BROKEN Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay A2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker - Can I FIX it?

Hi, in this video I attempt to fix a lovely portable Bluetooth speaker made by Bang & Olufsen (B&O). This BeoPlay A2 was approx. £300 when released. It was purchased on eBay and has a 'no power' fault.
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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.

[@MoeStorm]

I’ve had an A2 standing on a shelf for years, completely dead. When I stumbled upon this video and got Inpired to follow your steps. I quite immediately found what was causing the malfunction; the battery connector was loose, causing a complete loss of power. Thanks to your video the speaker now works. Sending a super thanks! Regards!

[@kkal1183]

I just realized why I like this channel so much. When I put headphones on it's an ASMR trigger. The soothing voice combined with the clicks, clacks and various other noises are soothing.

[@juergenaverbeck7617]

Thank you very much for guiding me through the process of error finding in this special case. I own an A2 and used it until last week - without any problems. All of the sudden it stops working and charging. I thought it was the battery inside and bought myself two 18650, exchanged the old ones and "silly me" expected at least, the A2 back to work again - but it doesn't. Thanks to you, I was able to fix it. Great video and many thanks again - you made my day!!! Keep it up

[@kkal1183]

I love how excited you get when you discover something new. The energy is contagious.

[@ftrueck]

The 3 chips on the BMS are MOSFETs. To protect the device they cut-off when the battery voltage falls below the lower cutout voltage. The way these stay turned on is they get a very tiny little charge on their gate which is enough to make them conducting. The gate of a mosfet can also be seen as a tiny capacitor. The difference to a real capacitor is: The gate stays with charge as long as you have a voltage between source and drain.

[@onasazi]

Always enjoyable watching you work Vince! You are a true “Sherlock” of fixing!! Keep up the good work 👍

[@dash8brj]

Shorting P- to B- is a common way to switch on a bms - you can try it with that little battery when you get the new cells. The other is to supply a current across P- and P+ like you did here.

[@Retro_andy_1977]

Well worked on vince,you’ve gone far and beyond what I’d have done without losing my rag.well done for some great effort as usual

[@bogeugjes7270]

Thanks mate. Just fixed an A2 Active speaker from the local recycling centre with similar battery issue. I didn´t change any of the batteries, just charged them individually. I love the crisp sound. Keep up the good work :)

[@greekwiz8140]

Love your videos man, you have shown me a lot since I started watching you when you were just over 100k subs. From there I started watching others like Phil, Steve, Northbridge etc and now want to try and learn to fix stuff I would normally throw out. Much Appreciated,.

[@sismofytter]

I really like when you work on B&O stuff, it kind of always manage to surprise you in a positive way 🙂

[@mickclark9722]

Well done Vince, i like watching how you figure out what the problem is by trail and error. keep up the great work....

[@user-gw3pt1sy7c]

Great show I love watching the repairs I’m addicted keep up the good work

[@mathewfranco3211]

Just discovered you and you are amazing. Don’t know anything about electronics but I love watching you anyway. Maybe I will learn something. Thank you.

[@InMeShed247]

Another triumph for patience and skill. Fix or fail, your videos are always fascinating and a source of inspiration.

[@BEAT.SWEATS]

ive learned so much just watching you fumble around on this channel. thanks for the content Vince, your videos have taught me a bunch!

[@jgodfrey]

Another great watch Vince, I look forward to every 'Trying to Fix' you're one of the few that I watch each new video as soon as I see the notification.

[@TheSkaldenmettrunk]

What a fix! So simple but so hard to find. So nice.

[@endisforever22]

Another great fix. Interesting re the battery circuit been a long time watcher and love the DIY approach and fault finding

[@JustACupOfCoffeePLZ]

Nice fix! I used to have that same model, rescued from the bin at my old workplace after a customer returned it as DOA. I had a bit more luck with mine, after soldering in new cells it just worked right away... But it wasn't nearly as interesting a fix of course :) I was very happy with the speaker, but a bit short on cash so I sold it after a while. I ought to look for another one now, kind of miss it!

