keypad area wear / silk screen psr-800

[Boatanchor]

Ebay is selling these new for $395 shipped now. Between this thread, and the Youtube video explaining how to clean the dust from inside the housing...

I'm convinced! F this thing! ARE THEY KIDDING!?! This is their company's "Flagship"!?! I'll wait for something from a company who's idea of build quality isn't 10X worse than a toy from the dollar store. :roll:

Thank you guys for posting your experiences!

Well worth watching that informative video.

 

[W4KRR]

Just fyi.. from this post: http://forums.radioreference.com/1712517-post2.html

"At first I was having the "battery issue" (GRE800), but after adjusting the voltage settings (search the forums for some starting points), I now get nearly 10 hrs of continuous run time (using 2700mah batts)."

Using 2700mah batteries charged in a Powerex charger, I can get 8 hours of use, with the backlight on full time.

And BTW, after many months, I have no faceplate wear at all.

 

[ScanFanEd]

Argh... I have only had the PSR-800 for a week (serial number 68xx) and already have the wear on the finish. As long as the PSR-800 has been out, I am surprised that the issue has not been corrected yet.

 

[Tracker]

Argh... I have only had the PSR-800 for a week (serial number 68xx) and already have the wear on the finish. As long as the PSR-800 has been out, I am surprised that the issue has not been corrected yet.

I agree, but it's only cosmetic. The radio works fine...

 

[gmkelm]

Received my new PSR-800 (SN#005929) on Friday 5/4 from Amazon.com. No problems whatsoever with programming or the hardware except for the wear around the keypads starting to be noticable last evening. This morning I took a soft old cotton hand towel, some Q-tips and some Krud Kutter (adhesive lable, etc. remover) and in 10 minutes removed the "paint" and now have a beautiful shiny bezel cover.

I like this solution as it does not require me to contact Tech Support and disassemble my unit.

This was an easy, painless and fast solution. Thanks to previous posters for working this solution.

Mark

 

[thedogfood]

FWIW.... I have two PSR-800s.

First one serial 62xx definitely had the front screen issue. Removed the front screen and used Goo-Gone to clean it up. Looked loads better afterware.

Second one serial 67xx seemed to have a better paint job but didn't wait to see if it was. Used GoofOff this time -much much much faster than GooGone- and once again it looks fine now.

The only odd thing is that the two scanners don't have exactly the same display lighting. The 62xx series has a bluish whitish tint to the backlight, while the 67xx has a more yellowish or greenish tint. They look quite different. Probably not something anyone would notice without having them side by side,

 

[Tracker]

I have goo gone.....why is it more "dangerous" than goo off.?

 

[WA3YDK]

Thanks for the lighter fluid tip

Like many of you, my keypad also started to show wear only after 2 days (serial 67xx). I'm extremely happy with the results using the lighter fluid method described in this chain.The result is a perfect black and shinny finish. Thanks so much.

 

[chas0039]

Just in case anyone wants to know, this problem is not being addressed. My showed serious wear after 2 HOURS. We should all require Grecom to mail out the replacement part, otherwise it is unlikely that they will ever fix it on their own.

 

[tsalmrsystemtech]

Just in case anyone wants to know, this problem is not being addressed. My showed serious wear after 2 HOURS. We should all require Grecom to mail out the replacement part, otherwise it is unlikely that they will ever fix it on their own.

Kind of strange when you purchase such a big high priced item like this awesome trunking radio and the paint comes right off the unit and the unit comes with no power cord, nor any decent batteries since they can't seem to fix the battery issues. BATTERY HOG. I had to sell mine after about having it for 30 days and even got a replacement face plate from GRE. Trust me I am not bashing them because I own the

GRE PSR 600 which I have two of them and I also have the GRE RADIO SHACK PRO 106 which I love and the battery life is awesome and it will last for at least 24 hours with no problem. I have no trouble with the radio and they figured out how to make a good radio for RS

 

[n1chu]

I just got my -800 two days ago and the finish has rubbed off already! My serial # is 004952. Is anyone keeping track of where the problem starts and stops? I'd like to know this if I have a problem with Scanner World where I purchased the radio. I also read a posting that referred to the radio not being able to do the location using the zip code, stating it was corrected with new software. My radio does not want to allow zip code input either and I wonder if this adds credibility to my radio being from a very early batch that has these issues with the finish and zip code. Since Im new to the radio, and have not read the postings here in entirety, please give me any insight into this finish problem. I have a hard time swallowing spending the kind of money this radio costs and getting a shoddy finish. GRE is better than that.

