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I had an unfortunate accident with my OP-1 and the audio jack now has a broken contact where it solders to the PCB. I am only getting audio out of one side. I contacted TE and they want to sell me a whole new PCB for US$35. Replacing the PCB myself after they sent the part would be a VERY simple fix, as it's a matter of removing three screws and pulling a connector plug. I asked them in my email if they were willing to point me toward the component supplier for the white audio jack, but they didn't even acknowledge that question. I am assuming like most electronics, the PCB is machine assembled by a robot arm which places the SMT parts on the PCB and then runs it through a reflow oven. So, they probably don't even stock just the audio jack component.
I've done some searching and after comparing the spec sheet dimensions to the existing jack, it seems it's available from a few component sellers online but so far I've only found it in black, green, pink, and light blue. I know it's a long shot but does anyone happen to know where they are sourcing the white audio jack from? This is one of those occasions where I really wish I could read Chinese. I have the soldering skills to replace the part myself, and if I can find it I know it will cost no more than 1 or 2 dollars. If not maybe I'll just go with a black one, it wouldn't be the end of the world really.
I know there have been other discussions about the weakness of the jack and I have to put in my two cents. The jack is a surface mount or SMT component. IMO, a through-hole jack would be much sturdier, but would probably take up a bit more space. Also, the I/O PCB is designed to be entirely SMT, and since it's probably assembled by a machine as I mentioned, there are probably constraints which require the use of SMT parts only, so it would take some major rethinking of the design. Unfortunately this is the ONLY audio out, and when it goes bad you're effectively screwed, other than playing your OP-1 one through the little built-in speaker (which we all know is complete doodoo.) Anyway, /rant off.
I think a great accessory for TE to sell would be a short (5 to 10 cm) cable that was maybe a right angle or low profile male jack that terminated in a female jack which would serve to take some of the strain off of the OP-1 audio out jack. I know that most of us are using pretty nice high-end headphones with the OP-1, and in my case the plug on the end of my headphones is HUGE. When my OP-1 fell, it was really a matter of what was stronger, the OP-1 audio jack or the headphone plug. The massive gold plated plug on the end of my headphones won this time.
I'll continue my quest for the white audio jack and will continue to post on this thread of my progress in repairing it. Peace out.
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itsmeaflo- What did you end up doing to repair yours? Did you send it back to TE?
Here are the parts I've found so far if anyone is interested:
Digikey http://search.digikey.com/us/en/products/SJ1-3515-SMT-PI/CP1-3515SJPICT-ND/2296003
Maybe I'll go with the pink one from Digikey, just for giggles... If I end up failing at the repair US$35 isn't THAT much money compared to the US$950+ I spent on the OP-1. But $1.45 is much better than $35 + shipping. On second thought maybe green would be a better contrast to the red audio in jack. At this point I don't care much, I just want my OP-1 working properly again.
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If i had sent it back to TE to replace that part it would have cost me another OP1. Stupid UPS.
I put a blue one in there. you can see the results here: http://ohpeewon.com/discussion/comment/6785#Comment_6785
I purchased the one from digikey as well but i dont remember the part off hand. the spec sheet is in the thread i linked to above.
I bought 2 of each colour (in case this happens again. I have some extras. Although I went the DIY way, If i had known about the $35 replacement, I probably would have went with that. With that said, super easy to resolder (remember this voids the warranty).
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That's awesome! I think the blue one looks just fine. I am glad to see someone else has made this repair themselves, gives me more confidence. Also, happy to know I found the correct part. Was it an exact match to the original other than color?
I'm gonna go ahead and order a few of those today, like you said, always good to have a few extras. Also, now that I've decided to do it and knowing it will void my warranty, I think I just might have to order a few "alternative" speakers to try and find something that doesn't sound so terrible as the stock speaker. Who knows, maybe I can start an OP-1 modding business on the side. I would love to also be able to throw some Gorilla Glass in there instead of the crappy plastic window that's in there now. Hey, one can dream right?!
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itsmeaflo- After looking at the picture of your repair, I am convinced the blue one looks best. It's almost an exact match of the blue encoder. I've already placed an order for two of the blue jacks from Digikey. I'll post some pics of the repair process once I receive the parts. Thanks again for the info!
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WARRANTY VOIDED and OP-1 REPAIRED!
Received the new audio jacks yesterday. Very simple repair (with the right tools). My OP-1 works perfectly again! Here's a few photos of the process. I went with the blue as I felt it looked best in contrast to the red input and almost matches the blue encoder. Total cost $5.90 for two jacks with tax and shipping. Now I have an extra just in case this happens again, which I swear it won't, but you never know.
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Thank you for posting pics.
Im sure ill take apart my op1 someday.
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Thanks for the pics - good reference.
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Nice going, solder-jedi!
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@poonti - Definitely!
@mastrerofstuff124 - I am still scared to do that full breakdown that was posted by Titansteam on the forum a few months ago. Removing the I/O panel wasn't a big deal at all.
@Indigo_Fire & yellow_tangerine - Thanks!
@maersk - I would have to get up enough courage to do that full breakdown I mentioned and try to find a part match, but I'm sure it can be done. For now, try downloading the high-res pictures from this thread and studying the part.
http://ohpeewon.com/discussion/564/its-op-1-happy-dismantling-time-d/p1
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I grabbed those pics I mentioned, and here is the best pic I could find of the volume knob. I cropped it down to just the knob. This part would be more difficult to actually replace, because as you can see from the picture, there are not only solder points for the knob functionality on the right side, there are huge anchor points all the way around it. (Wish the audio jacks were this sturdy, but i digress) The repair of this part is possible, and I am fairly sure I could do it, but the best tool for the job would be a hot-air rework station. This allows for those solder points to all be liquified at once and the part pulled straight off. Then solder clean up is done with a suction-style solder remover. It would also most likely require that entire PCB be removed from the chassis, as the clearances on the top look rather close. Also, that PCB seems to extend all the way across, underneath the LCD, to include the four encoders on the right. A bit more work than my simple audio jack repair. But, as I said, nothing is impossible. ;-)
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I just remembered, there is some "secret sauce" that I've used before which would probably work to get the volume knob off the board without hot air. It's called ChipQuik. It's a special alloy that you melt onto the tip of your soldering iron, then you place that blob onto the solder points. It basically mixes with the existing solder and lowers the melting point of it to something like 230F to allow you more time to remove the component before the solder rehardens. I've used it to remove surface mounted ICs from PCBs when I wanted to replace them or use them in other projects. A 32PIN Atmel ATMega168 TQFP package chip is rather difficult to remove with solder wick alone, but ChipQuik made it super easy.
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In this Discussion
- coxinhell April 2012
- Indigo_Fire March 2012
- itsmeaflo March 2012
- jon August 2012
- maersk April 2012
- masterofstuff124 March 2012
- Phrank916 March 2012
- poonti March 2012
- yellow_tangerine March 2012