SDS100 dead.

[KJ5IK]

My SDS100, less than 3 months old, is dead. It was working one second, then it was off and will no longer power on. I have:

Changed batteries.

Removed battery and used power cord.

Have tried different chargers, all rated 2.1 amps minimum, with and without battery.

Have tried several cords with and without battery.

All to no avail. The radio isn't abused, the firmware is updated as updates are released, and it has all of the upgrades (ProVoice, etc.). It was working perfectly up until a couple of hours ago and I'm getting fairly frustrated. Anybody have any ideas as to what could have happened to it? More importantly, has anyone run into this problem and been able to fix it without returning it?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Bmacs]

Try a new SD card

 

[doctordialtone]

without returning it?

Repair

 

[kruser]

Try a new SD card

These SD card radios will still power on without an SD card. They may not do anything but would at least power up for a time.

 

[KJ5IK]

I could see the SD card failing and making the radio useless. I can't see why it would prevent the radio from powering up. However, I do have another SD card and nothing else to do at the moment so I'll give it a shot and report back.

 

[KJ5IK]

So I took another SD card and copied the files from the original SD card to the new one and installed it in the radio. No joy. I do appreciate the response!

 

[eaf1956]

Does it do anything without an sd card installed?

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[KJ5IK]

Just tried it. No change. Appreciate the response!

 

[ecarvalho]

Send it for repair


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[allend]

Bummer. Not having to spend money to ship it to Uniden and then be without a radio for like a month is horrible after only having a new radio for like 3 months. I just spent like 90 bucks like 4 months for a new Motorola XTS 5000 battery and finally fired up the new battery and it was dead and won't charge. I have no re-course.

 

[kruser]

Bummer. Not having to spend money to ship it to Uniden and then be without a radio for like a month is horrible after only having a new radio for like 3 months. I just spent like 90 bucks like 4 months for a new Motorola XTS 5000 battery and finally fired up the new battery and it was dead and won't charge. I have no re-course.

I've had a few Motorola batteries I'd bought for spares only to find them dead when I actually needed them.
I knew which contacts supplied power and was able to apply voltage to those contacts for 30 seconds or so. That was enough for the chargers to see them in their charger sockets and start charging normally.
I never applied but maybe a half volt greater than the batteries voltage rating.

This trick has always worked for me with both old NiCD and NiMH technologies. This may be worth a shot in your case.
If you still have an old but working XTS 5000 battery, you can use it to figure out the main power terminals plus to "jump" start the new but dead cell.

 

[kruser]

Just tried it. No change. Appreciate the response!

That's surely a bummer. It sounds like it will need a trip back to Uniden.

Did you try to power the radio through the smaller upper MICRO USB port? I know that port can power the radio but will not charge the main battery.

I doubt that will work plus you would still have the main problem of not working from the regular Mini USB port but if it does work, it may buy you some time before you need to send it in.

 

[tampatracker]

My SDS100, less than 3 months old, is dead. It was working one second, then it was off and will no longer power on.

Did you notice any thing strange as far as performance before it quit?

 

[KJ5IK]

Well, it seemed after the last firmware update that the battery would not charge while I was listening to the scanner. It would tell me the voltage was too low from the charger and then the radio would revert automatically to the do not charge while listening mode. It would do this each and every time I reset it to charge with the radio on while using different chargers I know to be rated a minimum of 2.1 amps. I simply assumed it was a problem with the firmware update and would be corrected on the next update. Then it failed, so I guess there won't be any more updates for me for a while.

 

[KJ5IK]

Yes, I just tried that (because I didn't think of it before you mentioned it) and the radio still doesn't power up. Thanks for the response!

 

[RF23]

So I took another SD card and copied the files from the original SD card to the new one and installed it in the radio. No joy. I do appreciate the response!

This is not the recommend way to prepare another SD card for use. What you did is copy a potentially corrupt SD card and made a duplicate which will be just as corrupted.

 

[hsdtech]

Wow I would be raising some hell with Uniden over that. $700 radio that dies after 3 months! Oh hell no.

 

[KK4JUG]

Wow I would be raising some hell with Uniden over that. $700 radio that dies after 3 months! Oh hell no.

And if you do that, they'll tell you to send it in for repair. If you don't do that and just tell them it quit working, they'll tell you to send it in for repair. If you need catharsis, raise hell them but it won't make a difference to Uniden.

 

[ofd8001]

I agree with the above, copying an SD card that even remotely could be a problem is unwise. Get a new card, format it with SD Formatter. Clear User Data, write your Profile and full database to new card. Then see what happens.

If it still doesn't work, send it in for repair. Yeah, it must be aggravating, frustrating and all them bad adjectives. Unfortunately stuff goes wrong from time to time, which is why there is something to listen to on the scanner.

 

[UnidenSupport]

And if you do that, they'll tell you to send it in for repair. If you don't do that and just tell them it quit working, they'll tell you to send it in for repair. If you need catharsis, raise hell them but it won't make a difference to Uniden.

Well, it does make a difference to our agents here. It can make for a pretty bad day to put up with too much abuse. I know many people feel better taking it out on someone, but remember these are people trying to help you and we have protocol we must follow.

This situation sounds like they need repair. It is inconvenient and unfortunate to get a unit that needs repair, but we do have a warranty to cover the repair and we work to make the situation better for our customers however we can.