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Johannes, it certainly sounds good, just needs to look a bit more premium for the price 👍👍

[@colinsmith6280]

Great Video again Vince and that trick of shorting out the charging circuit to get the battery's back on line that is handy to know.

[@marccelik]

Amazing as every time, and with the music from KZbin free library you demonstrated the nice sound impressively - I used Headphones to be even more amazed. Well done ;)

[@TTFILTD88]

ive watched your channel for sometime and every video is 100% entertaining and so interesting to watch brilliant content keep up the great videos

[@MikeK-NIreland]

Well Done Vince, great fix and amazing little speaker. Mick 👍👏🍻

[@paultasker7788]

Fascinating video. Never knew BMS was so complicated. It's reassuring that there are safety features built in. There is lots of copy write free open source music that you could use to demonstrate audio equipment. This music is often played on other channels. NCIS music. No copywrite sounds. Edit. Just realised you managed to find some tunes.

[@Mymatevince]

Cheers Paul 👍

[@RWL2012]

Be careful with No Copyright Sounds - an artist can *later* copyright their music and then have it on Content ID. KZbin Audio Library is safer to use.

[@MoseyingFan]

@@RWL2012 More likely the artist sells his library to a copyright leach. BigClive ranted about this in his latest livestream and the reason why he doesn't use any music on his videos. He got a copyright strike on what that was practically white noise...

[@RWL2012]

@@MoseyingFan I'm pretty sure everything in the KZbin Audio Library (specifically) can't be copyrighted at a later date, and the artists have to agree to that as part of the contract with Google.

[@canndd2000]

You are such a pleasant fella and really just seem like a very cool person and your patience and your excitement as when you fix something is pretty alright...I remember your first repair and fix....Im not totally sure if it was a Wii u or some type of Nintendo portable product....It may not of even been your first repair but I think it was like your first fix on a repair that you didn't think you could actually get it working but you did and with you feeling very accomplished with fixing something that you always well remind people to not follow your lead as your just winging it and that you are not a professional within your repairs....I truthfully think you actually are now somewhat a very skilled and patient as hell within the projects that you find to work on and your soldering skills are so good now....this might sound odd but Go figure I don't actually even truly know you but I'm actually proud of you..I know that sounds weird? Maybe l should of quoted it somewhat different?.I'm just confused on what to write sence I'm writing it on a spur of the moment and just went for it. Also your mention on how like when someone comments on how you phrase something different. Why would anyone even question the way you phrase something thats how you pronounce it and that's exactly how you should be pronouncing it or phrasing it.I really don't know how to actually phrase my words in this comment truthfully myself.. .I hope I don't sound weird on how I'm trying to give you a compliment but I think your definitely a cool kat

[@d.d.m2208]

Very nice repair. I had a friend that had same exact speaker, but then he dropped it in pool a few years back. It was completely destroyed 🤣. I was thinking to pick up a used one because of how good it was. Thanks for reminding me.

[@christianwarkus5596]

Great video as always. Thanks for the entertainment!!

[@markpirateuk]

I picked up one of these from a car boot sale in the same state, after a quick Google it appears to be a common problem, I replaced both 18650 cells (although new battery packs are available) and it then charged & worked fine, pretty good sound, but certainly well overpriced when new!

[@daz41262010]

super fix :) and really nice fault finding :) so glad you got it working again :)

[@stevedebeukelaer1424]

Hi Vince very nice fix , you did it again 👍

[@watercolourbynumbers]

I'll admit after watching 20 minutes I skipped to the end to see if you fixed it, then watched the remaining 30 minutes. Felt compelled to know if it was a comedy or tragedy before getting too engrossed. Keep up the good work.

[@MrStereoify]

Beautiful fix as always Vince 👍

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Marvel 👍👍👍

[@MrEwool]

Really loveing your videos, it's a joy to watch (especially when it's from Denmark 😉)

[@Nevakonaza.]

Nice repair, Sounds great!

[@squallneko5004]

Awesome job in fixing this speaker.

