bought archos on ebay---resoldered battery joints

[rasjvon]

can some one help......i bought an archos 20G recorder on ebay for 120$   i was very happy until i tried to charge the batteries......they will not charge if I hold F1 at start or anything!!!  it seems the guy who sold me has soldered on of the battery thingys inside the padding-----what is wrong?  it looks like it is charging, but the dies after a while like the charger is actually sucking the power out     help o great ones!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LinusN]

The charging regulator might be broken. A small 8-leg chip located near the Down switch on the top PCB.

You might need to replace the batteries, and/or solder the battery connectors once again:

http://www.rockbox.org/docs/repairbattery.html

Also check that you have the correct charger. The original is 9V 600mAh for the V1 recorder.

[rasjvon]

it looks like it is charging {the battery icons moves in stages, then turns to 0, 34,68,100}  this guy who did the job used extra wire to hold the battery joints down like a fastener.....will this effect anything?

[LinusN]

I'm not sure what you mean about the extra wire, but if it works it works.

If the charging animation is running, the external power is detected, which would mean that the MC34063A isn't completely fried.

Again: what are the specs of your charger?

How does the jukebox react if you insert the charger when the jukebox is turned off?

[rasjvon]

the charger is from my other archos...when i plug the charger in, there is NO response...this I am concerned about,,,,,,i am in the process of trying to get this guy to refund my money   when i press on the right hand side of the archos {over the battery guard} it shuts off   what the hell did this guy do to this thing?       the wire he soldered goes through the battery spring thing and is soldered onto the back of the unit on either side like a support

[LinusN]

That wire is placed there at the factory. All jukeboxes have them.

It sounds like your charging regulator (the MC34063A) is broken. It's fairly easy to replace for someone with soldering experience.

If it shuts off when you press on the bumpers, then your battery connectors need resoldering.

I ask for the third time: what are the specs of the charger?

[rasjvon]

class 2 transformer input:120V AC 60hz     output:9V 600 mA                      i have noticed that on the bottom of the unit that some of the frame parts are unsoldered...could this be casuing the problem?   does the wire help in battery joint life too?

[LinusN]

Charger specs are OK. The broken solder joints may very well cause
erratic behaviour, but they shouldn't prevent the batteries from charging. I think the regulator is dead.
The wire retracts the spring a little to ease the pressure on the small PCB with the springs on it.

[rasjvon]

ok...so     i know now that the archos is screwed!  when I unplugged the unit in charge mode from the wall with the charger STILL plugged in, the charge icon still continues to move like it IS CHARGING!!!  ahhhhhh!!!!    do i really have to take it all apart? when are you guys gonna start a repair biz?  i want to upgrade to a larger harddrive too, but i know i could not do it myself