Trying to FIX: John Lewis DAB Radio DB545-1

Hi, in this video I attempt to repair a John Lewis DAB radio that was part of a joblot from eBay. This one doesn't power on.
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.

[@TechGorilla1987]

That "speaker" in the rear is called a passive radiator. Like a speaker with no driving magnet. It simply resonates to fill out sound.

[@StevenIngram]

I thought it was some kind of ghetto subwoofer. Since the main speaker recoils based on volume and bass. When it recoils hard, it thumps the bass on the backside. LOL

[@mikehensley78]

Yep. Just helps move more air.

[@nightstah]

Also probably why the foam to give it more of a full cushioned sound rather than inadvertent reverb from say the interior plastics (sound bouncing off it)

[@adampoll4977]

It's still a bit weird as it's a ported radiator. Interesting acoustic solution.

[@SkippyDa]

Regarding the missing component, there is some marking to the side, saying R45, C24, C33, R46, so, there used to be a capacitor at some point, but it might've been not populated at the factory.

[@kruleworld]

I saw that too. 16:48 it is called out as C24 according to the diagram next to the capacitor. This doesn't confirm if there was a cap there, or what value. only the schematic would help in this regard.

[@missionpassed4584]

Fantastic job, I must admit its quite interesting watching you reversing other peoples damaged repairs and doing it far better.

[@philjtephenson41]

Keep these coming mate, they cheers me right up during these strange times...love seeing you try to rescue almost gone kit....if only the rest of the world just tried, a little....

[@DannyWilliamH]

You can remove old permanent marker by treating it a lot like old solder you want to get rid of. Buy a dry erase marker and use it to basically reactivate the old marker you want to remove, much like adding new solder to an old joint. So, trace the old markings with the dry erase marker and then quickly wipe away with a IPA. It works surprisingly well.

[@stephenm5000]

I'm of an age where at school I was always taught that just showing the answer wasn't enough, you had to show your 'working out' to demonstrate you had the ability to problem solve. This video shows exceptional, 'working out'! Well done, and feel free to lose the music on future videos LOL Adults can cope with silence...

[@billraske7]

In the future, if you have marker on a sensitive material, such as the rubberized plastic, some time in direct sunlight, or UV light, it will fade away. As a license plate collector, many plates I've gotten that have had marker on them, will get rid of it completely after a few weeks in the sun. Love the content, and really enjoy your determination to try! Cheers from Wisconsin, USA!

[@talon4x4]

Gotta say again, I'm loving all the videos during quarantine. Thanks Vince!!

[@PMcDFPV]

Thank you so much for the content mate! I am sure it is taking extra effort on your part to get them out, and just wanted to say its appreciated. I always look forward to learning everytime I watch a video. Just got my rework station in the mail and cant wait to use it !

[@kelboswell]

Hi! I love what you do here! :) If I could make a suggestion... I've found that when doing that sort of repair, it's a good idea to physically glue the control to the board with hot melt glue. That will remove the mechanical strain from your new connections. If the control ever needs to be replaced, the glue can be heated, and the control removed. I've used that trick on musical equipment for years :)

[@45Concealed1911]

When removing permanent marker first mark over it with a dry erase marker then wipe with isopropyl

[@timothystevenhoward]

retro gamer trick for sharpied NES/SNES carts. dry erase. no need to scrape or rub.

[@abdulhkeem.alhadhrami]

My Mate Vince: Apologies if this is goin to be boring. Me: Enjoys every video you upload.

[@speedwaynutt]

Vince has been on a role with uploads keep up the great work.

[@TampaTec]

Handy radio for beach or emergency power outages. 👍

[@shifty2755]

Yeah. You really need music in a time of need.

[@MonsieurHonHon]

Cool repair. Love it when its short and sweet like that.

[@CYPH3RsD0M41N]

"Vince is king" Damn right, he is.

[@gregjones3660]

So he fancies the Queen?

[@serisman1042]

Haven't finished the video yet, so maybe you already figured this out, but that looks like a pretty standard rotary encoder switch. The missing capacitor is part of a RC circuit used to debounce one of the A/B legs. It is probably just a 'normal' 0.1 or 0.01 uF cap, value not particularly important.

[@mikehensley78]

For marker removal you can color over the mark with a dry erase marker then some IPA. I think the dry erase mixes with the permanent marker and softens it up a little. Awesome fix!

[@nightstah]

Never heard of John Lewis in the states, cheers on another hard-won repair :)

[@davidtexidor747]

Thank you for continuing making more video Vince love to watch your videos

[@HuntersMoon78]

I recently bought a Sony DAB+ clock radio, it had no power so I checked the power supply and it was dead, chopped it off and wired a USB cable, it works great and does draw much power from the USB power supply.