[@force4200]

My teory is that you open the gate with power from the multimeter. Its a 9v Dc inside of it and can open gates Great channel keep up the good work :)

[@GhostRider247]

you've done what's called I think is jump starting the battery Vince , I might be wrong , if it is I came across this trying to fix a tablet which was just drained so low that it would not start ... brilliant work as always !!!!

[@eathenalexander2836]

What an amazing fix Vince

[@tsbeech]

Great video Vince!

[@spaideri]

When you wondered about some of the components. Generally Qxx means that it will be a transistor. Dxx is indeed a diode (in that 3 pin case it has 2 diodes inside. They can be in common anode or cathode or in series). That rust to me looked to me like copper of the via not having any surfacing.

[@2100Warzone]

When changing 18650's all cells should be renewed. Yes maybe you will get away without doing that but is it worth risking you home and lives. I think not. Change them.

[@simoncossettini9680]

Great video on process. Yes the battery managements boards are tricky, i have recovered plenty of electric bike batteries and they actually have a chip that corrupts itself when dissconnected from power so even if all cells are rebuilt it will not work unless the chip is replaced. I just recover the 18650 cells as spares for other projects.

[@jesuslovesyou5819]

Great job Vince 👏👏👏👏🥳

[@Joe-oj2mi]

52:19 A friend of mine has one and it claims up to 24 hours playtime but I think that the playtime you will get out of those batteries is decent enough, grate vid mate!!

[@Cheordig]

Nice fix, your perseverance paid off. For peace of mind I'd replace the batteries with two new ones of equal capacity.

[@douglasjacobs3803]

nice job Vince, it does sound good .

[@rudge3speed]

Bass driver excursion is greater when the cabinet is disassembled because they are not damped by the air inside. This unit seems to have passive radiators (those rectangular ones) that help make the cabinet bigger than it really is.

[@marksmith-ew7ir]

Great fix It amazing that early battery's are failing stop units to operate without battery's connected

[@stanhristov]

Good one Vince. Thank you

[@falloutguy8878]

I love it when you struggle? Best parts of the video

[@Khashraan]

absolutely nice work, vince! in the first place it really looked like this voltage regulator was blown! Awesome, that you just discovered that it wasn't. Will you do a video on rebuilding the battery pack with the new lithium cells and the spot welder? that would be quite nice!

[@jerryspann8713]

He could make a spot welder out of an old microwave transformer.

[@raymoorhead3783]

@@jerryspann8713 and that would make an awesome video for the channel win win

[@binarybox.binarybox]

@ 45' 50" I noticed SDA and SCL by the blue and white wires which usually means data and clock as in I2C. I squared C, used for control. You should see the pulses on a scope if it is being implemented.

[@samuelwilliams8575]

Ace! Great fault finding! Wife has a VW Campervan and something like that would be perfect! Did not know such a thing existed. Would be a change to listening to the stere, or our phones!

[@Jinxnator]

And the main man is back with another fix it video 💫💫

[@Mymatevince]

Cheers Jinxy 👍

[@Jinxnator]

@@Mymatevince your most welcome 😃

[@jamiemason9548]

Hi yet again good job done all the best 👍🇬🇧

[@StezStixFix]

Another excellent adventure, Vince! And impeccable timing... I've just bought a faulty B&O A1 - which is the smaller model. I doubt it sounds as good as your one, but I'm excited to find out what's wrong with it! 😁

[@Mymatevince]

I will look forward to that Steve. Cheers 👍👍

[@erik.dahlberg]

I have a A1 which I use, connected to my computer or Xgimi projector, for movie nights. I packs A LOT of power for its size. Good luck with the fix!

[@StezStixFix]

@@erik.dahlberg thanks Erik! I've read some good reviews, so I'm looking forward to it!

[@twin_o7m.730]

Excellent! Repair Vince 💕

[@ExecutorQ3]

Trully "trail and error" repair :) ... Nice vid as always, Vince.

