Telex/Clearcom belt pack repair worthwhile?

[Sayen]

I have a growing collection of Telex BP-1000 and some misc. Clearcom belt pack units that don't work any more. I've tinkered with them a bit checking cables inside and so forth, but most don't pass on communications anymore. My technical knowledge of these involves opening them up, check wires (easy), and then check the circuit board (yep...still there...nothing else I can do...). The school I work for has no desire to pay to repair them, and a quote from a vendor puts shipping and diagnostics at the factory at about half the cost of replacement. So....

If it's not an obvious problem (loose cable, visibly physically broken component), is it worth repairing these through the manufacturer, or should I save the hassle and just replace them? I'm curious what those of you with more experience might think.

 

[cpf]

If you have the patience you can sit down with a DMM and make sure all the components are still doing what they should. Without a schematic it's hard to go much farther than that though.

 

[Nelson]

I went nuts one time trying to figure out what was wrong with a BP-1002. The crew told me that it was dropped and then stopped working. They were sure it was working before being dropped and I confirmed that it was not working afterward. Since I figured that some part would be physically damaged, I checked the whole unit for signs of anything broken. Even checked the circuit board for cracks. So, I put it back together and called for a quote to buy a new unit. For some reason, the vendor never gave me the quote, and I decided to open it up once more. This time I saw right away a small switch on the board. Could that have been moved when the unit was dropped? I moved the switch to the other position, and sure enough, the pack works perfectly now!

That's my only experience trying to repair those units. So, check that switch and also check connections. If you can't find the switch, I can take one apart and post a picture.

 

[dannymusic]

personally, always watch eBay and snap up on cheap used ones. There will always be a need. Almost a disposable product now though.