Hi all,
as there is no specific forum for the Squeezebox Classic (SB3) or its predecessors for whatever reason, I'll discuss matters here.
During the last weeks, I received more e-mails than ever about failing or failed SB3 models. It's like a lot of them fail simultaneously, however, not all for the same reasons.
If your SB3 has issues, please check out this blog post:
https://joes-tech-blog.blogspot.com/...x-classic.html
It's still a work in progress but a lot of troubleshooting information can be found in there.
In my recent experience, the power supply is failure reason #1. Which is good because owners can replace the PSU themselves and see if this fixes the issue(s). Just be careful to use one that has +5V/2A rating and a connector that fits the SB3 power supply jack properly.
Failure reason #2 is more complicated to fix, it's the SMD capacitors, mainly the ones surrounding the DAC, and also in the power supply section on the opposite side of the board. This requires removing the old capacitors (Mr. Carlson's Lab has a good method, looks brutal but works best: https://youtu.be/X8N9O3a9jiM), and soldering in new ones which is tricky due to space limitations and very limited access to the soldering pads once the capacitor is where it belongs. This can't be done with cheap equipment and requires some exercise, too.
I am located in Germany so EU-wide service is possible at reasonable shipping rates. Anything beyond EU limits is probably beyond reason regarding the shipping cost.
HOWEVER: there's failure reason #3 - what I used to call sudden death syndrome (also described in the blog post referenced above) - and it's recently happened to me during a repair, so I need to announce that the SB3s you send to me might be beyond recovery, even though they were intact when you sent them off. This is a Damocles Sword that I can no longer account for. There is no help from Logitech about this so, to my knowledge, nobody knows what is wrong with these units and how to prevent it from happening, or how to repair the ones affected.
When I receive a unit that is still capable of booting, and it dies during my repair, I'm of course responsible for restoring or replacing it. This means I will lose between 60 and 80 EUR, depending on what used working units cost nowadays, and it will leave me with a pile of garbage. As much as I love repairing these things and keeping them going, this is an investment that I cannot afford. Probably none of you will readily accept to pay this amount on top of the normal repair either.
So this is just to clarify that my repair capabilities are limited, and dying SB3s are currently nothing but bad luck with nothing we can do about it. It's of course still covered by the "no fix, no fee" model, i.e. there will not be any charge for any repair work done already, and besides the return shipping there won't be any more cost for you if you want the item back.
Thanks guys! Hope we can keep the Squeezebox world going, despite all obstacles!
Cheers,
Joe
as there is no specific forum for the Squeezebox Classic (SB3) or its predecessors for whatever reason, I'll discuss matters here.
During the last weeks, I received more e-mails than ever about failing or failed SB3 models. It's like a lot of them fail simultaneously, however, not all for the same reasons.
If your SB3 has issues, please check out this blog post:
https://joes-tech-blog.blogspot.com/...x-classic.html
It's still a work in progress but a lot of troubleshooting information can be found in there.
In my recent experience, the power supply is failure reason #1. Which is good because owners can replace the PSU themselves and see if this fixes the issue(s). Just be careful to use one that has +5V/2A rating and a connector that fits the SB3 power supply jack properly.
Failure reason #2 is more complicated to fix, it's the SMD capacitors, mainly the ones surrounding the DAC, and also in the power supply section on the opposite side of the board. This requires removing the old capacitors (Mr. Carlson's Lab has a good method, looks brutal but works best: https://youtu.be/X8N9O3a9jiM), and soldering in new ones which is tricky due to space limitations and very limited access to the soldering pads once the capacitor is where it belongs. This can't be done with cheap equipment and requires some exercise, too.
I am located in Germany so EU-wide service is possible at reasonable shipping rates. Anything beyond EU limits is probably beyond reason regarding the shipping cost.
HOWEVER: there's failure reason #3 - what I used to call sudden death syndrome (also described in the blog post referenced above) - and it's recently happened to me during a repair, so I need to announce that the SB3s you send to me might be beyond recovery, even though they were intact when you sent them off. This is a Damocles Sword that I can no longer account for. There is no help from Logitech about this so, to my knowledge, nobody knows what is wrong with these units and how to prevent it from happening, or how to repair the ones affected.
When I receive a unit that is still capable of booting, and it dies during my repair, I'm of course responsible for restoring or replacing it. This means I will lose between 60 and 80 EUR, depending on what used working units cost nowadays, and it will leave me with a pile of garbage. As much as I love repairing these things and keeping them going, this is an investment that I cannot afford. Probably none of you will readily accept to pay this amount on top of the normal repair either.
So this is just to clarify that my repair capabilities are limited, and dying SB3s are currently nothing but bad luck with nothing we can do about it. It's of course still covered by the "no fix, no fee" model, i.e. there will not be any charge for any repair work done already, and besides the return shipping there won't be any more cost for you if you want the item back.
Thanks guys! Hope we can keep the Squeezebox world going, despite all obstacles!
Cheers,
Joe