Trying to FIX 2x Makita Building Site Radios - £120 each

Hi, here we have a couple of Makita job site radios. Model No. BMR104 and DMR 104. These currently retail for approx. £120 each. These both belong to a Scaffolder and one does look like it was dropped from a bit of a height. Can they be repaired without any prior knowledge of them...let's see.
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Remember that this is just for entertainment and I am not an expert in these repairs. The processes in the video may not be the best way, the correct way or the safest way to fix these things. I do love fault finding and trying to fix broken things, so I hope that comes across in this 'Trying to FIX' series. Many thanks, Vince.

[@jessem1708]

Man, I remember Vince back when he would say "I don't solder very much" Now hes reflowing chips and all this other crazy stuff. Been a great time watching you grow and evolve and I love all your videos!

[@julieboruta]

Same well said Jesse M.

[@Chu3505]

Ha,ha..Vince was pulling your leg back than!.He have the skills and somewhat a mechanical engineering degree.He just didn’t have much in hand on experiences in everything’s that he only wanted to be fixing it and can getting his hand on trying to be fixing it and a big base on the web and fans in KZbinrs viewers that are of willing to be paying him on Patreon contributions to followers in his Tech.KZbin channel that all and all of those KZbinrs electronic devices Tech KZbinrs channels people are willing to helping him outs yet that all.Now he does and having all of the many connections for parts and resources of informations to helping him out if he wanted too.

[@sodd1000]

@@Chu3505 Can you try to edit that again but with punctuation? I couldn't read it.

[@GlitchTTG]

​@@sodd1000😂😂😂

[@brody6634]

​@@sodd1000I thought it was just me....I can't make any sense of what he said, it's like he's speaking another language.

[@GadgetUK164]

Fantastic job =D There's something very rewarding about fixing nice honest faults like that!!!

[@danielshirley294]

I just used this video to fix the volume knob on a Makita radio my friend gave me for free. I now have a perfectly working radio. Thanks for the help, mate.

[@eain9009]

These are proper tanks I work on the tools, I've bought a few broken ones with the same problem, with the power wires ripped out. No point in cleaning them they will sell on to anyone in the trade dirty, they get tossed around the back of vans and sites anyway.

[@thomasesr]

The volume knob is probably not a potentiometer, when it has those detents (bumps) it's probably a rotary encoder. It's a digital signaling system that measure the rotation and speed of a knob and not the absolute position, so it is infinite rotation as well (no end stop).

[@Luke-san]

Absolutely correct! I fixed one of my appliances last weekend. Clock jumping all around when turning that knob. Just straighten those 4 metal pins and you can very carefully remove the top portion. Tracks are on the bottom portion and metal bend spring contact on the top portion. They should make proper contact with each other which is not the case anymore due to dirt/oxydation. Isopropanol and clean both lightly, don't use force. Bend the pins like 1mm, not more, so more pressure on the tracks. Reverse process to put it all back. Most of the time the issue is fixed.

[@atta30]

@@Luke-san you should be putting deoxit on it or at the very least some Chinese off brand of a similar compound the deoxit cleans the oxidation better and prevents it from oxidizing in the future that stuff is expensive but it lasts you forever and will get things working you never though you could

[@Luke-san]

@@atta30 any idea of some off brand that I can get online?

[@MarkPentler]

They are very cool bits of kit, depending on whether A led B or B led A, you read the rotation direction in code usually.

[@aliray1165]

Very smart explanation, thanks for this. I’m no engineer so seeing simplified explanations like this really helps, thank you.

[@ianforfun1]

The shaft of the volume controls in many cases has something called resistive grease to give it a smooth feel when rotating and the Detox washed it away and therefore felt easier to turn but took away that silky smoothness.

[@FrostedToasterPastrie]

Nice video. Nice Rip at 4:25 ! Good Job man!!

[@chrisbow1776]

Excellent informative easy to understand video. I have just bought the new £170 version of the Makita radio, but planning on cleaning up my old one

[@nameless5413]

At first glance i thought it'd be a two-way radio transceiver. i have never ever heard of dedicated radio receiver like this. Always thought that construction workers listen to Chinesium devices (or wherever is cheap electronics made this decade). As for repair it dose look like it was not that hard, i appreciate i've learned of this weird device's existence and that it can be fairly easily fixed.