[@braelinmichelus]

I guess you could say you turned a BAD radio... into a DAB radio! Bad jokes aside, nice fix! And that's a damn nice unit for coming from a department store. Anything like that in America is usually crap.

[@nathar_ghados]

Hi Vince. I love your videos! You're so inspirational!!

[@rocktoroll77]

Cool fix they look like a awesome little radio

[@chrisstyles4630]

Better to watch these fixes than the same old switches

[@GadgetUK164]

Fantastic repair Vince =D If you feed the wires through the vias and solder them onto the other side, you will get a more long lasting connection - but that's not that important since you bent over those pins on the other side anyway, which was a great idea =D Stay safe, and keep fixing =D Annoying when someone else has been there first!!!

[@ArreglandoCosas]

Excellent fix vince! Really enjoyed it

[@koztech]

I recently saw another KZbinr use conductive copper tape to repair/replace some traces on a retro computer. Perhaps give that a try next time you need to repair broken traces, just to see if it makes things easier. Could apply solder mask over it to protect the top layer. At the very least it could be a fun experiment.

[@welshtony1]

Once again a great fix. Makes me wish I listened to the radio more at home to get use out of my old DAB radio, instead I listen to the radio in the car all the time and its not DAB haha

[@phgodts]

The back "speaker" is actually a passive radiador and acts like a port, increasing low frequency response

[@StevenIngram]

I think I'd name this particular radio... the bodgestrosity. ;) Great video!

[@wez2844]

Great video you make things look so easy!! 😂

[@johnwongtw1]

she said: oh that's annoying because I wanted to be the first one in there! 😂

[@jamiesuvo7420]

Good job mate I enjoy your video's

[@mikethedigitaldoctorjarvis]

No apology required,nothing you do is boring ! 😊

[@georgeclarke1183]

this is a ideal radio for going camping or going on the beach

[@hope22win]

that missing capacitor is for debounce of the rotary encoder, it will be the same as the one intact and i think it will be 0.01uf capacitor, please make Vince see it so he could check debounce theory and he will be able to figure it out in the future

[@Chelseagrin1923]

The speaker in the back is called a passive radiator that means it is used to increase bass response it's drivin by the main speaker to make it vibrates for more bass

[@spooktasticaparanormal]

Well done again Vince. Kind regards. Paul.

[@chevyimp5857]

Love this channel...

[@technixbul]

If you had rosin, it would be way much easyer to tin those wires. Also you could use vias to solder wires like trough hole components on them. The picture of adapter connector on the back of the DAB shows positive pin inside, so you could just measure if the connection and polarity are ok before try them all. The label can be easily scrubbed with sugar qube without any traces left.

[@Bodragon]

(8:15) - Look Vince. You can trace where the pads (even if they're broken), go to on the top, (knob) side of the board, and you can also do the same on the other side of the PCB. I don't think it is a multi-layer board, but since it's got surface mount components on the opposite side, then you certainly have the two sides to consider, examine and trace. >

[@peteregan9750]

love you vids - funny how many devices from china have bad solder joints....

[@Pillock25]

Nice fix. It's funny I thought the red texta was supposed to be a trendy splash of colour.

[@jameshines4012]

Great fix.

[@robtitheridge9708]

great job vince more like it please

[@jeremytravis360]

John Lewis is a British retail company. They don't have stores in other countries. They do get companies that make quality products to re brand products with the John Lewis name on them. The person who designed this radio was not very good at his job. You can't expect solder pads to hold a switch / volume control straight onto the PCB. The content use of the control will inevitably make it break away. Good move bending over the tabs.

[@Vermilicious]

The silk screen says there should be a capacitor there, and since the resistors are of the same value, it's probably safe to assume the same is true for the capacitors. It's likely a debounce capacitor. I might have soldered the pins on the back (or through the vias) rather than the front, because now the switch isn't completely flush with the board. However, solder points on the underside of the board would increase the chance of traces getting lifted, which is likely the reason the pads were on the top side. What apparently wasn't considered, was that the button might be pushed sideways. It's odd that the tabs weren't bent/twisted. That might have prevented this fault from happening. Perhaps someone in production was being sloppy.

[@AnonymousRepair]

very nice My Mate Vince would add some glue to the volume control to fix it in place

[@dave3968]

ive just bought one of these from an auction returns site .radio works but i can hardly see the display screen its powering up but hardly visible .any ideas

[@bodibmf]

The antenna is perfect for the rc remote!

