Cloud Key Gen2+ Teardown and Battery Removal

[@weaselstonk6780]

New ones aren't even coming with batteries. Thanks for the video!

[@instuller]

You were fortunate to have a newer unit that doesnt have the OLED glued down also. In another video, he has that like I do. Basically will crack trying to get it off. I did heat, gentle pry, etc.

[@techtraption7240]

Interesting, I wasn't aware there were two versions of the cloud key G2+.

[@landspide]

Mine had polycarbonate or acrylic OLED piece, it was plastic, not glass. Most likely same material as the back.

[@lukevdmeij]

Thanks mate, that helped out a lot. Removed the swollen battery, and added extension sata cable; I have my hdd on top of the CK now and it’s running at comfortable low temperature. Nice vid, appreciate it!

[@techtraption7240]

Fantastic! Glad you're back up and running!

[@cgritt]

Thank you! Instructions helped immensely. Only thing I had to do differently was the lcd would not easily come out with sticker, so I carefully unscrewed the corner screw which helped to lift it out enough to get both screws. Somehow when putting it back together the screen reset and I couldn't easily lift to get screws back in so I just left those two out to avoid the risk of cracking the screen. Also there was a heatsink that got hung up and I had to carefully assist in prying it out. Given the battery doesn't seem necessary anymore, I just left it out.

[@techtraption7240]

That's what I did but plugged it into a UPS so if the power blinked the system wouldn't get corrupted again. Need to shut these down properly.

[@colinapel7156]

You can heat up the plastic and glue to make it easier. With a hairdryer for example.

[@lawdawg1942]

These things get so hot, just do the work after it's been running for a few hours lol.

[@techtraption7240]

yes that's a good idea, I considered it but was able to pry it off so I went that route. I've melted/warped plastic parts accidentally in the past so I only use heat when necessary.

[@LexxM3]

This is a fantastic video and tutorial on opening up the unit. Would not have even started without it. Thank you! I managed to take the front panel plastic off using sacrificial thin plastic guitar picks (0.5mm) since a) I don't have a thin solid metal spudger, and b) I don't like to use metal for this purpose to avoid excess force and scratches The trick for the guitar pick to find the right place to start the separation. That place is the thin plastic bar between the RJ45 connector and microSD socket. Once GENTLY lifted, it gives access to start separating the panel from metal all the way around the RJ45; and once that gets going, the rest is fairly easy. In more general terms, find a place to start that has the LEAST GLUED SURFACE AREA and then work your way outwards from there. Now that I have it open, will be trying to replace the battery. The battery pack is two side-by-side 3.7V batteries wired together (presumably in series) with a protection circuit and a terminal for a temperature sensor. Such battery packs (7.4V in a dual 3.7V + protection circuit) seem to be nearly impossible to find (I contacted APack the manufacturer but am not holding my breath), so I will be getting 2x 3.7V batteries and resoldering them to the protection circuit (the temperature thermistor appears to be on the protection circuit board). I'll post an update if/when that works (or not), but perhaps these notes will already further help someone to proceed as well.

[@techtraption7240]

Thanks for the positive response, glad the video helped you! I use the plastic spudgers a lot also and agree they help to keep from scratching surface areas. In this case I was getting frustrated and tired of dulling the plastic spudger. You likely have more patience than I do :)

[@yuxianwang3238]

Thanks for the video. it's pain in the ass tearing down this UCKG2+ I already gave up just after few steps. Currently I'm using mine without soft power off and my UCK is almost one year beyond standard warranty. I'm planning to up grade that to the UDM pro.

[@techtraption7240]

You might consider putting the unit on a UPS if it's not already on one. That way a blip in the power doesn't reboot it and corrupt the db. The UDM Pro is another great option I"m using one as well.

[@yuxianwang3238]

@@techtraption7240 it’s already on UPS and I put 256GB SSD in the unit to prevent HDD failure. there are way to many 2.5 spinning disk failed in my hand.

[@erikegnesund8138]

Thanks for the video. The UDR, and probably UDM too, are even worse getting appart.

[@techtraption7240]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching.

[@thisiszeev]

Thank you for this. I am about to start a project that requires me to disassemble, modify and reassemble a CK2+. You saved me a lot of trial and error. Here's a cool idea. Why not make more videos about Teardown stuff. I am sure many people would be willing to send you some old gear to teardown. There is not enough content like this. Yeah sure, there is content for laptop and phone teardowns, but this... this doesn't exist except here. Posted a link to this video on the Ubnt Unofficial Subreddit

[@techtraption7240]

I would consider more videos like this if people are interested and would provide the hardware.