[@StezStixFix]

Excellent job! I have one of these and I thought they were indestructible! 😁

[@renataavgeri1132]

goot time to fix it steve... clearly i love yoyr videos and want more. where have you been mate?

[@StezStixFix]

@@renataavgeri1132 still here Renata! Been working on a few things. Should have a video up tomorrow 👍

[@renataavgeri1132]

@@StezStixFix AM WAITING FOR IT... KEEP IT UP.I WAS IN YOUR CHANNEL BY VINCE AND AM STAYING. I WAS SEARCHING FOR THAT KIND OF CONTENT AND I ACCIDENTLY FELL INTO VINCES CHANNEL WHICH LEADED ME ON YOURS. I TRY TO FIX THING AROUND THE HOUSE MY SELF AND I LOVE THAT THERE ARE VIDS ENCOURANGIN ME DOING IT.

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

What lovely little radios! Now they have a second life keeping builders happy once more!

[@jeffreyhickman3871]

I didn't see 👀 that these things were as big as bricks. They looked like 👍 handheld ✋ walkie talkies on your video 📹. You're pretty good at fixing about everything. Your friend, Jeff.

[@Sumpguard]

I’ve just found a majors radio dumped in the street and it’s doing the “no service” thing. Great video mate I’m going to have a crack at repairing it myself.

[@Unsungh3ro_88]

I legit use your videos to settle down too and relax. Long time follower.

[@Retrobution]

I am going to have a go at adding a bluetooth module to mine. I bought one called a LN BT02 module, looks like it would work well, drilling only 3 small holes for the 3 buttons for it. It can accept 12v or 5v, I am going to feed off of the 12v input directly and then patch the audio out into the aux 2 jack. Using this video as a good guide to how to open this up and see what is what. Love these videos before diving into the mod/fix before hand. Excellent stuff

[@TheSpotify95]

Nice fix on both of those. Definitely worthwhile fixing those given how expensive they are (even used). Guess it's because work people on building sites want something that is rugged and durable. Hope they support DAB+ as well now that stations are switching over to that standard.

[@michaelhawthorne8696]

The 'Volume' control knob is a Rotary Encoder which has a few contacts inside and as they 'make' and 'break' when turning the knob, the circuitry reads these 'makes' and 'breaks' and can determine which direction it was turned. This allows you to navigate the menus and pressing the knob can indicate a selection. The scratching you were refering to would be associated with a Variable Resistor and a dirty Carbon track which this is not one of them. The sound break up when you first heard it was not due to a dirty Volume control track as this isn't a Variable Resistor but would be due to the low Bit Rate of the recieved station. The cleaning fluids used would still help clean the internal contacts though and is good to use as you did here. Nice result Vince 👌

[@Falconurbex]

love your videos and just found out ive got covid from a so called friend who i let in my home and they didn't tell me they had it untill the day after they had been to mine, so i am going to binge watch all your videos to keep me going and get me through this.

[@georgeclarke1183]

another great video with a minimum outlay on consumables two jobs well done i am very impressed

[@Retro_andy_1977]

I also have the white same one,a very capable all round site radio,or even general decent home radio if your an ex site guy or just want something decent sounding at home Great repairs vince as usual and some great talent there fixing them

[@BikerBloke600]

Hi Vince great video. Have one of these and am really happy with it although its not used on a building site. Lovely to see the inside of one and get a good idea of what could go wrong. Keep up the good work. Mick 👍👏🍻

[@yodel21]

Nice video sir! My DMR112 has the same control button issue as the white one so I'm stuck with one station and one volume setting. I'm going to give this one a try at the weekend! Always good to see it done first, cheers

[@bobcunningham9651]

Did it work ?

[@rwl-pj4kh]

That tin plate is called the ground plane, important part of the antenna

[@laser-on-off]

11:35 : you may add some flux to help desolder this easily, and use a solder wick as well. Thanks for the videos. Cheers from France.

[@fluffyblue4006]

Nice, simple fixes. The volume button you cleaned with deoxit probably doesn't have any good grease left on its shaft. Thanks for offering a view of the inside of a big DAB radio. Apparently, there's a ground plane in there, which seems to be not present in smaller radios. That gives me some ideas to improve the reception on my own DAB radio. Those things are usually made on the cheap. So if they can leave out a ground plane piece of metal, well, I'll just put one back in if it improves reception.

