Yet another solid orange light defective Roam that won't turn on

Same orange light issue as everyone else. Purchased my Roam in the spring of 2022, so about 18 months of life on the thing. Went through all the steps with support to confirm that the Roam is bricked. “Sorry but as it’s out of warranty the only thing we can do is offer a discount on a new product”… I pushed back on that response but the support person (who was otherwise very professional) wouldn’t budge. Sounds like a class action lawsuit in the making.

Yep - unfortunately my Roam is bricked even when I use correct adapter and USB-C. Orange indicator light stays on as if it’s charging but thing happens. The second I remove power it is a brick. While on power (constant orange indicator), no interaction with buttons. 

I own 2 roams. First one died (orange brick of death) 6 months ago after 18 months. I returned it to Costco for full refund (warranty at Costco is double manufacture warranty). 
Today, my second roam is doing the same thing. Luckily I bought that 6 months after the first one. I’m going to return it to Costco for full refund.

I didn’t buy a replacement Roam after the first one, but bought the Move, instead. I lost all faith in the roam.

thank you Sonos for letting me try both roam for 18 months for free.

the right thing to do for Sonos is recall the roam or let us trade it in at full value (not 30% off coupon) for a new product

Interesting that the forum monitor has marked this question answered.  Who are they trying to kid?

I wouldn’t let your Roam speaker experience dissuade you from purchasing DIFFERENT Sonos speakers. Roam is unique IME as the only POS speaker in the Sonos lineup. Hopefully Sonos helps you out but there’s no way I would replace them with new Roams.

I don’t know if there is a design flaw, but scrolling the community or other places where owners talk about Sonos and anecdotally there doesn’t seem to be any other speaker that gets as much hate as Roam, not even close IMO.

I have successfully repaired multiple Roams that seemed dead (like the title here says).   The typical symptom is no signs of life, but when plugged in to a USB-C power supply, the charge light would come on…. but no matter how long left like that it was dead when the power cable was removed.

The issue is bad lithium-ion cells.  Unlike some devices, Roam devices will not work even when plugged in to a beefy power supply, if the battery is defective.  They simply will not run from wired power supply without a working battery.

To repair this requires replacing the two lithium-ion cells inside.  It’s not an easy repair.  Just getting the device opened without damaging it is difficult.  First step is to remove the end caps (they are glued down well - use a spudger around the perimeter of each cap).  After that, there’s 4 screws (2 under each endcap) to remove the grille.  Then 6 to remove the speaker assembly (one connection to the charge/power circuit board).  Then 4 screws to remove the logic board (one wifi cable that is very well glued down and two ribbon cables to remove).  Then 4 more screws to remove the battery assembly (one connection to the charge/power circuit board).  The batteries then need to be carefully removed from the assembly, and new cells need to be installed.  Lithium-Ion cells have inherent risk and can self-ignite if not handled properly.  The cells are not soldered -- they are spot welded to nickel strips, making this step beyond many DIY toolkits.  When put back together, it should work.  Be careful re-gluing the end-caps so that the buttons (on the top) and Qi charger (on the bottom) don’t get covered in glue.

I don’t know what causes bad cells in what often seems like a short time (eg under 2 years).  It may be poor quality cells, or maybe it’s related to constant charging or physical environment (eg heat).

Of note, Sonos sells replacement battery packs for the Move speakers, and those are end-user installable.  There is no such option available for Roam speakers, making them disposable once the batteries die.

Yes okay, but can’t you remove the Qi pad (and cable) from the supplied power adapter and use the USB-C cable, that came with your Roam, with that adapter instead, as that will provide a higher charge-rate in comparison to the Qi pad? (2.1A x 5V = 10.5W as stated on Sonos.com)

I called Costco and they do not offer the extended warranty on any of the Sonos products.

My Sonos now shows the orange light while plugged in and does not charge at all. Failed at 6 months past the 12 month Sonos warranty. 

Planned obsolescence as is so common these days. This is my last Sonos product...

Did the PID controller reset not work for the OP then, or was it not resolved when they contacted Sonos Support🤔?

I think you perhaps misunderstand the answer given to this thread, as it was an answer to address the issue raised by alphonse55 - that’s why the thread was correctly marked as answered… there’s no saying if your issue was the same, or a different, but similar, matter.  In any event, most similar hardware these days from a majority of manufacturers is covered by a 1 year warranty and there are options ‘everywhere’ to take out an extended warranty (insurance) period, should you need ‘peace of mind’ to go beyond that first year of use.

With regards to the point you raise about the Roams battery, all I can add, is that in my own case I have two Sonos Roams that are now around three years old and I have several family members & friends who have them too from around the same period (and in some cases, purchased more recently in the last year, or so) and all are still working fine with no issues - I guess like any/every other electrical item mass-produced and sold worldwide, some may fail, either inside, or outside their warranty period, whilst others may last for years & years - It’s a reason why there is extended warranty insurance. Had your device failed within its warranty period and not replaced, then I would see that as being the time to complain. 

There is another reset that is sometimes productive.

After a hour or more of charging, remove the unit from the charger and hold the power button for 15 seconds. If you slip off the button, restart the interval. If the unit restarts, place it back on the charger and fully charge the unit. You can play while charging.

Note that this is not a Factory Reset. No user settings will be destroyed.

As you said. I went to customer service and they refunded me no questions asked. Thanks.

I disagree.  I rarely interact in this community, this is only my second time.  Its been years and both times my location was not relevant to the discussion, as it isn’t relevant here either.  You were able to point out I was looking at the wrong terms of service without knowing where I am, which was the solution to my question.  I am not always in the same country and putting a location in my profile for 2 or 3 years down the road when I didn’t even remember that I put that in my profile and may give erroneous context to others would be worse than just not knowing.  So thank you for your advice, but no.