Bill

 

[Tracker]

They make a good radio n they know that it'll still sell even if the finich eeps wearing off

 

[chas0039]

I just got my -800 two days ago and the finish has rubbed off already! My serial # is 004952. Is anyone keeping track of where the problem starts and stops? I'd like to know this if I have a problem with Scanner World where I purchased the radio. I also read a posting that referred to the radio not being able to do the location using the zip code, stating it was corrected with new software. My radio does not want to allow zip code input either and I wonder if this adds credibility to my radio being from a very early batch that has these issues with the finish and zip code. Since Im new to the radio, and have not read the postings here in entirety, please give me any insight into this finish problem. I have a hard time swallowing spending the kind of money this radio costs and getting a shoddy finish. GRE is better than that.

Bill

My radio had a 6000 series number so I would guess that they are doing nothing to stop this problem.

 

[SCPD]

I'm in the 6000 series as well, have the same problem. Pretty ridiculous, might add the RShack version of this radio does the exact same thing. Clearly there should be a remedy, possibly a recall. Radio otherwise, is excellent.

 

[NYG]

GRE has always made some very good scanners. I find it disappointing that nothing has been done in the manufacturing process to correct the problem. Especially if the replacement part is of better quality (not that I know for sure because I haven't bought the 800). I hope when the 900 comes out it doesn't have a problem with the finish. That's the scanner that I'm waiting for.

 

[chas0039]

GRE has always made some very good scanners. I find it disappointing that nothing has been done in the manufacturing process to correct the problem. Especially if the replacement part is of better quality (not that I know for sure because I haven't bought the 800). I hope when the 900 comes out it doesn't have a problem with the finish. That's the scanner that I'm waiting for.

The replacement plate is the exact same plate without the defective paint that wears off when touched, even slightly. All they would really need to do would be to contact the supplier of the part and tell them to stop the bad paint job. I am guessing that GRE America just takes the bad part and rubs off the paint before they send it to us.

 

[n1chu]

Once mine is made new again, I'm going to put on a cell phone screen protector. I have asked GRE to send me a new front plate. When it gets here, I hope to be able to use it as a template, cut out the holes for the buttons and put it on the front. I purchased mine from Scanner Master who said to pack it back up and sent it to them and they will take care of the shipping and send you a new replacement radio. Since they dont do just the front panel, I have filled out a ticket with GRE. I am waiting for them to get back to me.

Bill

 

[chas0039]

Once mine is made new again, I'm going to put on a cell phone screen protector. I have asked GRE to send me a new front plate. When it gets here, I hope to be able to use it as a template, cut out the holes for the buttons and put it on the front. I purchased mine from Scanner Master who said to pack it back up and sent it to them and they will take care of the shipping and send you a new replacement radio. Since they dont do just the front panel, I have filled out a ticket with GRE. I am waiting for them to get back to me.

Bill

As I understand it, a protective screen should not be necessary. The replacement panels have all the paint already removed and on mine, at least, the semi-shiny surface looks fairly durable. Of course, a protective screen won't hurt any.

 

[camp637]

I just got my 800 back about a week ago for a different issue, but they returned it with a new faceplate, even though I only had the scanner for about 1 month before I sent it in for the other issue. I questioned why they put on a new face plate, and the answer was that they wanted to stop the problem from occuring again. !?!

 

[Boatanchor]

I have a feeling that this issue has been rather embarrassing for GRE and that they would surely have fixed the problem if it had been cost effective to do so.
Trouble is, the re-tooling and manufacturing costs of making a replacement case would be horrendous and would likely absorb any small profits the company is making from selling the (relatively few) units in the first place.

I bet there will be more thorough testing of subsequent models before they are released.