[@treenamcgowan7652]

Awesome! When you got the second one working it sounded a bit like Cybermen for a second. 😉

[@wfkvr6]

Vince, you are getting to the point where you need to invest in a proper solder station. Look in the Hakko line as they have some premium products at a decent price. Being able to control the temp of the soldering iron and turn up the heat for jobs like this would make a world of difference. Also, using a bit of flux doesnt hurt either. Love your videos and how much you have progressed over the years.

[@CaffeinatedTech]

Those things are probably consumable for larger outfits, they just charge the customer for tools. But for smaller firms, and sole-traders; picking up a Vince-approved Refurb would be great!

[@simonrapley1126]

Good job as usual but the hassle of soldering wires through the board should have just soldered wire back to pin and slid the white cover back over it, would have been a lot easier

[@Leif_YT]

Or crimped it. Looked to me like a normal JST connector, but could be wrong.

[@craigbeas6111]

I'd have put another cable on that was longer think it will break again

[@eugeneoneal3034]

I would have soldered the pins as it's a double sided board and some servisol pot cleaner would have come in handy.

[@2muchspl]

I can finally contribute something, I had to do a similar repair on a circuit board and got a tip from an old PC guru neighbor of mine. If the contact/harness is soldered on, do a through hole repair like u did and add a touch of hot glue under old harness clip. This will help with strain relief like the original clip was designed to do. I typed this before the end of video when I saw you use hot glue for the shield.😂

[@robstrains8711]

Great video I used to work on the building sites and these radios went through everything short of being nuked.

[@joshuacook4955]

You inspired me to fix my volume knob on my Makita finally dug in and it’s soldered in the circuitboard different design think they would’ve been the same but mine is just a little bit newer model😫

[@rayoscroft3775]

Fantastic job vinc😮

[@thebighat99]

Vince love your videos, sometimes I have trouble unsoldering things like this I find if you use a larger tip on the soldering iron it seems to help. I am not expert or anything but it works for me most of the time. the smaller tip will lose heat faster than larger tip.

[@woolyfrog7497]

Hi Vince, I love the 'Trying to Fix' series, by far the best series there is, thanks for that. There is just one thing though, and that is your pronunciation of the word EXACTLY. You pronounce it E-SACK-LY where it should be pronounced EX-ACT-LY. I don't know why that bothers me so much. lol. It's almost as bad as my other half when she RED-CHESTERS things instead of REGISTERING them.

[@rcn9910]

I had one which turned on, searched for stations but no sound whatsoever. After manging to get datasheets for various IC (chips) on the circuit boards. I found that the amplifier chip wasn't recieving it's (VCC) power voltage, which lead me to find that the transistor prior had a short. Replaced transistor worked and now it's good to go. Bought for £15.

[@jochenwuerfel]

They look like almost everything on a construction site... awesome 😁

[@leebrown7419]

Brilliant video. What's the name of part behind volume dial? I have same issue. Big dial not changing channels or volume.

[@markbradley1975]

Well done Vince, another very entertaining video. Keep up the good work.

[@andrasszabo7386]

I have bought a big can (900 ml)of spray here for contact cleaning that does the same as Deoxit, but it was dirt cheap. It was 990 HUF,( about 3,5 pounds) and it is enough for the rest of my life.

[@thebmac]

Those look 100x easier to take apart than the two Milwaukees I've done. They had 10 times the amount of screws, different lengths, different head styles. Good score on those ones and great video as always!

[@abbiemcalpine5263]

Anyone help?got the makita dab radio works fine got it new but never used it for a while now when it comes on up can’t see the stations on the led.the led lights up but can’t see the stations

[@garrypower08]

mine does exactly the same 🤔did you get yours fixed

[@TomBowers]

I have an XRM06, which is similar, that I need to take apart to fix the loose handle. The two screws inside are not Phillips, I think they are Torx or allen but I can't see them clearly. Do you know what size and type bit I need?

[@Bellaandkelly]

Same here. I don’t think it’s a torx or Allen. I tried the torx and couldn’t get it. It’s driving me crazy! I took a picture and it looks like the star though.

