You should always clean the pistons with 99% alcohol before pushing them back in. You don't want all that crap getting into the seals.
NEVER use anything to lube the outside of the pistons as it will only attract dirt and make things worst.
To "lube" the pistons you cycle them in and out...
Sucks man.
I have a magnet mounted on the wall by my charger and hang it from that so it's not on the floor. I also have a heat sink on the charger to keep the temperature down.
What are you going to do with the old batteries? I would like to play with them just so I can share what's inside...
A lot of these batteries have a kill mode built into the BMS. Basically as soon as the BMS doesn't see the cells it bricks itself and never works again. Very anti right to repair.
100 cycles and 90% seems like you are not managing your batteries. Was it hot when you charged them or where they fresh off a hard ride with zero charge?
My charger would get over 155f while charging so I added a heatsink and not it stays around 120f.
They add weight.
They add damping to the tire.
They save the rim if you run at the same pressure.
I like the support and feel they give to tire and if you charge hard rocky lines they are more than worth it.
On my normal trials I don't really need them, but I like them. For park days like today...
I tried the Gambit and even thought all my other helmet's are Specialized it wasn't comfortable. The hard "mips" hold downs are pronounced and the strap system is terrible.
You can use different pads and it will work, but they need to be on different sides of the rotor so the materials don't contaminate each other. Also you need to keep an eye on pad wear as it will not be even.