[@Senna-xi1gr]

Good on u Vince, av got one & it’s died & am gutted as travel with work a lot so need to fix. 🤞🏼🤞🏼👍🏆🇬🇧

[@therealr001]

Of course you can fix it! Your a great fixer

[@andersmmvfc.8376]

You done it again! 👏 👏 Brilliant 👏 👌

[@Mymatevince]

Thank you Anders 👍👍

[@josericardogs1435]

Wow, it sounds so good for the size, incredible. If it was finish in fabric instead of plastic, it would look better, but the sound quality compensates the visuals. For a B&O product, it doesn't look the best, it looks like a tv receiver lol. Nice fix!

[@samuelfellows6923]

/WI-FI router

[@zackaboy1236]

It Looks more like a WiFi router than a speaker. 😂 A splendid video again though Vince!!

[@SecondHandDIY]

vince i use that same charge board to revive batteries like this but i wrapped small niodemian magnets with copper tape and soldierd my wires to them so i can just stick the magnets straight to the battery works great for me mate .

[@Zackprojects]

very cool! great fix

[@Philscbx]

Getting that battery to switch on when applying power - That indeed was the Lottery Moment,, Cheers to an epic ending,, and a worthy pint of beer should have followed.

[@SuperReasonable]

Wish I’d seen this earlier. I have the same speaker that suffered a completely flat battery where the power supply turned on the orange lamp, but when I pressed the power button, the white light would come on when I pressed it, but immediately went off again when I released it. I bought a new battery pack and it all sprang to life. There’s no doubt it’ll only work with a fully functioning battery.

[@RWL2012]

interesting dual-sided design. the dual opposing passive radiators are common, to boost the bass while cancelling out some of the enclosure vibration, but having actual speaker drivers both sides as well is something I haven't come across before. The bass/mid drivers were moving in and out a lot (and the passive radiators not moving at all) with the enclosure disassembled because they were in an open baffle so there was no air pressure, affecting low frequency output. when you do the sound demo after reassembly I noticed the bass is boosted at lower volume and then is reduced at higher volume - this is the digital signal processor (DSP) applying low frequency equalisation to make the speaker sound "beyond its size" at lower volume.

[@Random_4400]

yes

[@RWL2012]

*¥€$*

[@antar10000]

Thanks I did what you did and I wil tray to Mack it thx…..nice work…

[@GadgetUK164]

Great job =D It does sound very good from the recording! Lovely bass!

[@RWL2012]

Dual opposing passive radiators and digital signal processing with automatic low frequency equalisation working together. Actually a common combination in these Bluetooth speakers in general, but some manufacturers do the enclosure and PR tuning (and DSP settings) better than others.

[@Tight4Skin]

I bought one 2. It is by far the best bluetooth speaker. It has only a 20 minute battery life though at 70% volume. Soooo I made it wider and tripled the battery capacity. 3d scanned the middle alu frame. Printed it and painted it. And it has now 6 18650 cells and can play for more then 1 hour.

[@Mymatevince]

Nice mod Zoltan, they do sound amazing 👍

[@Tight4Skin]

@@Mymatevince I am also baffled by the sound. It is clearly the best sounding bluetooth speaker I own.

[@Tight4Skin]

Made a short video of it if you want to see it. Btw love your content 💕

[@Mymatevince]

@@Tight4Skin Looks better than the original, superb job👍👍👍👍👍

[@Tight4Skin]

@@Mymatevince Thank you

[@rfr653]

good job mate.

[@UltimatelyEverything]

Damn this speaker sounds good it legit sounded like you added music into the video and it wasn't playing from the speaker now that's good sound quality.

[@dbuckle247]

Another good video, nice bit of cab jumper wire and few other familiar tools 😆

[@louishighttechetbmx3712]

I love this videos🤩

[@RicardoPenders]

SDA means Serial Data and SCL is the Serial Clock which is for communication between the BMS and the charging chip. If you have an Arduino or a Raspberry Pi you can hook into the SDA and SCL lines and see what actually is communicated between the battery and the charger chip and it may even give you a way to reprogram the BMS or reset it via software instead of doing it the way by disconnecting the battery cells.

[@chillofi5284]

I recommend you having a handy Thermal Imaging camera for you to really know what component is heating up, because some components of some sort may only just need a very small amount of voltage for them to heat up every so slightly than the others. I pretty recommend it to you mate!

