Cleaning Battery and USB Charger Contact Points

Cleaning Battery and USB Charger Contact Points

A five-minute fix that saves nine out of ten "faulty" batteries and charger leads.

We replace batteries and charger leads under our lifetime guarantee whenever a customer needs us to — but when those returned items come back to us, nine times out of ten they aren't faulty at all. They've simply picked up dirt, fluff or debris on the contact points and stopped working as a result. A quick clean, and they're back in action.

This page shows you how to do that clean yourself. It takes about five minutes and three simple tools.

Why contact points matter

Both the battery and the charger lead rely on a small circular metal contact to do their job. If that contact gets blocked by debris — fluff from a pocket, dust from a bag, sticky residue from anywhere — two things go wrong:

On the battery, debris builds up in the small well around the contact and around the airflow pinhole in the thread. That blocks the airflow the battery needs to activate when you inhale. The battery feels dead, but it isn't — it just can't sense the draw. Debris around the contact can also affect the taste coming through the cartomiser.

On the charger lead, even a thin film of grime creates a barrier between the lead and the battery. You attach a battery to charge and the LED stays blue rather than turning red, because the lead can't detect the battery is there. The lead isn't broken — it just can't make a clean connection.

Prevention first

The easiest fix is to stop the dirt getting there in the first place.

  • Keep a used cartomiser attached to your battery when it's in a bag, pocket, wallet or purse. This is the single biggest thing you can do. It covers the contact and stops fluff and debris settling in the well.  We also supply a nice carry case for batteries and cartomisers.  Very handy for when you are on the move and of course keeps batteries and cartomisers protected from any dirt/debris
  • Store everything dry and at room temperature. Miniciggy batteries and leads don't tolerate damp or wet environments — that will damage them.
  • Keep your charger lead off surfaces where it can pick up dust and grime. A drawer or a small pouch is ideal.

What you'll need

Three things, most of which you'll already have:

  • The end of a small knife or a flat-blade jeweller's screwdriver
  • A pin or sewing needle
  • An alcohol cleansing wipe (optional but helpful — isopropyl alcohol is ideal because it evaporates cleanly)


Cleaning a battery

  1. Disconnect the battery from any cartomiser or charger before you start.
  2. Use the end of the knife to lightly scrape the small circular contact in the centre. Work gently until you see shiny metal again. Blow away any loose debris.
  3. Run the pin around the well — the recessed area surrounding the central contact. This is where the debris that blocks airflow tends to settle. Loosen it out and tip the battery to clear it.
  4. Push the pin gently through the small pinhole on the threaded side of the battery. This is the airflow channel and it needs to be clear for the battery to activate on inhale.
  5. If you have an alcohol wipe, run it over the contact, the well, and the thread to lift any remaining residue and dry quickly.

Cleaning a USB charger lead

  1. Unplug the lead from any USB power source.
  2. Use the end of the knife to lightly scrape the small circular contact at the head of the lead, working until clean metal shows.
  3. Wipe the contact with an alcohol wipe if you have one. The contact area on a charger lead is more exposed than on a battery, so a wipe makes a real difference here.
  4. Reconnect a battery. The LED should now register the battery (typically turning red while charging, then blue when complete).

A quick safety note

These are simple tools but you're working on a lithium cell, so a little care goes a long way:

  • Always disconnect everything before you start cleaning.
  • Work gently. You're lifting dirt off a contact, not gouging metal. Stop if you see damage to the contact, the casing, or the thread.
  • If a battery feels hot, looks damaged, or smells unusual at any point, stop and get in touch with us — don't continue using it.

See it in action

Here's a short video of us cleaning a returned USB lead. When it came back to us the LED stayed blue when a battery was attached — it wasn't detecting the battery at all. As you'll see, the contact was covered in grime. Four minutes of cleaning, and it was working again. It had never actually stopped working — it just hadn't been looked after.

Video: Cleaning a USB charger lead

Still not working?

If you've cleaned the contacts and a battery or charger lead is still not behaving, get in touch. Every Miniciggy battery is covered by our lifetime replacement guarantee, so if it's genuinely faulty, we'll sort it out.

You'll find answers to common questions on our FAQs page, or you can contact us directly and we'll help you get it working.