SDS100/SDS200: Cold Solder Joint

[MStep]

Yes, I used a credit card. But all I wanted was a "working" radio! As I said, I now have it back from Uniden for the 2nd time and hopefully the last. I am hoping that it will keep working this time.

You're right about that spywiz. Amongst scanner enthusiasts, the desire to have a working radio sometimes outweighs logical reasoning! Case in point--- I looked at the SDS200 in advertising but did not pay it much heed for nearly two years, being very happy with my AOR receiver for casual listening. One day, in a somewhat awkward move, I tripped over the external speaker wire attached to the AOR and ripped out the jack, thus disabling any sound from my radio. No longer being proficient at soldering, I realized the AOR would have to make a journey from NYC to Japan to be fixed. I knew that would take a month or so, and in panic mode, it took me less than 30 minutes to go online and order an SDS200. I guess it's a form of addiction! You worked very hard and paid dearly I'm sure, not just in funds, but also in aggravation. So here's hoping that you and your SDS100 have a long and happy relationship.

 

[jonwienke]

The biggest surprise in that unfortunate tale of woe is the Jon Wienke could not even get it working.

It had an issue with the receiver that wasn't solder joint related. Without schematics and similar tech data, I wasn't able to troubleshoot the problem. Not being officially affiliated with Uniden corporate means I'm limited to what I can figure out on my own without putting hardware at risk experimenting.

 

[MStep]

It had an issue with the receiver that wasn't solder joint related. Without schematics and similar tech data, I wasn't able to troubleshoot the problem. Not being officially affiliated with Uniden corporate means I'm limited to what I can figure out on my own without putting hardware at risk experimenting.

Absolutely understood Jon. I think we all realize that you don't have have access to their parts department and can't randomly pull something like a control board out of thin air. Nor will they share with you there schematics and other proprietary information. I think what I was trying to convery to spywiz was that if you couldn't do anything with it, it had to be a serious problem. I think of you as kind of the "emergency room", but let's face it, some units are gonna end up in the Uniden "hospital". And wow, great email address!

 

[garys]

I don't know what would possess anyone to send a defective unit that is still under warranty to anyone one BUT the factory repair center. I wouldn't expect them to do warranty work on that any more than I would expect Toyota to do warranty work on my truck after I had a non dealer try to fix a problem with the engine.

Sorry you had a problem with your radio, but it is clearly not the norm. I have a SDS 100 and a SDS200. The SDS 200 was early production, the SDS100 was made in 2019. Neither has presented me with a problem. I'm pretty sure that my experience is more the typical one.

Note that I don't think Jonwienke did anything wrong here. In fact, since my SDS100 is out of warranty if it ever does exhibit the cold solder joint issue, he's the person I'll contact.

Maybe out of customer good will Joe Bearcat can do something to make you a satisfied customer.

Hello Sir, I had the cold solder joint problem, after sending my first purchased sds100 back, dead after 4 days of use. HRO sent me a replacement and it lasted about 10 days. HRO wouldn't send me another replacement. So after lots of advice from guys on here and Jon Wienke, I sent it to Jon for repair. After having it for more than a month Jon sent me the scanner back, still dead. He sent his apologies as well. I don't blame Jon in any way. I blame Uniden for continuing to let this faulty product be sold to loyal customers. I sent the radio to Uniden for repair for them to tell me it had been "tampered with" and voided the warranty. So I had them fix it and I had to pay. Uniden repair had it for about a month and sent it back. It worked for 5 days and went dead again!! I called Uniden repair for instructions on what to do. They advised me to send it back again. I sent it back and it was returned to me today. They replaced the "control board" this time and it is "now" working. So, I purchased the sds100 around October 1st 2020 and It has actually been in my posession "working" for less than 2 weeks!! Talk about unacceptable. And to add insult to injury my warranty is now voided from Jon Wienke's "Tampering"!! It is a shame on the Uniden company to send out such a high dollar scanner to a very small community of buyers that are willing to pay "top dollar" for such a high end scanner, and it have this kind of quality control issues. The issues have been known to the Uniden Repair Service from the very release of the first production. It is also unacceptable to have to send a scanner to repair several times to fix their own faulty work.

