Yaesu: Yaesu FT2900R fix?

[gungatim]

Just started having a problem with my 2 yr. old FT2900. display is blank. sometimes bottom half shows. sometimes tapping on it makes the display come back.

I Contacted Yaesu, out of warranty so ship and fix at my expense. I think it is probably cheaper to buy a new one knowing what other mfgr's charge for service.

So anyone know if this is a common issue I can easily fix myself? Cold solder joint?

haven't opened it up yet, just wondering if these are easy enough to find and re-solder (assuming that is it) or if I am better off buying a new one.

thoughts?

 

[AK9R]

Sounds like a ribbon cable between the display board and the main board has come loose. You may be able to fix it by opening up the radio and carefully re-seating the interconnecting cables in the radio.

 

[gungatim]

well it wasn't the ribbon cable, just shoddy workmanship.

I decided to take it apart and see what I could see. I think I fixed it.

the front panel unscrews with 3 small allen screws. they were not very tight. under that the PCB with the LCD has a couple Phillips screws mounting it to the chassis with 2 leaf spring grounds (also extremely loose).

I noticed when it was apart and turned on, if I touched the main ground on the LCD panel with my finger, the display came on. I bent up the ground fingers on the chasis to make better contact, and screwed everything back down nice and tight (like it should have been originally).

display is now perfect and no longer dims, flickers, shows half a screen, or disappears completely anymore.

I think whoever assembled it just did not get it put together tight enough. either that or the vibration on my dash somehow loosened up all the screws.

 

[AK9R]

I have a question. If you don't think my question is pertinent to the conversation, you don't need to answer it.

Where was the radio made? Look around the back of the radio for a sticker that has the FCC ID number and the unit's serial number. That sticker will usually say where the unit was made.

I ask because inexpensive, Chinese-made radios have become very popular in amateur radio circles. Most of these radios have brand names unfamiliar to U.S. amateur radio operators who have been buying equipment made for the amateur radio market by Japanese companies such as Alinco, Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu. When the quality of these inexpensive, Chinese-made radios is questioned, folks often point out that the "Japanese" radios are being made in China, too. It's been reported that some Yaesu radios are being assembled in China, hence my question.

 

[gungatim]

Hey, sorry I kept forgetting to look, but I did pull the radio back out and took the mount off to see "Made in Japan". that's not to say the PCB's weren't sourced from China or somewhere, but I assume at least the final assembly was done in Japan, meaning the various sub asemblys should have been clicked, inserted, and screwed together by someone who knows what they are doing and pass some sort of quality check...

not bashing them, like I said, I forget where I bought it (online, I think from a large vendor on this site, I know it wasn't amazon), so who knows if someone returned it, it was opened, or just plain the sixth-sigma of quality and I got the luck of the draw, LOL...

 

[k6cpo]

I have a question. If you don't think my question is pertinent to the conversation, you don't need to answer it.

Where was the radio made? Look around the back of the radio for a sticker that has the FCC ID number and the unit's serial number. That sticker will usually say where the unit was made.

I ask because inexpensive, Chinese-made radios have become very popular in amateur radio circles. Most of these radios have brand names unfamiliar to U.S. amateur radio operators who have been buying equipment made for the amateur radio market by Japanese companies such as Alinco, Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu. When the quality of these inexpensive, Chinese-made radios is questioned, folks often point out that the "Japanese" radios are being made in China, too. It's been reported that some Yaesu radios are being assembled in China, hence my question.

Just because some Yaesu (and possibly other Japanese manufacturer's radios) are being made in China it doesn't automatically mean their quality is any less than the radios made in Japan. Two of my three Yaesu HTs, an FT-270 and an FT-60, were made in China and they have exactly the same quality as the same models made in Japan. I have never experienced any problems with either of them.

 

[AK9R]

The Chinese electronics manufacturing industry is quite capable of building quality products, including the iPhone. However, most of these quality Chinese electronics products seem to come from non-Chinese companies who only source their products from China. OTOH, the electronics products that are designed by the Chinese or built to Chinese specs seem to be somewhat questionable.

The purpose my question was to find out where the FT-2900 was made since I had been hearing that Yaesu was having some products built in China. I'm confident that the Yaesu engineers are making sure that their Chinese suppliers maintain Yaesu quality.

 

[gungatim]

just to reiterate, this particular is labeled made in Japan.

I agree Chinese companies are fully capable of building high quality products. I have been involved in outsourcing and setting up production lines for some very high tech consumer products and it's all in how you spec quality. labor is inexpensive and 100% inspection is common on higher end items.

circuit board manufacturing is a very mature industry and it matters little where the pick and place machines or waveform soldering is done since it is virtually completely automated. I've worked with PCB mfgr's in small towns in the Midwest as well as Thailand, China, and Korea. if you have a robust design and spec appropriate components, it really doesn't matter where the machines are located.

I'm very confident in Yaesu's engineering capabilities. just because I got a model that wasn't quite assembled to spec doesn't mean I won't buy another Yaesu. stuff happens, clutches in the power screwdrivers get out of adjustment. it's not a big deal, just wanted to share my experience is all, not start a debate about China vs. whoever. I'm on enough forums where those debates go on endlessly for no reason...

 

[wrath]

I had the display on my yaesu stolen , I think it cost me $150 to have yaesu send me another, so if the display is shot you can play Franken radio and try and fix the worst that happens is you fix it .

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

 

[gungatim]

well my fix didn't last. back to blank screen when it's cold. then half a screen as it warms up, finally the whole screen works after a half hour being on or so...

 

[KC4RAF]

If it comes on when it warms up, it may be not making good contact at the ribbon connection. Also, a component like a resistor could be at fault. Sorry, just can not give you any real help.