.

EDIT: It also seems like the sprint in my band didn't extend fully into the hole of the peg, instead sitting a bit shallow which meant higher pressure/stress on the area that had to handle the force. If I had used a longer sprint I don't think it would have been broken.

EDIT2: I glued (super glue) the small small piece back a couple months ago. It's been sitting sturdily since then. I didn't manage to fit it perfectly in place, but the result was satisfactory.

EDIT3: It just broke off at the glue joint. Will glue again. Next time I'll try adding some melted lego plastic instead.

EDIT4: I accidentally hit the watch when trying to pull start a motor scythe and the glue joint broke again. I've now melted plastic from a black lego piece and used a dremel to shape the end result. I left a little more material than the original finish had, without making it too bulky.

For now it seems to be pretty durable - I'll report back if it breaks. I don't know, but it feels like the added plastic might be more brittle from having been melted. The soldering iron I used didn't have very good regulation of temperature.

See attached pictures.

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Today it happened to my watch as well. I just came here for inspiration, not sure if I use some super-duper glue as I have that small bit or just go with melting a black lego stuff :)
If there will be bangle.js 3 then this needs to be addressed, maybe inspiration from Pinetime? It seems like good design.

Hi, sorry to hear that yours broke as well.

The best method I've ended up at for now is to melt the lego plastic and swirl it around where the small bit came of. Then fashion the appearance with a dremel. I've ended up leaving more material than was there originally.

Beware of attaching the melted lego plastic to other parts of the watch body - see attached picture.

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Do you have the bit that came off? Because it's ABS plastic it should stick back on with acetone pretty easily.

One of those '3D pens' might work as well to melt plastic back on.

It's tricky - in Pinetime I think they have more space to mount the strap inboard because they don't have a GPS aerial to worry about. If we extended the Bangle.js 2 case downwards I bet most people would complain it was too big.

It does seem you've been unlucky though - there aren't very many of these watches it's happened to given how many we've shipped out.

I had the exact same thing happen to me. Looks like this is a pretty common occurrence, definitely something to improve upon for the next iteration.
I'll try some of the suggestions listed here and report back.

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Well, now it's 5 reports over the course of about 1.5 years and some thousands of bangles. So 'pretty common occurance' is overstating it by pretty much 😇

Doesn't mean it couldn't have been a little more generous with the plastic.

it's 5 reports over the course of about 1.5 years and some thousands of bangles

Yes, it's pretty much 10,000 Bangle.js 2 sold now, and 5 with this problem (and I think one or two more via email). For something that spends every day on your wrist being knocked around it's not that high a failure rate - but as you say it's worth looking at strengthening for a v3.

It's worth noting that most people report their issues publicly on this forum (often in multiple posts), and I make a point of not deleting posts because I think it's important to be honest with everyone.

Unfortunately that means that people come here and see posts on a broken bit of watch body, or bluetooth, or the button, and get the idea that they're unreliable, despite there being a pretty low failure rate. I honestly believe these watches are no less reliable than the competition though, it's just that we don't hide any of the complaints.

Agreed and appreciated! :)

I have had a similar break on one of my Bangle2 watches. It happened when I accidentally dropped the watch onto tile floor from about 1m height while no strap was on the watch. That caused the tab to take the whole force of the impact and break off. Given the unlucky impact angle I would not blame the watch for the failure, pretty much any plastic object would have been damaged by this.
I was able to glue it back on with some super glue and built the area around it up with epoxy resin. This repair has lasted for about a year or so now.
Given its inexpensive nature I am surprised how well the Bangle has held up in over two years of almost daily use.

Same bit broke off here, while being worn, not hitting a thing.
We got two watches, one still worn, the other broken. Agreed, 6 in 10.000 is a low failure rate.
Still, if this happens to you, all of statistics do not work out for you. The watch is gone.
Not everyone is so much of a craftsperson to do such a repair themselves. (I am not!)

If I am not mistaken the casing can be replaced? If you allow a suggestion of dealing with such incidents: Why not provide spare parts?

