OP-1 connector board replacement.

My output plug is dying. will play both stereo channels only when held a certain way. ifixit is out of stock. Anybody know where I can get a new one?


That's a good question. How can we get iFixit US to restock? I've emailed before and received a response indicating they had no plans to get more of them. Personally, I would like to have a spare on hand as they seem prone to breaking.
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I have been trying to replace my OP-1s connector board for the past 2 months.
Emailed Teenage Engineering and Ifixit.

Teenage Engineering said they were working on getting more out and at other locations back in July while Ifixit just emailed me back stating

"don’t have any currently on order and we don’t expect to have any more
in the foreseeable future. I apologize for the inconvenience. However,
if you sign up for the Notify List on the product page you’ll be
notified as soon as they become available. Though, the wait may be
unreasonable.

If it’s time-sensitive, you may want to try PowerBookMedic, Amazon or eBay"

I’m sitting on a fancy doorstop that lights up and can connect via USB at the moment.

Yay

I contacted TE a few days ago and they said they were going to restock iFixit within a few weeks.

Also got the same canned response from iFixit.

Wish TE just supplied them… I’m in need of one aswell!

Is it the audio out failing and/or the headphones Jack?
Glad you guys will be able to source a replacement after your wait either way.

Keep emailing them :slight_smile:

Im in the same boat. i fixit eu had them but wont ship to japan. TE should have them in stock, its ridiculous that they don’t.

I love TE. But it’s seriously bulllshit that this common issue isn’t being addressed by them in a timely manner. Guess they’re too busy making instantamatic cameras to offer good customer support. I’m curious how you wrote them, calorie mate. Which email is the appropriate one. Wanted to call them and talk to a human, but the phone lines are all cryptic international numbers with plus signs and shit. I paid over 800 bucks for a wonderful toy that I can’t fucking use!!! To say it’s a bummer is an understatement!

Hey mykadamz, I sent an email to support@teenage.engineering and they were pretty quick to reply. So they are responsive at least. I really hope they were serious about restocking within a few weeks… and not months.


Also, I wonder why this connector board is so fragile and is there any way it can be made more robust?

Also, I wonder why this connector board is so fragile and is there any way it can be made more robust?
Just take a minute to thank TE (and especially the "E" in this case) they made it a separate board! While this might add to the issue because it's a little more wonky not being attached to the main PCB and all, it definitely is less expensive to replace the connector board than it it so replace the main PCB. With some skill/luck you might even be able to re-flow the connector board to get it working again.
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I agree the sourcing of parts seems to be quite a big issue at least internationally.

It’s awesome that they they are able to supply each of the individual components for the OP-1, as many other manufacturers will leave you up s**t creek, but being a small “boutique” team means they probably have only 1 or 2 guys in the company that are responsible for sourcing and manufacturing which i doubt is in house.

More likely they are contracting a Chinese company to create the parts which are then shipped to them for assembly and then on to Ifixit for resupply which means we could in fact be waiting several months if not longer.

This is all conjecture of course as I don’t actually know first hand.

As for the connector board itself part of the problem of its fragility is that the parts are all surface soldered onto the multi layered pcb which makes it almost impossible to repair yourself.

Every time you insert or remove an audio or usb cable you run the risk of creating a fracture in the solder as there isn’t any reinforcement behind the jacks.

The OP-1 is completely manufactured and assembled in China, so only complete units are shipped to TE in Sweden - so any supply of spare boards and parts would be outside of that - including contracting the batches of assembled PCB boards they need for complete units vs additional boards required for spare parts, so logistically quite challenging if demand for spares has been higher than expected.

Just thought I’d give you all a heads up, ifixit US has a limited supply of connector boards back in stock.
Use coupon code “WAN” to get $5 off your order.
Cheers

I just had a look at the connector PCB. It looks like another jack could be soldered on without too much hassle. Probably easy and cheaper than getting a whole new board


I just had a look at the connector PCB. It looks like another jack could be soldered on without too much hassle. Probably easy and cheaper than getting a whole new board
If someone were to post a hi-res close up of the PCB, maybe we could “Eagle” it?

I just had a look at the connector PCB. It looks like another jack could be soldered on without too much hassle. Probably easy and cheaper than getting a whole new board
If someone were to post a hi-res close up of the PCB, maybe we could "Eagle" it?

Possibly, assuming it’s just a basic 2 layer board. But I’m sure it’s overkill to get a whole new board (bought or made) just to replace the headphone jack. I’d have to look again what type would work but it’s probably one of these: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=surface+mount+headphone+jack&safe=off&espv=2&biw=1275&bih=651&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjnivvvmarPAhXpC8AKHVJtBMoQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=eL33eu9JkPfxeM%3A

Most likely this one for the green color:

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/SJ1-3515-SMT-TR-GR/CP1-3515SJGRCT-ND/2296002

The PCB is comprised of 4 layers , at least that was what the local electronics repair guy had told me when he was unable to repair it.


The PCB is comprised of 4 layers , at least that was what the local electronics repair guy had told me when he was unable to repair it.

Do you still have the broken board? If so, could you take close up, hi res pictures of the top and the bottom?