[@thisiszeev]

@@techtraption7240 I actually built my project. Ended up project and ended up not needing to disassemble. I now have a CK2+ running as a next cloud, jellyfin, transmission, pi hole and it backs up my hosting server daily. It has external hard drives to expand storage to 4tb.

[@CapsLock33]

thank you for your detailed teardown! I will be doing this on my day off.

[@techtraption7240]

Good luck!

[@EsotericArctos]

A second note on this one. Anyone trying this trick, contact UI Support BEFORE doing any disassembly. My CKG2+ is 3 years old, out of warranty, but when I told Ubiquiti it was the battery issue, they IMMEDIATELY accepted it for RMA with no questions asked. The support rep said to me, as it was a battery issue they will accept RMA for it. I am in Australia, so had to ship it to the USA for RMA, but $30 shipping and just under a month later, I have a brand new CKG2+. Ubiquiti accepted it for RMA and just swapped it out due to the battery failing, no questions asked. Before disassembling, I very highly recommend go to UI support and tell them your CKG2+ has a faulty battery. I added a note that I was concerned about safety due to the failed battery, not sure if that helped the cause, but it didn't hurt it :) The automated RMA system initially closed mine as out of warranty, but I just went straight back to the support ticket and the support engineer reopened and accepted the RMA manually.

[@techtraption7240]

Glad you were able to get yours replaced. Mine was only two years old, I also tried submitting it under warranty but was declined twice. I guess it depends which support agent you get.

[@mikegill1669]

Appreciate this tip! Mine was four years from purchase date and accepted. It wasn't even a thought to try this due to that. I only posted in the rma request description that the battery had failed, which is true. Mine isn't swollen and I wasn't sure if that was a determining factor. At least with my case it went through and I'm happy about getting a new unit with no battery to worry about in the future. Models after a certain recent date don't have one as it's not needed any more due to recent improvements in the DB handling of unexpected power failures.

[@6stringz210]

Thank you! Need to tear mine down for some mods and this explained everything in perfect detail.

[@techtraption7240]

Glad it helped!

[@sorinmiliescu]

Probably you should mod the case and bring out the battery connector, so you can run it with the battery externally, or from an external power bank, etc

[@rosnow]

There’s a usb port to power it externally.

[@techtraption7240]

Yeah, if I had more time I've considered working on a backup battery based on super capacitors but i don't have the time to build it right now.

[@lambic99]

Thanks for the video. Question though : Does removing the battery fixes anything at all? or you replaced the battery with a new one?

[@EsotericArctos]

There is nothing broken with the battery dead. It just doesn't have the graceful shutdown feature, so it is like the Cloud Key Gen 1 and will just turn off instantly and can (most likely will) corrupt MongoDB. You have to replace the battery if you actually want to have the Graceful Shutdown. The battery is not easy to find. It is a 2 Cell, 7.4V battery. If you do replace the battery, in 12 to 18 months you will have exactly the same issue as the heat will kill new battery. You are better to put an external rechargeable battery pack on the device, if you need the graceful shutdown. While you are inside it, put a couple of cables on to use an external hard drive so you can use larger drives :)

[@lambic99]

@@EsotericArctos thank you so much for the great explanation. So far I've had 3 power outage and my UPC drained and the cloud key shutdown. Each time corrupting the database. First time I had to reset 3 cameras manually using a ladder because I didn't set the password. I just don't want to get a corrupt db. Maybe I need to find another solution since I just don't have the time or will to manually hack the cloud key. Very disappointing for unifi honestly. Again thanks for the explanation!

[@techtraption7240]

I would recommend you look into the UDM Pro. You can easily migrate to it from a CK & USG setup.

[@GeorgeTJ]

Great one man. Thanks for the video! Now I know I won't the change the battery on mine ... :)

[@techtraption7240]

Glad I could help

[@emralkan]

Hello. my uckG2+ won't work, never happened and I saw your first step video. It's a great share. we were about to die when we were about to get hurt thanks to you. but it still didn't work when it was reassembled in the same way. what could be the problem? is it a pill? Did the battery go to another love or? this is your only technical technical feed, I am waiting for your help🙏🏼

[@techtraption7240]

Thanks for watching my video, unfortunately I don't have time to provide tech support. I would highly recommend the Ubiquiti Community forums - community.ui.com/

[@shadow.banned]

First, they make it ridiculously difficult to open. Who are they, Apple? What happened to ordinary screws under rubber tabs and a board that simply slides out? Then, there's not one single vent and no fan on a device with a battery that charges 24/7. Can't wait for the fires. This battery issue should've been obvious to the design team which only gives me the suspicion that they knew it'd be a problem and deliberately designed it this way, to entice upgrades to the UDM-P/SE and UNVR.