Thank an keep up the good work so far!

Sorry to hear that - how long did you have it before it broke?

Well, we do provide some spare parts (like watch straps and new screens). The problem is the heart rate monitor and bluetooth aerial are built into the case, and you have to glue the screen on to re-assemble it so it's not a trivial fix.

It may be possible for us to stock some cases, but to date I think you might be the first person to request them, and it sounds like you might not be willing to attempt a repair even so?

the wath was used for a few months (6-8), so really not all that long.

oh, I didn't know that about the build in parts, so that is sad news. There is a thread in this forum about an alternative casing (aluminium?) which gave me the impression it could be replaced easily.
It is not I'm unwilling, I'd rather say incapable. Simply not my field of expertise... I do not even own a soldering iron, and never have used one. (thoughI do own some Lego bricks)
Any one out there any suggestion? I'd hate to ditch a working pice of electronics!

Yes, I think even if we did have new cases available, swapping them isn't something you'd want to do.

Do you have the piece that broke off? Since the Bangle's case is ABS plastic it can be softened with acetone (nail varnish remover). If you can put the bit that broke off back in place, apply a few drops of acetone and then move the plastic around a bit, and the plastic will melt back together and after a few days should be almost as strong as new.

Otherwise I guess there might be some other type of strap that could be fitted - I'm not sure if anyone's got any ideas.

... but even if you can't wear the Bangle as a watch I guess it's still useful for other things - like a temperature/air pressure display or something like that.

edit: how broken is the strap connection? Is it like in the pictures above where the very end has fallen off? If so, it shouldn't be too bad to add a small bit of glue to fill up the gap.

Something like JB Weld (https://www.amazon.co.uk/JB-WELD-MAC8265-S-TEX-8265-S-Weld/dp/B0006O1ICE/ref=asc_df_B0006O1ICE) should do a pretty good job...

• Properly clean the watch
  
• take the metal strap pin out of the strap, put it in the watch where it should be (with the springy end facing away from the broken bit)
  
• Apply the JB weld over the end
  
• when it's try, take the strap pin out and use a nail file or similar to smooth it down
  

Same problem here.

I tried to "replace" the pieces that broke away with a two component glue, but the one I chose was too soft so the pin kept sliding out.
I'll have to look for something that is basically no more flexible than the original ABS once it has completely dried.

Also the strap of the Bangle 1 is falling apart.
I saw replacements in the store but when I wanted to finalize the order, the page told me they are out of stock (and I guess they are not coming back).
Are there alternatives for the B1 straps?
I would even buy a similar watch for a few EUR just to get the wrist band to not have to dump the B1.

That's a shame - you mean yours broke on a Bangle.js 1, or Bangle.js 2?

Yes, I'm afraid we're out of Bangle.js 1 straps and won't be able to get any more stock.

There are a few suggestions for options at https://www.espruino.com/Bangle.js+Strap

If you're not using the HRM (which isn't great on Bangle.js 1 anyway) then adding a fabric strap is really easy.

Or the Suunto adaptor works really nicely and then you can use many normal straps on it.

The Bangle 2 broke at the strap connections on the case.

I might have finally fixed that with UHU Repair all putty
(https://www.gluemaxx.de/en/adhesives/2-component-adhesives/epoxy-putty/18/uhu-repair-all-powerkitt-60g)

The strap of the Bangle 1 ruptured in the "joint" that sits in the clasp when closed.
I tried fixing this one with ordinary super glue. Seems to work for now.

I'm currently in the process of designing a case that has a 'spare' set of strap connections to fix this problem on my watch. I tried melting with acetone, but it crumbled instead of melted.

First time designing a part: I want to adjust some of the sizing/spacings as it leaves too much room inside and the connections don't work with the official silicone strap. But it does fit the watch inside, with the button accessible, heart rate touching my wrist and my metal strap feels solid so far.

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• watch-case.stl
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Cool - thanks for the update! If you got that professionally 3D printed it probably wouldn't cost much and would look great