[@StefanoBassoItaly]

Nice job and interesting solution, thanks for your effort. I had the same problem, but in my case I think there's more.. In facts, even if the Beoplay turns on after the BMS reset (I charged the batteries disconnecting them and using an extrernal charger), now when I plug the charger in, the orange led close to the jack keeps pulsing slowly, but after more than 12 hours it's still charging. I'm quite sure that in my case there's no charging at all.

[@apong1984]

me too. After I replaced the battery and restarted the BMS, it turned on and played music. However, when connected to the original charger, it just flashes but cannot be charged. After charging for a period of time, use the app to check that the power has not increased but decreased.

[@catherinemorgan2741]

I knew you can do it nice job

[@RalfS777]

Good video with good close-up filming. That 'Q5' as Florian described, is clearly blown wide open. You are doing right by checking for any shorted diodes or other components around that circuit. Not sure if you are able to identify the failed MOSFET transistor?

[@davebone3474]

I have one of those spot welders, make sure you use correct voltage/ amps to power it or you will blow mosfets straight away. There is a mod for it where you add a capacitor to the circuit.

[@johng.]

Working A2's are going for $300.00 on Ebay. You did very well 😃

[@frankcarpenetti5776]

Nice vid Vince. Be real careful when working around those cells! Trust me!! I also suggest you invest in some MacTac to aid in holding items down while you solder and probe. Watching you struggle with probing and soldering with things that are moving around pains me, LOL. Cheers, from Canada.

[@sammydingdong4540]

Nice upload The unit reminds me of my Router..................🤠

[@DEmma1972]

once that battery is that low it is best to just replace anyway. The charge / discharge while charging to me seems that its like polarized and funky inside. The best bit of this video for me is the BMS fix. Pretty sure I have a few things I could try this on.

[@PracticalDadd]

I have a Bose SoundLink that I traced down to a similar issue. The battery cells are all fine, but no voltage out of the pack. I injected voltage into the main unit and it powered up! Sadly though, I had misdiagnosed the issue earlier for a bad inductor and bypassed it with a bit of solder in place of the inductor and when I powered it up, some smoke arose at the solder bypass. I might still have a working unit, need yet to order the correct inductor. Wish I watched this first!

[@norbertotrevino4075]

Excellent video! This speaker pumps 2 x 30 watts, as much as my Beomaster 3300 and via Bluetooth! I need one of those.

[@RWL2012]

hmm, I'll believe that wattage when I see it on a meter. power claims can be peak rather than RMS wattage, and measured at unlistenable distortion levels at a single midrange frequency, all to increase the numbers because more looks better. I'd be surprised if the amplifier in this was more than 2x 10w RMS at 1% distortion at full bandwith.

[@norbertotrevino4075]

@@RWL2012 You are right. One thing is the real wattage and another the one on the brochures. But both devices have the same reported spec wattage so maybe they both are around 30 watts nominal.

[@user-xb4nn6ql5l]

ceacking! well done mate!

[@radio-ged4626]

Very interesting fault. I will definitely try putting the appropriate voltage between B+/- to see if it works if I change some cells in a pack and get no output from it (if it's using a balanced charge circuit).

[@mrjsv4935]

Nice fault finding :) The external power "jumpstart" for the battery circuitry makes me wonder, how many battery packs have been replaced for nothing, if the old ones only needed this kind of "jumpstart" to make them work again.

[@M1LAD81]

I was surprised at the quality, and even more surprising is that Bang & Olufsen have stuck their name on this. To be honest, I expected better aesthetics and choice of material from them. Another great video Vince! Cheers.

[@sismofytter]

Its there sell "cheaper" stuff strategy to survive its also the reason that its only the relly expensive high end stuff that they make in denmark 🙂

[@M1LAD81]

@sismofytter £300 when launched, phew! Not what I call cheap! 😂

[@jamescollins6085]

@@M1LAD81 Cheap for them to make, at least. They must have very large profit margins on this device.

[@richdyer2000]

yep the ‘play’ stuff is cheaper. these things do have great soundquality though.

