XPR7550e - Cold Solder Joints

[PACNWComms]

Well, it seems that my Motorola XPR7550e also has cold solder joints (in fact 177 radios all from the same batch) near the top of the board. Dreaded issue with many series of radios, with wave soldering being used in production, the top of the board (where the antenna, channel selector, and volume/on/off knob are located) gets the cooler solder joints that fail over time. 

Or, as I put it.....Motorola Planned Obsolescence. Often times, Motorola (and other brands/model) radios end up in auction sites as they have intermittent issues related to their antenna connectors, power and volume settings (radios get bumped "Off" when the potentiometer begins to fail), or channel select issues when worn on the belt and the knobs are rubbed. 

This can often be cold solder joints from manufacture. This is not limited to Motorola (I have seen this with Kenwood as well 5100/5300 series handhelds). The fix is to re-solder the connections if the pots or antenna connector is just loose, to replacement of potentiometers if volume/on/off or channel select is too loose.

3D printing also came in handy as shields can also prevent torque on the top knobs and antenna connection, preventing wear on the circuit board connections that may be prone to poor soldering during manufacture. 

As for Motorola XPR7550e radios, Motorola has repaired them under warranty, or via flat-rate repair if out of warranty.....but will only support them for another three more years (the model was discontinued and replaced by the Motorola R7 series radio), you often get five years of production and five additional years of support. For those buying second hand, buyer beware, or use for negotiation of price. 

Anyone else experience this with their radios (any manufacture), if so, what was the fix?

[LeoG]

16 minutes ago, PACNWComms said:

Luckily, with the warranty period ending, and the fact that we have Chip Dragon (I miss labeled the picture as Air Dragon though) stations spread across the country, we can do this. 

In fact, Motorola XTS series radios as they age also have this problem.....but it only manifests after 10-15 years of use. And why we still use XTS series handhelds, we can repair them, they work well, and Battery Universe sells IS rated batteries for them, even though Motorola ended support and manufacture a few years back now.

Soldering is a skill that I wish more "radio" technicians were taught. Now, it is IT types being handed a radio system, that in some cases do not even know how to change a car tire (if their car even comes with a spare now), let alone solder.

Then, crappy solder that does not last, or flow well because it is hazardous....that gets to be a crazy situation for a large company and anyone that even tries to solder. I had an intern in a safety class mention that "soldering" should require a specific hazmat class and safety classes as you could get burned and contaminated with lead. I told my "leadership" that if they push too hard on that route, they may see some of the older techs leave...with no replacement. The youngest member of my team came from Icom America and is almost 40 now....and he can solder (but most often is working on Kenwood NX-51xx/53xx series radios, yes those fail too). 

Thank you for the reply.

 

I got some solder that really wasn't solder.  I am pretty experienced in the work and I couldn't get this crap to flow out.  I thought it was me until I got my old roll of Radio Shack solder out and fixed up the joint in seconds.  The new solder came with my new soldering iron.  1st time I had one you could set the temp on the iron.  And then I had that issue, wasn't sure what was going on until I read more reviews and they said just throw the solder out that comes with it.  So I did, and I agreed with them.

[tcp2525]

1 hour ago, PACNWComms said:

Luckily, with the warranty period ending, and the fact that we have Chip Dragon (I miss labeled the picture as Air Dragon though) stations spread across the country, we can do this. 

In fact, Motorola XTS series radios as they age also have this problem.....but it only manifests after 10-15 years of use. And why we still use XTS series handhelds, we can repair them, they work well, and Battery Universe sells IS rated batteries for them, even though Motorola ended support and manufacture a few years back now.

Soldering is a skill that I wish more "radio" technicians were taught. Now, it is IT types being handed a radio system, that in some cases do not even know how to change a car tire (if their car even comes with a spare now), let alone solder.

Then, crappy solder that does not last, or flow well because it is hazardous....that gets to be a crazy situation for a large company and anyone that even tries to solder. I had an intern in a safety class mention that "soldering" should require a specific hazmat class and safety classes as you could get burned and contaminated with lead. I told my "leadership" that if they push too hard on that route, they may see some of the older techs leave...with no replacement. The youngest member of my team came from Icom America and is almost 40 now....and he can solder (but most often is working on Kenwood NX-51xx/53xx series radios, yes those fail too). 

Thank you for the reply.

 

All well said. My personal beliefs are if you are not proficient in soldering you shouldn't be a radio tech. Sure, soldering is only a small part of radio repair, but if I make a diagnosis and have to send the radio to the "soldering department" and wait till it comes back, the hell with that. With my eyesight diminishing due to age, I still can work SMT under magnification, but it gets challenging. And I refuse to use anything other than Kester leaded solder. And screw fumes hood. Nothing more satisfying than the smell of rosin and lead.

[Lscott]

1 hour ago, PACNWComms said:

Then, crappy solder that does not last, or flow well

I hate the new lead-free solder with the water soluble flux. The joints seems to always look like a cold soldered ones, and the flux doesn't work nowhere near as good as the rosin type. When I'm out at a swap and need solder I look for the old stuff.

[SteveShannon]

2 hours ago, Lscott said:

I hate the new lead-free solder with the water soluble flux. The joints seems to always look like a cold soldered ones, and the flux doesn't work nowhere near as good as the rosin type. When I'm out at a swap and need solder I look for the old stuff.

At a rocket launch on the Black Rock desert I picked up enough leaded solder to last my lifetime. Some very fine stuff and some that’s about two times as big that’s multicore with rosin flux. And it’s all smaller than the old “Radio TV” solder that I still have. The smallest stuff is perfect for fine pitch SMT.