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Topic:
Disassembling MX-950
This thread has 30 replies. Displaying posts 1 through 15.
Post 1 made on Wednesday September 23, 2009 at 18:01
adt2
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Hello, all -

A couple of weeks back, I dropped my MX-950 onto the wood floor. Ever since, it has worked ONLY when sitting on the recharging base. The instant I lift it off the base, it goes totally dead, and then reboots when it is placed back on the base again. It seems obvious to me that something inside has been jogged loose.

I submitted two requests via URC's website for RMA numbers, and never received so much as a confirmation email from them. Finally, I picked up the phone and called them, went through the whole story, and was finally told the cost would be a flat fee of $200 (!) to repair it. I told the guy no f**king way was I spending $200 to have a connector plugged back in, thank you very much.

So I'm fiddling with this thing, and I can't figure out how to get the case apart so I can attempt the repair myself. Anybody have any ideas? I'm not real concerned about scratching the case at this point, since a free-but-with-a-scratched-case repair is better than a $200-but-with-a-defect-free-case repair.

Thanks in advance for your help.
Post 2 made on Thursday September 24, 2009 at 09:55
JoeFlabitz
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Did they say they were going to replace it with another MX950, or something else?
OP | Post 3 made on Thursday September 24, 2009 at 21:07
adt2
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They didn't say nothin' except "That'll be $200 to repair." At which point the conversation rapidly went downhill.
Post 4 made on Friday September 25, 2009 at 00:51
39 Cent Stamp
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Did you check the battery cable? Unplug it and plug it back up. If that doesnt work i would probably give in and have it serviced. It could be a solder joint or it could be that a part got broken. There are no service manuals available for it so if it isnt something obvious it wont do you any good getting it open.

On a side note.. theres one on ebay for $120 right now. Keep an eye out there and you might find a used one for less.

I am in a similar situation with a laptop. They want $200 to repair the power connector but i can find the whole laptop on ebay for $200 so i cant justify the repair and i really dont need a Pentium4 laptop so i cant justify the ebay purchase :).
Avid Stamp Collector - I really love 39 Cent Stamps
Post 5 made on Friday September 25, 2009 at 02:19
JonW747
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621
With the MX-800/850 you opened the case by removing the batteries and twisting the whole thing along the long axis until the little plastic nibs that hold the two sides of the shell separate and then you can pry the two sides apart.
OP | Post 6 made on Friday September 25, 2009 at 08:12
adt2
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Okay - I used a tiny screwdriver to pry the shell apart and separate the halves. It was actually pretty easy. Inside, there was one loose wire near the top. I held the battery in place against the contacts, and touched the wire to the places on the underlying PCB where it could've been soldered, and lo and behold, the remote fired right up.

As it turns out, I'm spending the day today with a woman who does nothing but build PCB assemblies; I'll have her re-solder the wire and be back in business this evening.

Not exactly a $200 repair. URC won't be getting any more of my business (this is about the third remote I've bought from them).
Post 7 made on Friday September 25, 2009 at 09:03
JoeFlabitz
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I seriously doubt they would repair it. Most likely a MX980 replacement...
Post 8 made on Friday September 25, 2009 at 22:08
Fins
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On September 25, 2009 at 08:12, adt2 said...
Not exactly a $200 repair. URC won't be getting any more of my business (this is about the third remote I've bought from them).

I hope your next post is to tell about how you "slipped in the shower" and have to get your remote surgically removed from your rectum.
Civil War reenactment is LARPing for people with no imagination.

OP | Post 9 made on Saturday September 26, 2009 at 08:59
adt2
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On September 25, 2009 at 22:08, Fins said...
I hope your next post is to tell about how you "slipped in the shower" and have to get your remote surgically removed from your rectum.

Huh? Not sure what slipping the shower has to do with...well, with anything, but maybe I'm missing a remote-control-geek inside joke.

Back to the topic at hand: I got to looking at the guts of this thing with my electronics lady (I work for a manufacturer of heavy oilwell tools, and we design and build our own PCB assemblies - so we were well within her comfort zone), and it turns out that the loose wire I found was actually not a loose wire - it was the RF antenna. What had happened was that when I pushed the battery down in order to show her that when I touched the wire the thing came back to life, it was the act of pushing on the battery that actually brought it back to life - NOT messing with the wire.