[@Bellaandkelly]

It’s the one that looks like the Star of David. Just looked at it.

[@Bwong55]

On the one that volume wouldnt do anything and radio didnt work either, i thought maybe the metal antenna got loose and was touching something on the circuit board and shorted it out

[@joesmoe71]

If you've got a something like a rotary encoder or trimpot that's hopelessly dirty and you can't get cleaner in it as a last resort it's often possible to drill a small hole on the side and inject the cleaner in that way, it's not preferable obviously as you can damage or get debris inside of it but I've had good luck in the past and you can cover the hole afterwards with glue.

[@XMguy]

I’ve always wanted a job site radio. Especially when they added RDS. Here in the states RDS didn’t become mainstream until around 2010. None that I know of use HD Radio here. (Job site radios).

[@rickiplant5773]

What type of cable is that for the Ariel? Mine is missing and trying to fix, I thought normal cable would do but doesn’t seem to work thank you

[@ErickBuildsStuff]

That's the reason why you shouldn't chop off the terminal pins. 😂😂 Also please pre-Tin your wires so it's a tidy job at the end.

[@deadchannel991]

I was thinking the same thing

[@stumpytoe77]

I’ve got 2 of these work radios , the push and volume won’t work at all , tried another switch to no joy .. have you any top tips to fix it 👍

[@andyobrien5696]

I've got one of these radios, only a few months old, was using with power lead, then it started not turning on properly, so I got a battery for it and it won't turn on at all with that, any ideas?

[@TheCod3r]

Another great repair as always Vince, now stop stealing from building sites 🤣

[@UltimatelyEverything]

Perfect i've been waiting for a new trying to fix video i already know this will be a good video.

[@Luke-hf4vi]

I have a makita dmr112, it comes on the screen illuminats but no display on it ??? Tried power off factory reset still not working Any ideas ?????

[@stephencunliffe3062]

Nice one Vinny.

[@AngelLaHash]

I got a MKIR MR003G to fix and im trying to get in to the screws at the back.. you know what Screws drive i need .. i did think it was a 2mm or 4mm Hex but i cant get them out.. Are you using a Long handle PH1

[@mallow8999]

Great video vince i have just had a look at mine the black bit that sticks upright has melted do you know what its called mate its next to the loose wire on the first radio you fixed

[@TobiasTheArtist]

@mymatevince I just bought a new switch lite over black Friday and it seems like the battery might be bad. I did a test and I believe it went from 100% to 3% in about an hour and 10 minutes

[@brutlern]

I've enjoyed it and gave it a big thumb zup.

[@dash8brj]

need some titanium push rods for those stubborn component legs. Solder won't stick to the rod, but makes it easy to push component legs out of pcb holes.

[@mattray9359]

LOL I have been trying to fault find one of these bloody radio's for ages now

[@TheSkaldenmettrunk]

And yet 2 more devices saved from the pile. Great!

[@barrypritchard2306]

Hello I was wondering if you can help me I got a Makita DMR104 it works on the main power but when I put a battery in it is not working can you help me please

[@craigbeas6111]

Great fix vince 👍👍👍

[@aliray1165]

found one of these in a skip. attempting to try this exact thing next week!

[@lazygitsmith8396]

I picked up one this morning. Apparently dead but fault was damaged 12V socket so just fitted a standard one in.

[@aliray1165]

@@lazygitsmith8396 they are remarkably repairable. Even if the various boards are damaged, you can replace them carefully with the sockets or re solder a socket in place etc. you wouldn’t believe the state mine was in (covered in plaster and CEMENT) and works perfectly now thanks to a cheap spares site I found. And lots of petrol on rags.

[@selariunicusor2013]

Can someone help me with a link to a Rotary-encoder Knobe for The Dmr104? I've brocked The shaft... 😢

[@timothyatchison3636]

Awesome job they are well worth fixing there good radios

[@teknikal6969]

Makitas got some crazy accessories for their tool batteries, wish they were more common here to be honest.

[@kyleclarkson6026]

I got most of them. The heated jacket is the best.

[@philtowle4683]

Microwave, coffee machine.......

[@alessandrolima4396]

Another great fix. Congrats!

[@quintonquill]

I got that deoxit in a can comes with a plastic hose akin to wd40 ,the force of the aerosol pushes it into tiny crack's worth the buy.