[@markianclark9645]

For a few moments I thought he had a Thin Client PC..my puzzled thoughts..it looks like my HP case but a bit smaller..more like a Dell Wyse shape..anyway..soon as the video started I smiled..it's a speaker..a Bluetooth speaker..Bang & Olufsen name gives it away if it's not aesthetically pleasing..great work and fault diagnosis..

[@DeltaCmndrElite]

you will need to swap to 2 identical cells or will go out of balance and potentially overcharge the cell with lower capacity and potentially cause fire vince. always replace all cells with identical cells when doing these projects

[@tiporari]

That charger has a balance connector which monitors individual cell voltage. It's not a hazard as long as they are reasonably close. The charger will go into protection mode before starting a fire.

[@robbieaussievic]

@@tiporari ..... Correct, BMS not smart enough to know cell capacity, its only dealing with voltage.

[@DeltaCmndrElite]

@@tiporari they were not close though capacity though and yes maybe it will protect and cut charge once 1 cell hits 4.2v I don't think it does balancing just monitoring but either way it's just good practice to replace all cells to be identical so no problems will arise

[@Boogie_the_cat]

​​@@DeltaCmndrElites someone who has experienced a lithium battery fire I wholeheartedly agree. Tons of folks are really cavalier with lithium battery safety because traditional alkaline batteries are filled with superfluous warnings about not mixing old and new batteries, etc... And it became the "boy who cried wolf" now that we have much more dangerous lithium batteries, the warnings are looked at as mostly manufacturer CYA. But I can fully agree with your statement. Also: lithium fires are bad enough, but it's the huge amount of toxic smoke that gets vented that would become a problem indoors. I also agree with you that it's a voltage monitor, not a balance charger that the device contains. The manufacturer wouldn't waste money putting a balance charging circuit for a Bluetooth speaker. A balance charging system would be much larger and more complex than what is seen here.

[@jimmythecricket25]

Vince carefully and totally explaining everything and me going......HUH? Still love these vids, 😆

[@Si1983h]

Watching this video at 28 minutes, I think it makes sense that it won’t power without a properly functioning battery pack, it looks as though it’s using the battery pack as a split rail supply (which many amplifier circuits need). I’ll watch on and see if I’m right.😊

[@SPEXWISE]

I still find it amazing that just a vibrating paper cone can recreate all the sounds of an original recording, instruments and all. All it does is move in one axis, even with physics knowledge it's still a bit magical.

[@EddieOdora]

I think with you understanding what its actually happening makes it more amazing.

[@RWL2012]

with a *surround* and "spider" suspending it and keeping its motion linear, and attached to a coil ("voice coil") that has an electrical signal of varying voltage and frequency applied to it, and that sits in a gap in a magnet. but it can't vibrate at high enough frequencies for the highest frequencies hence the tweeters. note also the passive radiators, which extend the bass response.

[@SPEXWISE]

@@RWL2012 yeah, it's cool ain't it?

[@RWL2012]

@@SPEXWISE yep!

[@ethanchow9170]

in series you have to match capacities, for testing you can just two different ones but as its cycled with non matching battery it can cause it come out of balance.

[@chekiechekie]

B&O Play was a sub brand of B&O offering more affordable products to appeal to the masses with a little bit more pocket change to spare. This was at a time when B&O wasn't doing too well. I'm glad B&O Play doesn't exist anymore, personally. It allows them to make some really amazing innovative products which people who can afford it, and can flout the B&O name proudly.

[@horlixs]

Nice repair there Vince, it makes sense to me sort of. I have built the R2 D2 partwork (its on my channel) and that is full of some tech. It required us to source 6 18650 top hat cells, they then went into a battery box and it was dead, no voltage output. The manual then states for initial startup to connect the charger for 10 seconds then remove the charger and then that would enable the battery pack. So i guess it works in the same way you have demonstrated here. Question is why did your speaker not send the enable to the battery after you replaced the cell? But amazing video as always :-)

[@thatonerepairguy4784]

Glad u got ur BO "body odor" speaker working

[@MrDbone75]

Good Saturday morning to you sir and your family