So, I've got to do a little more disassembly to get to the real root of the problem; it appears to be something beneath the battery compartment, between the PCB and the keypad.
Post 10 made on Saturday September 26, 2009 at 10:53
kgossen
Super Member
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On September 25, 2009 at 22:08, Fins said...
I hope your next post is to tell about how you "slipped in the shower" and have to get your remote surgically removed from your rectum.

Couldn't agree with you more. So tired of whiners breaking things and then expecting them to be fixed for free.
"Quality isn't expensive, it's Priceless!"
OP | Post 11 made on Sunday September 27, 2009 at 10:22
adt2
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On September 26, 2009 at 10:53, kgossen said...
Couldn't agree with you more. So tired of whiners breaking things and then expecting them to be fixed for free.

Wow...geek vitriole. That's funny. Did your buddy cast a level 3 "my vagina hurts" spell on you during last night's marathon Dungeons & Dorks session?

Go back and read my OP, moron. At no point did I say I expected the repair to be done for free. I have no problem paying a fair price for a repair; but no matter how you look at it, $200 ain't that price. If URC wants to just send a refurb MX980 or whatever, then why not just say, "We don't do repairs. We'll sell you a refurb for $200, though."
Post 12 made on Monday September 28, 2009 at 10:34
cma
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On September 26, 2009 at 08:59, adt2 said...
Huh? Not sure what slipping the shower has to do with...well, with anything, but maybe I'm missing a remote-control-geek inside joke.

Back to the topic at hand: I got to looking at the guts of this thing with my electronics lady (I work for a manufacturer of heavy oilwell tools, and we design and build our own PCB assemblies - so we were well within her comfort zone), and it turns out that the loose wire I found was actually not a loose wire - it was the RF antenna. What had happened was that when I pushed the battery down in order to show her that when I touched the wire the thing came back to life, it was the act of pushing on the battery that actually brought it back to life - NOT messing with the wire.

So, I've got to do a little more disassembly to get to the real root of the problem; it appears to be something beneath the battery compartment, between the PCB and the keypad.

How much do you get paid per hour at work and how much does whoever is helping you get paid per hour? How much time have you spent on this now? How much does this add up to when you add together you and your helpers pay times the time spent? How does this compare to what URC was going to charge?

Why do people think/expect everything should be free? You dropped the remote.. it broke.. you should expect to have to pay to get it fixed.. it takes time, parts/supplies and money to fix things.. why do you think they should fix something you broke for less than it costs them to do it?
OP | Post 13 made on Monday September 28, 2009 at 12:34
adt2
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Turns out one of the three battery contacts was bent and not contacting the battery. I bent it back into place with my thumbnail.

Total time spent (including tech at my office): 15 minutes.
Total cost: zero
Total customers lost due to quoting a price without looking at the problem first: One plus however many people I bitch to.

Like I said, I didn't expect it to be fixed for free - but I think I have the right to expect it to be fixed for a fair price.
Post 14 made on Monday September 28, 2009 at 23:29
cma
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On September 28, 2009 at 12:34, adt2 said...
Total time spent (including tech at my office): 15 minutes.

So after posting here several times, figuring out how to pry the remote apart, prying the remote apart, going to your tech to look at it, posting back here again, looking it over deciding that the tabs were the problem was all just 15 minutes? Lol..

You couldn't figure that out just by removing the back battery cover? give me a break.. Lol.. It's funny that you would even admit that here just to prove how much of a rip off URC is..
Post 15 made on Saturday October 3, 2009 at 12:07
kgossen
Super Member
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3,026
On September 28, 2009 at 23:29, cma said...
So after posting here several times, figuring out how to pry the remote apart, prying the remote apart, going to your tech to look at it, posting back here again, looking it over deciding that the tabs were the problem was all just 15 minutes? Lol..

You couldn't figure that out just by removing the back battery cover? give me a break.. Lol.. It's funny that you would even admit that here just to prove how much of a rip off URC is..

He's just not that bright. What do you do? heaven forbid he ever buys something from ikea.
"Quality isn't expensive, it's Priceless!"
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