[@minilab9030]

Nice fix

[@Bodragon]

Hi Vince. Please believe me when I say I have watched this video only up to this point: (5:15). I really enjoy your watching your videos in a particular way. That is to watch, and pause to comment, as the film progresses. No doubt some will call me fake news or whatever but all my comments are 100% in good faith as I can clearly see that your KZbin creativity most certainly *_also is._* Right, no. It does not look like a burn from my angle which is a 1920x1080 laptop screen in full-screen mode. No Sir. It looks like a bit of black plastic or the back of some black stickyness from the back of some tape or some such... Well, that's what it looks like to me, at this end. Of course, you are in a much better position to judge these things but I do so hope that I'm right here... >

[@Bodragon]

(31:15) - What are you using to get rid of that red marker ? I happen to know that isopranol is brilliant for this. Well, most of the time it is. >

[@benbrizzi]

Any reason why you didn't disconnect the ribbon cables before working on this ?

[@WinAtLottery]

Try using Axe Body Spray to take off permanent marker. It works great!

[@Bodragon]

(14:30) - Now would be an ideal time to compare that board with another. You did mention, at the beginning of this video, that you had a working radio. The internals from that, working one, would make for an ideal reference. Jus' sayin' >

[@hardhits1]

@My Mate VINCE or anyone reading this. My PS4 controller wont charge. Its getting power all the way up to where the ribbon cable plugs into the motherboard of the controller. From there no power reaches the battery connecting terminal. What could be the issue as from my testing its something on the motherboard thats faulty?

[@hardhits1]

Please help someone?

[@Bodragon]

(13:40) - That solder connection, along with the equivalent on the other knob, is just for physical strength and stability, although both are electrically connected to ground. >

[@Tim_3100]

Great fix vince that solder the other person did was just ugly

[@Bodragon]

(8:12) - Yeah mate. Time I think, to move on to the next one. But I tell you, I really hate it when that happens. Yes, it's happened to me. I once bought a job lot of ten Galaxy S6s. Everyone single one of them exhibited some kind of tell-tail sign that attempted repairs had already been made. Didn't realise at first. Only when I got to *_hopeless case number five,_* did I go back and examine, as meticulously as I could, the previous four phones, did I discover I'd been had. *_DAMNIT !_* The thing was, was that I had received the job-lot over a month earlier, and didn't start work on them until I did, because I was awaiting delivery of my new microscope from Amazon. So I couldn't even send them back. I could, however, still leave feedback. And I'm sure I don't need to tell you how that went. >

[@lo377ps]

This is such a big design flaw. All the pads of the pot should be plated through holes. Also the mounting pads should be at least soldered. Designed to fail. Nice repair work though. Again a device saved from the landfill.

[@DannyWilliamH]

Vince, if you see this could you provide a quick update of which materials and equipment you use (by comment here or video or however you like)? Maybe iron, hot air, braid, flux, etc? I'd like to know what kind of solder braid/wick you use as well as what kind of soldering iron. I can't find a good solder braid for the life of me. Every brand I try requires that I essentially soak it in flux for it to work and even then it's so much trouble for me and I end up soldering the cut of braid to the joint half the time (haha). Maybe my iron doesn't get hot enough? It is a cheap 40w Weller clone, if I recall correctly. I've debated grabbing one of those cheap iron and hot air stations for about $80 but I hear they're hit or miss. Anyway, any details would be nice. Thanks.

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

If you can get it Kynor wire wrap wire might be worth getting.

[@Bodragon]

(16:43) - Just look at another board, and you will know instantly whether there should be a capacitor or not, at that particular point. Considering it is labelled *C24,* my guess is that there is actually a capacitor missing. >

[@daveglo100]

this was my thinking too

[@falochamp]

I own two of those exact models. Bought within the last year from John Lewis (one in green and one in orange) when I plug it in I have to wiggle and turn the power cable for it to work and if I knock the cable or the radio it will just turn off and I have to then position and wiggle the cable around for it to turn back on. Does anybody know if this can be fixed

[@rays7437]

I'd mask off and paint a white stripe all the way around the bottom of the radio to cover that John Lewis logo and make it look like a factory stripe. Maybe one around the top too.

[@saturnuria1217]

About that misaligned power icon... Coincidentally, I had an argument online a while ago about something similar. Personally, I would expect the centre of the icon to be the exact centre of the circle. Some UI designers are treating the centre of the icon to be the distance from the top of the little bar, to the bottom of the circle. In the latter case, when you rotate the icon, it does not rotate around the centre of the circle and that would annoy me. If wonder if that's what happened here. I hope I've explained that clearly enough.

[@jtothew4201]

Certainly sounds like it as there isnt going to be someone sticking these on individualy.

[@TheCod3r]

Could you try fixing an iPhone?

[@Natei]

Did you manage to look at that other switch lite yet Vince?

[@patrickmorrissey2271]

Nice!

