Uniden Bcd396xt speaker problem

[mmaxon]

I need a little help. I’ve used uniden (bearcat) scanners for over 40 years and I have a little problem that got the best of me.
I was using my Bcd396xt and did something that turned off the speaker on the unit. I can put head phones on and it works fine. Just can’t get the sound to come from the speaker . Can anyone help and me .
Thanks
Mmaxon in Mississippi

 

[doctordialtone]

I can put head phones on and it works fine.

There is a set of contacts in the earphone jack that turns off the speaker when a plug is inserted. It can get stuck in the muted position.

Try inserting an earphone plug repeatedly to see if it restores audio.

 

[wtp]

keep plugging then in and out.
it is a well known problem here,
the is a piece of metal that makes contact to "send" the audio to the speaker and they seem to be a little weak.
so by making and breaking the contact it can clean it a little and work.
it would help if you set it to a continuous sound to be sure, like an FM radio station.
hit hold, type in the freq and hit hold. (HOLD,FREQ,HOLD)

 

[Ronaldski]

I personally have seen people having this same problem on the 396XT, I'd say around 6 at least, even one I recall back when Radio Shack sold Unidens for a little while, it was next day it didn't work.
Standard reply on these problems is the earphone jack as mentioned in the above replies, its a real needle in a haystack, my experience is that we could never could get the radios to work doing that and they ended up sending it in to Uniden for service.

Uniden - Online Repair Form

If I recall right the problem is the circuitry feeding the speaker is at fault.

 

[mmaxon]

Thanks, I’ll try this now.

 

[wtp]

when it happened to my 396T i just thought it would make a nice base with computer speakers.

 

[mmaxon]

No luck on pluging and unplugging earphones. I guess I’ll open it up tomorrow and see if something can loose.

 

[mmaxon]

I still have 5 more scanners to listen to, but you know, you always need just ONE more

 

[wtp]

it is not loose
it is a bent small metal strap that the plug touches in the earphone jack.
it kind of looks like a P.

 

[jonwienke]

It's a common problem with headphone jacks in general. Speaker audio passes through the jack and is disconnected whenever headphones are plugged in. The switch contact in the jack loses tension, gets dirty, or wears out, and then the speaker stops working but phones still do. The only real long-term fix is replacing the jack.