 

[Engine104]

At the risk of sounding like a troll... I'm sorry, but this issue is inexcusable in a radio costing $650.00. There is obviously a problem here and Uniden needs to fix it by making sure models coming off the line don't have that issue and stepping up and supporting people who have purchased the radio. I know this is a new technology, but this should have been addressed in R&D.

 

[jonwienke]

I don't know what would possess anyone to send a defective unit that is still under warranty to anyone one BUT the factory repair center.

As a general rule, I encourage people to use Uniden's repair services before sending their scanners to me. I've even posted this disclaimer on my Payments Page:

IMPORTANT: If your scanner has any problems requiring Uniden factory repair, send it to Uniden to have them repaired BEFORE having your scanner modified. Modifications to your scanner will void the factory warranty, and you will have to pay for any repairs done to your scanner by Uniden after the modification is performed. Uniden repair may disconnect or disable modifications.

But in this particular case, there was/is a lack of confidence in Uniden's ability/willingness to repair that particular issue properly, based on several people's less-than-satisfactory experiences with their SDS100s failing again after being sent to Uniden repair. Including mine. The only reason I got involved in cold solder joint repair is because I had a bad personal experience with Uniden inadequately addressing the issue, and I realized that I could do a better job with that particular repair than what Uniden was doing. And I got several requests from other who had similar experiences to do the same for them.

I'd be happy to get out of the business of doing solder joint rework. There is a delicate line between consuming enough coffee to achieve the proper focus and concentration on the task needed to accomplish it to my standards, and drinking too much to maintain the required hand steadiness to solder pins on 0.5mm centers. It's nerve-wracking and stressful work, with the prospect of screwing something else up constantly hanging over my head. Removing the connector is a last resort, because it's difficult to focus the heat from the hot air gun on the connector without loosening neighboring components as well. But not doing so means occasional frustration with pins that don't want to bond well because of oxidation buildup on their underside, even when immersed in liquid flux. I do it mostly because I feel like the community doesn't really have a viable alternative right now, not because I'm making huge amounts of $$$ from the work. It's a frustrating position to be in.

But all of that said, @JoeBearcat has contacted me privately, and I believe he is sincere in his desire to clean up this and other ongoing issues. So I'm willing to give him an opportunity to do so before sending too much hate Uniden's way. Everyone makes mistakes. Integrity is being willing to acknowledge those mistakes, and take action to correct them.

 

[SCOTTER]

Speaking of the cold solder joint problem when I bought my SDS last week the guy at BW told me that the new batch had new speakers and a circuit board repair is that true Mr bearcat or was he bs ing me? Thanks for any info

 

[spywiz]

I don't know what would possess anyone to send a defective unit that is still under warranty to anyone one BUT the factory repair center. I wouldn't expect them to do warranty work on that any more than I would expect Toyota to do warranty work on my truck after I had a non dealer try to fix a problem with the engine.

Sorry you had a problem with your radio, but it is clearly not the norm. I have a SDS 100 and a SDS200. The SDS 200 was early production, the SDS100 was made in 2019. Neither has presented me with a problem. I'm pretty sure that my experience is more the typical one.

Note that I don't think Jonwienke did anything wrong here. In fact, since my SDS100 is out of warranty if it ever does exhibit the cold solder joint issue, he's the person I'll contact.

Maybe out of customer good will Joe Bearcat can do something to make you a satisfied customer.

As I have told "many" people before, if "you" have an sds100 that has not had the cold solder joint problem then count yourself very lucky. As you have read from this thread there have been many many of us that have not been so lucky. And that is just the people that are on "this" forum. Think of the everyday "joe scanner guy" that is not on this forum. You will quickly find that there is no "norm" when it comes to the sds100. You either have one that is bad, or you have one that will probably go bad. If you fit in neither category then you are "lucky". Then, if you send it to Uniden for service, in or out of warranty you will be "lucky" if you don't have to send it back to them within the first week of having them repair it. So you see, you are "one" of the lucky ones. That does nothing for the many, many of us that have not been so lucky. If Uniden "Repair Service" had a reputation of "quality" service, then Jon Wienke would have no business

 

[garys]

A valid comparison would require knowing how many SDS100s were sold and how many went back to Uniden for the issue. Without knowing that, it's just anecdote, not data.

