Songcrafters.org

My Micro BR phones/line out socket has been playing up for a little while, and I am having to wedge something underneath the line out cable or headphones to make it work. If I just plug in the headphones I will generally get no sound coming out and if I wiggle it about a bit the sound will come and go.

I am assuming it is a loose connection so have taken it apart in the hope that it might be something simple, but to be honest I haven't got a clue what I am doing and there was nothing obvious on first inspection that I could do that was within my capabilities.

I actually own two MBR's and experienced the same problem with that one, so don't know if this is a common issue that others may of experienced, and whether or not anybody has any ideas as how to fix it?

Cheers!

You are sure it's not the headphones ? ... Yes I guess you are ... well you could try some electronics cleaning spray, and make sure there's nothing inside the socket ....

Haven't had this (scary) problem myself with an MBR jack socket. I've had plenty of issues with bad headphone and line-in leads though. Good call from Geir on making sure the socket is clean though? My MBR is always in it's slip-case inside another hard case when not in use, so that's helped keep it relatively undamaged.

No idea how much it would be to replace a jack socket or even if it's a job you could do yourself.

Feeling your pain though. I'd be lost if my MBR packed up :-(

You could have a bad solder connection. See the following topic:

https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=4676.0 (https://songcrafters.org/forum/index.php?topic=4676.0)

If that doesn't solve it, it shouldn't be hard to find a replacement jack and solder it in place yourself. Here's one from RS:

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/jack-trs-connectors/7051490/ (http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/jack-trs-connectors/7051490/)

Just make sure the solder pins are in the same position so they line up with the circuit board. You might want to un-solder your old connector from the BR first so you can take it to the electronics parts store and make sure you get a replacement that has the same pin placement.

When applying a soldering iron to a circuit board, try to be quick about it. Prolonged heat can damage other components on the board. And use a low-wattage iron, if possible.

Cheers for the advice guys, will go down the cleaning spray route first as it is not the headphones as I have tried various ones to test this.

The replacement jack could be the answer as my Dad has a soldering iron and is a dab hand with it  :)

If all else fails it might give me an excuse to upgrade to a BR800 :)

Just in case, try and pick up some 'Servisol'....

                                                henwrench

      https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=13469.0

Sorry just noticed this. I had problems with my br-80 headphone input too which seems to be a common problem.

It was really getting annoying and thought i had to take it apart which i didn`t want to do at all.
My headphone cable is pretty heavy  so weighing it down seemed to work but when i moved it still would
move off its connection. So i thought to myself. Why i can`t i make a shim to put it there at the top of the
input so it wouldn`t move.
So i took toothpicks. I stuck each end of a toothpick and broke it all the way around the top of the input so it
wouldn`t move. Voila! Never had a problem since.

If you look at the picture. The whitish area are the shims and it`s also totally smooth to the touch.

High tech people may advise against this but there is no way it can harm anything.

(https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=20980.0;attach=23111)

Has anyone removed the 4 phillips screws on the sides of the BR-80 and pulled the front and rear covers to get at the board and plug?

Quote from: jp68 on May 13, 2014, 03:46:41 PMHas anyone removed the 4 Allen screws on the sides of the BR-80 and pulled the front and rear covers to get at the board and plug?

Not on the BR80, but I (and a few others too) have opened the MicroBR with success. There's pictures to be found here on this site.
Mine's here:
https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=7394.0

and here's Launched's:
https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=4676.0

Took the four screws on each end out and the aluminum front and back plates come off. Then there are 6 screws that hold the two body halves together. I could then see the earphone jack and the solder joints. I couldn't see any indication that the joints were broken. So I put the unit back together and couldn't get the last two side screws to engage. So now I have two loose screws... Some probably think I have a few more than that... I guess I will have to take it apart again and try and do a better job of matching the pieces together..  I still don't know what the problem is with my earphone jack... Before I did any of this I went to the only surviving Roland/Boss authorized repair shop in the Denver area and they said it would be a minimum $60 charge and it would take 6 to 8 weeks before they could even get to my machine. If,,, If I wanted to jump to the front of the line I could pay another $40 or a total of $100.  Replacement value is $250... Sitting on this for now...

Quote from: Geir on May 13, 2014, 05:37:45 PMNot on the BR80, but I (and a few others too) have opened the MicroBR with success. There's pictures to be found here on this site.
Mine's here:
https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=7394.0

and here's Launched's:
https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=4676.0

I've often thought that these pictures should be kept together somewhere where they can easily be found. Well, I've finally done just that. I've created the following guide with all of the pictures and links to the topics:

https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=17 (https://songcrafters.org/forum/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=17)

I'm not sure if there are any other photos like those. If I find any, I'll add them to the guide. And if anybody has any photos of the BR-80 or any other BR series recorder, please post them and I'll create a guide for them.

I've just found two photos of the BR-80 disassembled. I don't remember where I got them. Probably from another forum, I think. I'll create a guide for them.

That's a great idea 64G !

And jp68, could you please take some photos if you open it again? !!

I have not yet had any trouble wit my br80, but it seems like quite a few have !

I found the source of those BR-80 photos:

https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=18300.0 (https://songcrafters.org/forum/index.php?topic=18300.0)


And I've posted them in a BR-80 Disassembly guide. Go to Guides / Home Recording / BR Repair in the main menu at the top of the page.

I pulled the unit apart again and while I was pondering how to get it back together my wife walks up and says what's this? It was a small clip with two pre-threaded holes. I looked at the disassembled BR-80 and saw that there were three similar clips at the corners of the unit. Apparently I dropped one while disassembling it the first time. This forth clip is loose, the other three are fastened to the unit. Any one who is pulling one of these apart beware, the loose clip is the one nearest to the record level wheel.

I think I will just have to live with this or do the tooth pick repair. I don't think I will be pulling this thing apart anytime soon again. It took me about two hours to get it back together...

If I do take it apart again I will be sure to take some pictures and post them here...

Thanks to my wife's keen eye in finding that clip that I dropped. :D

I just looked at pictures of the disassembled unit that 64Guitars posted above. If you zoom in you can see the little clips that i was talking about at the upper right and left corners and a third one at the lower left corner... The loose clip would be at the lower right corner. and if you zoom in on that corner you will see that the clip is missing.. I hope the person that took this one apart realized that the clip was missing....

A couple weeks ago my MBR fell on the floor and since then the right channel worked/not worked. I had to adjust the jack constantly. It was really annoying to record or listen with that bad connection.

Now, I saw this thread (and related threads, thanks) and decided open up my MBR. Then I switched the recorder on and adjusted the socket. When connection was good I re-soldered the socket. It works fine now!!

Quote from: Redler on August 10, 2014, 02:49:45 PMA couple weeks ago my MBR fell on the floor and since then the right channel worked/not worked. I had to adjust the jack constantly. It was really annoying to record or listen with that bad connection.

Exactly the problem I had Kari, and it's irritating to say the least when the sound comes and goes all the time.

Got some good advice from all and sundry here, took the same course of action as you and it has been behaving itself ever since.