[@techtraption7240]

Agree but then I suppose I wouldn't have had the opportunity to create my first video.

[@miwa4783]

Great video, thanks for the info 😰Did Ubiquiti issue a recall of CKG2+ ? Or do we all risk that the battery could start a fire??

[@techtraption7240]

There are no recalls that I'm aware of and I've not heard of any fires due to this issue. The possibility is there but until it becomes a problem I doubt anything will be done. I tried to RMA my unit when it was 6 months out of the warranty but it was denied.

[@EsotericArctos]

Ubiquiti know of the issue, but because there have been no actual incidents, there is no recall. I guess they've been really lucky that the batteries were quality to start with as cheap batteries would have been doing nasty things. Still, even quality batteries don't like heat Probably also helps they are only 300mAh batteries. Not much energy to start with.

[@miwa4783]

@@EsotericArctos I wrote to Ubiquiti support, they told me to return it to the dealer, they gave me my money back after a while. It worked fine and was less than two years old and still under warranty

[@jamiestevenson2000]

Just bought a used cloud key with a dead battery - would using a heat gun to warm the plastics help? Rather than using brute force to cut the glue?

[@techtraption7240]

It may but it's glued to plastic and heating Li-Ion batteries isn't always the best idea. Perhaps if you further teardown the unit you could gently heat the plastic from the opposite side but I would be very concerned about warping the plastic.

[@DekuNEKO21]

Thanks a lot, dude, my battery was swollen so much that while sliding it out CPU heat-spreader got removed from CPU

[@techtraption7240]

Glad I could help

[@rpsmith]

Great video! Thanks!

[@techtraption7240]

Glad you liked it!

[@teddyc81]

Thank you sooooo much! It really helped me a lot to disassemble it. This is really poor product design

[@techtraption7240]

Glad it helped!

[@DirkTas]

Thank you!

[@techtraption7240]

You bet!

[@EsotericArctos]

Would a little hot air on the glue maybe help soften it?

[@techtraption7240]

Maybe but you'll have to heat up the battery quite a bit as well to heat up the glue.

[@gregorystevens5173]

How do I know if I have a battery in mine?

[@gatekeeper501st]

Thanks for the video. Any idea how we can solve the overheating problem? I have a fan pointed at it and I have a PC cpu heat sink on top of it and it still overheats and shuts down

[@techtraption7240]

Mine runs very hot, I wouldn't say it's overheating because I've never had an issue with it shutting down. I keep mine in a well ventilated area so that's my recommendation. If yours is shutting down make sure the enclosure/area you have it installed is adhering to the operating temperature of the Cloud Key (32 to 104 F). Here's a link to the datasheet: dl.ui.com/ds/uck-g2-plus_ds.pdf. If you are still having issues with it shutting down I would recommend reaching out to support.

[@gatekeeper501st]

@@techtraption7240 i managed to take it apart using your guide, found a glue gun type of sealer holding a cable next to the heat sink, it was stringed over the heat sink and prevented it from touching the outer case. i cleaned it off and put a thin layer of thermal paste on it and now it runs at 65 degrees (149 F) which still says (good) on the general tab in settings. i also have a fan blowing on it with the CPU heat sink on top

[@techtraption7240]

Good catch, that would definitely cause a cooling problem! Glad you were able to figure it out!

[@jordanwoyak]

Thanks.

[@techtraption7240]

You're welcome

[@techtraption7240]

You're welcome

[@peytonlutz1]

How long did your battery last when you got the CK2+

[@techtraption7240]

I'm not sure to be honest, I only noticed it when there was a short power outage. When it rebooted it was corrupted and required a full factory reset. That was about 18 months after I purchased the CKG2+.

[@maksym3d]

What is the tool / tape you are using for the sticky shmoo dispensing?

[@techtraption7240]

It's an ATG transfer tape gun, you can get them on amazon or many local craft/hardware stores. Here's an amazon link and no it's not an affiliate link it's just a random product I found on Amazon. www.amazon.com/3M-700-Adhesive-Applicator-Dispenses/dp/B007VTQC64/ref=sr_1_11?crid=2G6F95NXONSC1&keywords=atg+tape+gun&qid=1695241293&sprefix=atg+tape+gun%2Caps%2C134&sr=8-11

[@maksym3d]

@@techtraption7240 Thanks!