You had a bad experience, but that doesn't mean that a lot of people did. As I noted, both of my SDS radios have been fine.

This issue seems to have fallen into the gap from when UPMan died until right now. That's not good, but Joe Bearcat seems to be trying to resolve it. As I said before, he might be able to arrange for Uniden to do something for you under the category of Customer Good Will.

As I have told "many" people before, if "you" have an sds100 that has not had the cold solder joint problem then count yourself very lucky. As you have read from this thread there have been many many of us that have not been so lucky. And that is just the people that are on "this" forum. Think of the everyday "joe scanner guy" that is not on this forum. You will quickly find that there is no "norm" when it comes to the sds100. You either have one that is bad, or you have one that will probably go bad. If you fit in neither category then you are "lucky". Then, if you send it to Uniden for service, in or out of warranty you will be "lucky" if you don't have to send it back to them within the first week of having them repair it. So you see, you are "one" of the lucky ones. That does nothing for the many, many of us that have not been so lucky. If Uniden "Repair Service" had a reputation of "quality" service, then Jon Wienke would have no business

 

[jonwienke]

If Uniden "Repair Service" had a reputation of "quality" service, then Jon Wienke would have no business

I do other things besides the solder joint rework. If Uniden decided to make an upgraded SDS100 that included built-in GPS, that would cut into my business more than the repair stuff. But doing so would be better for everyone, because it could be done at the factory for maybe an extra $20, vs the $80 I charge for handcrafting it into the unit after the fact.

 

[Ubbe]

Adding a $20 item at the factory doesn't add $20 to the sales price in the stores.

Production costs are something like 5 times less, or even more, than the sales price and adding something to the production line will increase the sales price with a 5x multiple, or more. That's why they try to save every cent on components and also reduce the number of components, like not placing filter capacitor on the circuit board, as it will affect the retail sales price so much more.

That's just for the mechanical component. Then add the cost for logistic and testing and FCC regulations acceptance and so on.

/Ubbe

 

[jonwienke]

I've already factored that in. I'm paying retail price for the modules, wholesale price for quantities of 1000+ would be under $10. Everything else you mention is a one-time setup cost that would work out to a couple of dollars per unit if sold in the quantities implied by serial number range data. If TYT could add GPS to the MD-380 for around $20, then Uniden could do the same for the SDS100 for the same price range. And on a $600+ radio, that's not that much of a difference.

 

[trido]

I maybe retired 3 years however still have a few great contacts.
Here is his answer to this.

Information is false. There have been no changes to the product.

Speaking of the cold solder joint problem when I bought my SDS last week the guy at BW told me that the new batch had new speakers and a circuit board repair is that true Mr bearcat or was he bs ing me? Thanks for any info

 

[buddrousa]

Hi Jeff hope you are still enjoying easy life.

 

[trido]

yes doing well playing with dmr hotspots.

Hi Jeff hope you are still enjoying easy life.

 

[CopperWhopper67]

My SDS100 is showing signs of having this issue; pulsing static on many channels and slow scanning (Also, for a while there has been the presence of a long squelch tail on analog channels, but I am unsure if it is related). How or where can I go to get this fixed? And how much will it cost?

 

[buddrousa]

Is the scanner under warranty? Radio Scanners - Uniden Support Uniden Factory Repair.
Is the Scanner warranty expired? PayPal Payments This is Jonwienke does not work for Uniden but does very good work I have sent him 2 SDS100's

 

[Nasby]

My SDS100 is showing signs of having this issue; pulsing static on many channels and slow scanning (Also, for a while there has been the presence of a long squelch tail on analog channels, but I am unsure if it is related). How or where can I go to get this fixed? And how much will it cost?

If its out of warranty, you could try contacting Joe Bearcat the Uniden Rep. to see if he can help you out.

He seems to have a pretty good knowledge of the problem and the fact that its a manufacturing defect.

 

[CopperWhopper67]

Upon looking at the thread more deeply I found the video posted by Jon in July showing the type of pulsing that is caused by a CSJ and it does not match what mine is doing, but I am curious if it is still caused by a CSJ or similar issue. I will probably make a new thread about my issue to not clog up this thread.

 

[buddrousa]

You could post a video and us that had problems could say if we had that or not.