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Japtastic
Trending Lyricist I
July 19, 2019

Play 5 - Connected but only plays through headphone jack - Advanced Electronics help required

Hi, I have a Play 5 from around 2013. Great speaker and has been reliably working for years until recently. I presumed it was some sort of software or wifi issue but it's not. The speaker looks like it is operating normally but will only play through the headphone jack.

Apparently this is a common problem and I presume it's a bad cap or mosfet etc somewhere.

Although I'm a fairly competent at board level repair, I don't have the skills to diagnose this.

Can any one give me some pointers on where to be looking on the board or even better, what parts normally go wrong?

I have the powerboard out and there is nothing obviously physically wrong.

Thanks.
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    JaptasticAuthor
    Trending Lyricist I
    July 22, 2019
    japtastic,

    As the Play: 5 (gen1) is out of warranty and you want to give the repair a go. I would simply open the box up and take a look. You maybe able to see what the issue is. However (and i know this is a bit obvious) before actually doing that, have you tried a factory reset?

    YouTube has a few videos on teardown and fuse replacement/repairs etc. so that maybe worth a search / looksee.

    Yes, as mentioned, I have it apart and nothing looks obviously wrong. Checked with a microscope also. I did take a look at some of the videos but not really helping. There is obviously some knowledge out there but people are keeping it tight to their chest, which is fair enough, it may be their livelihood afterall. And yes, factory reset already tried.

    Shame there isn't some schematics about and a Louis Rossman type chanell for repairing these things. I've previously saved some Macbook Air's following along with the help of far smarter people than me.

    If I did attempt some some repairs in a field, do you think a little solar panel would power my soldering iron? 😉
    buzz
    buzz
    Grand Maestro
    July 22, 2019
    Full disclosure, I have not been following the service adventures closely. Overall, the units are fairly reliable. That's one reason why there is a lack of service accounts. I don't know how well equipped you are, but you should be able to identify power supply components and make some voltage measurements. For other models most of the accounts center around power supply issues. I have one PLAY:5 that will emit some popcorn noise after half an hour or so of run time. Likely, this is a power amplifier issue, but I have not pursued this.

    Why use a solar powered iron, use direct solar collection. With all of the recent heatwaves in the northern hemisphere a "sidewalk" repair might be possible.
      JaptasticAuthor
      Trending Lyricist I
      July 23, 2019
      Yes, I have found the rest of my system reliable. I'll see what I can find with the multimeter. I've been having a prod around but nothing seems obvious at the moment. Strangely, I got the speaker to work again but it does go very low volume every 5 mins or so, so obviously something is still wrong somewhere. Will keep it playing today to see what happens.
      JaptasticAuthor
      Trending Lyricist I
      July 23, 2019



      Replaced a few caps I had that matched the ones installed.

      None of the transistors seem at fault/shorted but if this problem is now a bit intermittent there is a possibility that this fix is going become harder.
      buzz
      buzz
      Grand Maestro
      July 23, 2019
      You've proven that the headphone switch is OK? I don't know if that switch is used as a full signal pass through or simply a logic level trigger. Yes, I'm hyper about those switches. While I haven't had any trouble with SONOS switches, I've had issues with other products use of those switches.

      A favorite tool of mine is sometimes called a "spud". It's basically a plastic rod that allows one to poke, prod, and thump things. With modern equipment a slightly conductive tool and proper anti static technique is recommended. A close visual inspection and a little "thumping" can save hours of troubleshooting. One of my worst nightmares is when there is a bad connection (somewhere) and the thump temporarily "repairs" the connection for hours, days, or weeks. Of course, that bad connection could be inside a chip somewhere.

      While it makes component replacement tedious, I like all of that hot melt because it keeps things from buzzing.

      Is that white line and slight discoloration on the board simply a "hair" in the image or is there an issue?

      JaptasticAuthor
      Trending Lyricist I
      July 24, 2019
      Cheers Buzz, I'll have a spud around the board and see what I can find.

      That line is just a bit of wayward glue!
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