[@howtowithelizabeth7513]

What about the other pins that don’t have solder yet the ones right next to it do

[@Bodragon]

(18:25) - At this point, I would be considering something like epoxy resin to give some physical strength to the knob, once it's reinstalled and working as it should. The knob is certainly going to need some external, physical support, or it will be knocked off again in no time. >

[@Bodragon]

(8:30) - And it's just struck me, right now ! That what I thought previously about that so-called burn mark ? After what I've seen so far ? Yes mate. It's a carbon black burn from a soldering iron tip. Oh dear... >

[@ErroneousClique]

The foam means it is the deluxe model. :P

[@SosiskaTheHorrible]

Love a Varta

[@cr4zyshotz211]

Class

[@louiswelrod]

Maybe try a bit of sandpaper on the logo at the bottom. I might remove the remainder of the John Lewis logo without leaving the surface too shiny.

[@Bodragon]

(6:56) - Really burnt ? Or just black paint/glue/who knows ? >

[@lennymears672]

Hi vince I was looking at buying them,it seems to me that there is a common problem with dab from John lewis as their is a lot of them for sale with fault's .

[@Bodragon]

Hi Vince, you said you got ten of these. What happened to the other nine ? >

[@TobiEstosWorld]

Really nice repair. Enjoyed it alot. But Why the hell do somebody paint the john lewis logo?😂 Must be owned by a kid, I did this stuff back in the days a lot. I always painted the led on ps1 dualshock controllers with black marker. I was so damn cool 😎😂

[@benthebossjackson4388]

John Lewis just higher cost, bigger then argos... but argos much cheaper, 5 year guarantees are worthless! and useless, pay for 5 years, your item breaks and not fixable and then item replaced, you lose your 5 years guarantee ... so defo do not fall for them 5 year things

[@urspufos]

I have a similar stereo John Lewis model and it keeps resetting itself every time I put it in DAB mode, even with low sound volume - both on battery and with its original power adaptor. It works perfectly fine on FM, Aux and Bluetooth. It looks like there's something wrong with the the dab radio mode inside - maybe drawing too much power or some component in it failed. I wonder if anyone else had the same fault happening on their John Lewis DAB radio and if there's a known / easy fix for it... 🤔

[@robertoneill1979]

Looks like it was put together by the Monday a.m. shift 😁

[@MrHannatas]

anyone got one of these shower variants ? i got one but every time i turn it off an on again it resets the time, only keeps the presets.

[@dragme2hel]

Btw i was waiting for another switch lite video huhu

[@h.elh139]

I was waiting too,

[@hichamikhlef3923]

for the writing (john lewis ) do a custompaintjob on it by painting a small line over it all around it will look fantastic

[@ford1546]

Such switches are called rotary encoder switch

[@leseriath]

I've bought some of tge john lewis dab radios faulty to repair and i swear everyone of them has this red marker over the john lewis logo!! If anyone knows why please tell us, by the way another good video chris and thanks👍

[@gareth1971]

So you can't take it back to John Lewis for a refund or replacement or credit.

[@leseriath]

Gareth I bought them from eBay faulty but just thought it strange they all had this red marker over logo

[@gareth1971]

@@leseriath What I mean is that John Lewis have marked them so that whoever buys them cannot return them via the store.

[@leseriath]

I see what you mean Gareth thanks

[@mata9992]

who uses radios tho I dont criticize, just saying, still great fix :D

[@siqu7071]

Who uses a creeper as a profile pic tho

[@mata9992]

@@siqu7071 me

[@mata9992]

@@siqu7071 who still uses a picture of windows 95?

[@siqu7071]

@@mata9992 Go back to playing minecraft kid

[@colinknowles1644]

Hi Vince Great videos not sure if you have seen ive sent you an email regarding a sega game gear hope you got it :) keep up the great work

[@minhchau8915]

I vince i think it will be fun if you buy job lot ipods and trying to fix it.

[@CaffeinatedTech]

Do up a label for the bottom corner "VINCE"

[@howtowithelizabeth7513]

Use an ice cube tray for the screws and other tinny parts 😉

[@Bodragon]

(11:30) - Now would be a good time to stop and open up another radio. You could then trace, much more easily, where the tracks go from that decoder (pot), using your multimeter for extra assistance. I mean, you've got another nine right ? OK! Put this one aside, and move on to the next one. Oh Vince. How many times do I have to say it ? I am now imploring you... *_MOVE ON VINCE !_* >

[@JuicyJakeRepairs]

You can remove permanent marker with flux remover 😀

[@astral276]

Hate that rubberised finish; everything I have had that has it deteriorated quickly into a sticky mess. Never found anything to restore it, the best you can do is remove it back to the base plastic - which is a horrible job.

[@JordynBaby63]

It says c24 on the solder mask 😀. For the missing one

[@aaronhiggins7040]

When the switch lite video coming out?