[@Stubear22374]

I’d say one of your supporters is a big fan of Mad MAX

[@DonutBork]

father has the bluey green one, it's a very nice robust radio~

[@xx3868]

$10 can of electrical cleaner spray works wonders in pots and general cleaning without leaving residue- use it for all my repair work and after soldering too.

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

I thought that the volume control would be an rotary encoder that sends pulses to volume control circuit so might not actually take analogue signal not sure.

[@Dave64track]

Two great fixes nice job.

[@plunder1956]

Builders radios do tend to get a bashing. They get knocked & dropped. So those very short internal power leads are a risk.

[@thegamer-12]

Also they're at high risk getting water damaged and stuff like that.

[@spidermcgavenport]

Fantastic stuff that Deoxit! Thank you Sir!

[@1up_Gaming]

Really wish I'd watched this when it popped up instead of the Utd match :( Hope this fix goes better than that game ....

[@1971wizzard]

Like your watch....what kind please?

[@billykl2790]

I dropped one from 3 story roof and it still worked

[@antonia4722]

Use Servisol switch cleaner and lubricant. its an Aerosol. Really good for cleaning dirty potentiometers....and switches...of course.

[@Jeff121456]

DeoxIT comes in an aerosol can also.

[@kajuss5122]

That horn for the MMV Massive is weird, sounds like a fart lol

[@JessicaFEREM]

These can be easily adapted to Bluetooth with the aux and USB jacks in the battery door

[@denzilson]

Hey Vince (or anyone who knows as much), what size is the nut that holds the button mechanism in place? And also, did I see it had a washer?

[@georgeclarke1183]

this deoxit cleaner there a few types on ebay is there any item number so i can purchase the correct cleaner any help would be greatly appreciated thanks

[@Mymatevince]

Sorry for the super slow reply, you may already have it now but the part number of the one I use is D100L-2C 👍

[@RSCOZZY]

Bravo 👏 👏 👏 Nice fix 🍻

[@MetalVentor]

Can any mention the name of that power module he’s using. I would love to have one.

[@atta30]

Those rotary encoders can be opened quite easily and cleaned much better that way

[@joshm264]

While you were desoldering the power cable, it looked like you were struggling a bit, what temp were you using? Irons with an integrated tip (heater & tip are 1 unit) can work at lower temps, but as yours has a "slide-on" tip, you need a higher temp. Either way, a fantastic fix!

[@Biffo1262]

There comes a time when tweezers just don"t cut it and long nosed plies come into play.

[@onometre]

then come the jaws of life

[@amaiorano]

How do they remember the station you last set after removing power? Is there a backup internal battery for the settings?

[@simontay4851]

EEPROM chip.

[@johntingle303]

I fixed one of my dads after it got dropped off a scaffold i was laughing at those 2 screws at the back that are really deep 😂 great vid keep it up?

[@patrickmorrissey2271]

Great job on this one. Those are neat radios.... In the USA, you can buy de-oxit in a spray can... I woulda blasted that puppy.... Hose out all the dirt.... But hey, it worked!

[@rkan2]

Nice easy fixes!

[@juniorcook4094]

What kind of flux do you use,I just ordered a soldering station and just was wondering

[@MattyEngland]

I don't know which flux vince uses, but if you don't mind the price, then the best one is Amtech NC-559. (watch out for fake ones on amazon/ebay) If you want something a bit more affordable then Kingbo flux is good value for money. 👍 If you haven't checked out the 'PACE soldering tutorials' (link below) then they are excellent and you will learn loads. 👍kzbin.info/aero/PL926EC0F1F93C1837

[@Ariannus]

That power wire looked to me like it was just poorly crimped It probably worked itself loose through thermal expansion

[@reginaldb.campbelljr.2492]

Great job 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@b21playa]

Excellent What power supply are you using?

[@thewu2004]

Would love to see you do a set of videos where you make a pc with parts you have bought and repaired from ebay

[@RWL2012]

same

[@Bellaandkelly]

He stated the inside screws were a cross hex. I have different screws inside. Does anyone else have these? Not sure what they are, may be Star hex. Anyone know?

[@DjResR]

At 9:01 it looks like it pulled out of the crimp clean as the crimped pin is empty. Bad crimping maybe?_