[@vacbed]

Weird that ubiquiti installs battery in such heated area. Of course it wont last :( mines dead too!

[@EsotericArctos]

Inside a CKG2+ there is no area cool enough for a battery. HDD creates heat, processor creates heat. If your battery is still good, you can mitigate it somewhat by installing a SSD instead and only using it for very limited protect options so the processor doesn't run so hard. I am thinking now to get rid of the CKG2+ and get a regular CKG2 and the Unifi NVR system. Or better still, I may run the Unifi Controller in a VM and not worry about a cloudkey at all.

[@techtraption7240]

It's a very common issue which is why I posted the video. Personally I'm running the UDM Pro now but my father is running the CK & USG setup. I removed the battery from his system and he simply put it on a ups. I have trained him to shut it down if the power goes out. Yes it's a pain but it works for now. I'm looking into building a battery pack that resides outside the unit. Again that solution isn't ideal for many either.

[@vacbed]

@@techtraption7240 I had the same idea to install battery outside of the unit but I did not yet tried to find battery replacement options. Though, from what I heard, its not quite easy to find replacement battery due to it being somewhat specific.

[@JustMe-gx4xt]

@@EsotericArctos How would you run the software on VM? I thought the cloudkey was a requirement since ubnt made it proprietary, unlike the software pre 2020.

[@tkd128]

Did you managed to find a replacement battery?

[@techtraption7240]

I haven't even looked for a replacement battery. I simply removed it and put the unit on a UPS. As long as you always properly shut it down you shouldn't have any issues. I am working on another project that if completed successfully I'll post here.

[@tkd128]

@@techtraption7240 Thanks, I actually mentioned about this in a support ticket, and despite unit being out of warranty they told me to file RMA. So I submitted them (I hope they won't mind that I opened it up, but it was out of warranty anyway). Although even if they fix it, that still will happen again in the future... Wish they used a large capacitor like some dashcams (although maybe this needs too much power). Or at least add UPS support via Network UPS Tools.

[@EsotericArctos]

Even if you replace the battery, it will do the same thing in 12 to 18 months due to the heat and being constantly at full charge. It really needs to be a capacitor based backup rather than battery. An external "super capacitor" pack would be the way I would go if I wanted to be bothered with it now. Personally, I will just remove the battery and see about using some kind of remote shutdown method when the UPS triggers battery mode. It might be something that needs to be reapplied every update, but as I run updates manually and never auto update I will just write a script that reapplies the remote shutdown process after an update if needed.

[@HugDeeznueces]

what gave you the idea it was the battery???

[@techtraption7240]

When the power blinked it would shutdown hard. Normally, it would go through a soft shutdown when power is lost.

[@hejsanii5769]

Thanks for the great video... I'm planning to buy this device and I will remove battery and HDD immediately. I need to control UniFi APs and cameras. I don't need recording, so the battery is not crucial for me.

[@techtraption7240]

Don't remove the hdd unless you plan to install another one, it won't start the services without a hdd. you can put an ssd in the slot or a smaller drive but it needs something.

[@Illmu]

Can I get the link to the battery please

[@techtraption7240]

I don't have a link for the battery because I didn't replace it I just removed it. I'm sure a quick search will point you in the right direction. If I recall it's a 7.4V 300mAH Li-ion.

[@cacquard]

Does it run any cooler with the battery out and not trying to charge it 24/7?

[@techtraption7240]

no haven't noticed a difference in running temp with or without the battery.

[@techtraption7240]

Can't tell a difference. Just didn't see the point running with a bad bulging battery that didn't work anyway.

[@landspide]

This abomination is a complete manifestation of using no-sql (ie. mongodb) over tried and true ACID compliant databases like sqlite. What a complete and utter cluster-fsck. I pulled the battery on mine, but the PoE is still failing, you can only power it via USB-C now. JUNK product, whatever team worked on this, they had no idea of thermal management.

[@jamiestevenson2000]

Even Apple devices are easier to get into than these things... All this needed was some screws under the feet to fix the internals to the outside aluminium cage and slide the whole thing out. The only reason you'd put screws behind glued down fragile plastic is to intentionally stop people from repairing it.

[@DekuNEKO21]

Well plastic is not as fragile as you might think, just removed battery from my unit and it looks brand new

[@techtraption7240]

they do state there are no serviceable parts inside. Most manufacturers don't want us digging around inside, they just want you to buy a new one.