MVP-5200i Hardware Issue

vining

I had a 5200i that was unresponsive, didn't re-act when docked, no display although presses on the screen did make the wheel light blink. I figured a hard reboot was in order so I removed the plastic tape and rubber feet that cover the screws that fasten the halves together and then realize that most of the brass bosses that the screws screw into are loose and the plastic part the bosses are press fit into are all split and broken.

To me this panel looked like it was never entered before since when you peel up the plastic cover it usually leaves a mark on it where it's been pried up so this is most likely a flaw in the material or manufacturing. If it rattles it's probably loose brass bosses.

Dries Kaspers

Side note: if you want to hard reboot without disconnecting the battery you can press and hold the click wheel button... you need to hold it for about 20-30 seconds...

vining

I thought that was a soft boot which I tried before opening it up but I may not have held it long enough either. Now that I think about it's setup, calibrate, soft boot then hard boot (i think) I remember being pleased about the hard boot when they first came out so that must be the case. With out any display what so ever it hard to tell if it's doing anything at all so I may have been a little impatient and released prematurely.

Regardless the mounting posts and bosses are pretty crappy.

John Gonzales

Or it might have been dropped or sat on .

vining

John Gonzales wrote: »

Or it might have been dropped or sat on .

These are only 2 month old and we installed them in every bedroom on the night stand so yeah they're going to get slept on and bounced off the bed from time to time and I can understand them sustaining most types of damaged but these bosses and posts should be pretty indistructable. I would think I have to drive a car over them before they would break.

The way the plastic post are split it's as if the bosses used to press into place were a couple sizes too big so they just split the plastic like sections of an orange. I'm not saying QC is bad but when you open up a TP and pieces just fall out on the table it's not a good sign.

Again the miracle of duct tape saved the day. Just taped it back up, allowing access to the mic and stylus and stuck it back into the night stand. I'm sure to get a call when the clients come back and see this thing on the night stand. Fortunately this is in a guest bedroom so I may be able to get it replaced before they even notice. Plus this is a week end summer beach home so they may not be back for awhile, knock on wood.

John Gonzales

vining wrote: »

Again the miracle of duct tape saved the day. Just taped it back up, allowing access to the mic and stylus and stuck it back into the night stand.

lol, you've got to get a picture of that .

DHawthorne

I wouldn't rule out abuse. It never ceases to amaze me how casually some folks can treat such expensive equipment. I took apart an unresponsive panel once (old Viewpoint) that looked like it had a jar of peanut butter and a glass of wine inside ... that old warhorse was just fine when I cleaned it out (in the bathroom sink, no less). I had an R4 acting a bit wonky that turned out to have a considerable amount of massage oil in it (and more in a puddle in the charging base, corroding the contacts). And I had an 8400 with all the screws still in place, but all the plastic clips disengaged so that the two sides of the case were separated by about a 1/4" gap.

You'll probably never get the customer to admit it, but my money is on them having dropped it on an edge, so the impact shattered the plastic boss mounts. They can probably handle as much stress as you feel they ought if dropped flat, but not the shear stress if one edge of the case encounters a sudden impact and the other half doesn't.

vining

While I totally agree in this case IMHO it's something other than user abuse and most likely a manufacturing or design defect. I can't see how any force could be applied to the TP that could make the mounts that the bosses are press fit into split like sectioning an orange. That's force applied evernly from the center of the mounting post outward as when the boss was press fit into place. Plus 5 out of the 5 post are damaged with out any signs of physical damage to the outer case. If these posts were in proper condition I think you would have to physically destroy the TP to achieve this type of damage to the mounting posts.

It may be as simple as using the wrong size bosses on the assembly line or maybe the plastic is out of spec and too brittle. Maybe it heat related break down of the plastic's elasticity that causes the outward pressure of the bosses to break through over time. Of course these have only been installed for a couple of month. I'm pretty good at thinking of ways a person can do all sorts of dumb things and I can't think of any way a person could cause this type of damage from the outside with out destroying the panel or leaving some signs of external abuse.

simont

Hi Vining, I know it is a long time since you observed this problem but I have just replaced a customers battery in his MVP-5200i and it too has 3 of the 5 mounting bosses broken, which I was quite surprised as the unit seemed to be in great condition and I didn't apply too much force in undoing the screws.

vining

If the plastic studs are split it's likely a manufacturing defect and not anything you did, try some epoxy.

John Nagy

Battery swelling is responsible for breaking the internal mounts in a number of panels I've worked on. The "studs" have a metal collet insert that has the threads, and these break off still attached to the screws. Dropping the panel can break them too. There's really no way to return the original function of a broken standoff with the intended screws. I've used hot glue, knowing that it would have to be the last time the panel would be serviced. I figured that bought it another year or two of use before it became parts.

a_riot42

John Nagy wrote: »

Battery swelling is responsible for breaking the internal mounts in a number of panels I've worked on. The "studs" have a metal collet insert that has the threads, and these break off still attached to the screws. Dropping the panel can break them too. There's really no way to return the original function of a broken standoff with the intended screws. I've used hot glue, knowing that it would have to be the last time the panel would be serviced. I figured that bought it another year or two of use before it became parts.

We have an installation of 8 5200 and have to replace them every 18 months or so due to battery swelling. I guess the firmware isn't turning off the charging once its fully charged or something, so they swell and then start doing weird things.
Paul