Disassembling the X5 (large pics)

the_mort · 06-02-2007, 12:00

Hi all

My 15 months old iAudio X5 60GB has the well known problem of the broken headphone jack

I hear no sound on one side of and its definitely not a headphone issue. My warranty lasted until the last three months...

So I decided to open the damn thing and solder the jack back onto the board again. In this forum I saw a few guides describing this as a very easy thing to do. Unfortunately I fail to remove the upper, small, board to get to the jack.

http://tai-wahn.de/iAudio_jack.jpg
http://tai-wahn.de/iAudio_jack2.jpg

I can't just lift the board straight up because the jack stays in chassis like an anchor. The cork for the chassis screws blocks shifting everything to the right. For removing the board I would probably need to angle the whole plate up to 45° and think that would break it completely.

Am I missing something? I guess there is a simple trick to do this... Or maybe I just have a slightly different release. Anyway, help would be greatly appreciated!

doniago · 06-02-2007, 12:27

If you could shrink down your pics a bit or thumbnail them I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.

the_mort · 06-02-2007, 12:31

Of course.

doniago · 06-02-2007, 13:52

Thank you! Very much appreciated!

GSV3MiaC · 06-05-2007, 07:18

As far as I know the small board should just lift off (there may be one screw to undo?). See the pictures of the very similarly designed M3, 5th row down, right hand column, at:

http://homepage1.nifty.com/c-kom/iau.../photo003.html

(description in the thread

http://www.iaudiophile.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=12051

)

the_mort · 07-05-2007, 13:32

After one month of boring train rides I decided to become violent

I wrecked the smallest plastic bridge of the case near the headphone jack. Afterwards I could remove the upper circuit board and solder the jack back onto the board without any problems, just as described in all the guides. It is hard to see how I should have removed it without the little breakage. Maybe I have a slightly different model of the X5. I bought this thing in Switzerland, maybe there is an European version?
This guy comes from France and his problem looks exactly like what happens when you pull to hard on the upper board without breaking the little plastic thing... http://iaudiophile.net/forums/showthread.php?t=15080

Now my player works very good again and you only see the break if you look very closely.

BTW, I also upgraded to Rockbox and can reccomend it very much so far

ee5154 · 07-09-2007, 13:30

I'm fixing a friend's X5 and am experiencing the same issue you had with removing the board with the headphone jack on it (i.e. the posts are in the way to clear the jack from the side). In order to do as little damage to his player as possible, can you post a pic of where in the case you made the break and what you used to break it? Thanks!

the_mort · 07-15-2007, 11:27

Sorry for the late response.

http://tai-wahn.de/iAudio_cut.jpg

The yellow line marks where I cut through. I used pliers to do so. It's easy to bend then and get the board out.

Tomomoto · 07-17-2007, 04:40

I managed to get my out I twisted the board down towards the bottom of the X5, too bad my headphone jack cuts out and now I broke the play, record and Power button all in 20 minutes. Go me!

ee5154 · 07-17-2007, 20:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_mort

Sorry for the late response.

http://tai-wahn.de/iAudio_cut.jpg

The yellow line marks where I cut through. I used pliers to do so. It's easy to bend then and get the board out.

Awesome! Worked beautifully. Thanks!

It looks like one of the headphone jack pads on the PCB broke off from the trace. By any chance, does anyone know where I might be able to solder a wire to make a connection from the headphone jack pin? The pin that's disconnected is along the edge of the board, furthest from the hole for the headphones. (sorry no camera available at the moment).

adamf663 · 07-20-2007, 11:23

How does cowon disassemble the x5 to repair the headphone jack? I'm not willing to cut the case just to make removing the sub-board easier.

Perhaps the entire internals come out in one package and then the headphone
sub-board can be separated without interference from the case?

jhMikeS · 07-22-2007, 20:29

You should be able to carefully pop it past that point using modest force and a finger. It shouldn't bend noticeably or anything and tools really shouldn't be needed. I've never had to get destructive to remove the board though it does feel like something might to break.

sick_sugar · 07-27-2007, 11:40

I have an X5L 30gb, which also had a loose headphone connection which drove me nuts.
Like the_mort, I also encountered this problem that the board won't lift easily. I think it is a problem of the large models (X5L and X5 60gb), the board is attached to the headphone jack black plastic part which is stuck in place.
Indeed, breaking the thin plastic above the jack will do the job, but i managed to pry the board out without breaking anything.
As the_mort said, this thin gray plastic line is rather bendable, all you need to do is bend it slightly, while pushing the headphone jack out of it's socket (using a screwdriver to push the part through its frame), and making sure the little plastic pole that holds the screw is beneath the board, and doesn't prevent its removal.
Do this slowly, in stages, a little at a time, a push here, a pull there, a little bending, and it will pop out. Obviously i take no responsibility, but all i'm saying is that it is possible.
Anyway, thanks the_mort, for announcing the problem, offering a solution, with pictures and explanations, and thanks also to emperorjvl for this post http://www.iaudiophile.net/forums/sh...12&postcount=8 with clear detailed instructions on how to disassemble and where to solder.

RealyPssd · 08-11-2007, 17:36

I was able to take out the small circuit board and solder all 3 of the headphone jack connections without having to break that small spot on the case.

While I had the little board turned over though one of the red wires that was attached to the board (the one beside the black one) came off, so I half-assedly re-soldered that back on and it seems to be working fine...

Does anyone know what that red wire is for so I can try to see if it is indeed alright?

Thanks

the_mort · 08-11-2007, 19:53

I'm not shure - I think one red wire connects the battery and the other pair of red and black wires are used for the microphone.

See for yourself where the cable goes to

06-02-2007, 12:00	#1
the_mort Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 6	Disassembling the X5 (large pics) Hi all My 15 months old iAudio X5 60GB has the well known problem of the broken headphone jack I hear no sound on one side of and its definitely not a headphone issue. My warranty lasted until the last three months... So I decided to open the damn thing and solder the jack back onto the board again. In this forum I saw a few guides describing this as a very easy thing to do. Unfortunately I fail to remove the upper, small, board to get to the jack. http://tai-wahn.de/iAudio_jack.jpg http://tai-wahn.de/iAudio_jack2.jpg I can't just lift the board straight up because the jack stays in chassis like an anchor. The cork for the chassis screws blocks shifting everything to the right. For removing the board I would probably need to angle the whole plate up to 45° and think that would break it completely. Am I missing something? I guess there is a simple trick to do this... Or maybe I just have a slightly different release. Anyway, help would be greatly appreciated! Last edited by the_mort; 06-02-2007 at 12:30..

06-02-2007, 12:27	#2
doniago I, Like, Do Stuff Here. Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Burlington, VT Posts: 4,651	If you could shrink down your pics a bit or thumbnail them I'd appreciate it. Thanks. __________________ DonIago Iron Mod "When you do things right, people won't be sure you did anything at all."

06-02-2007, 13:52	#4
doniago I, Like, Do Stuff Here. Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Burlington, VT Posts: 4,651	Thank you! Very much appreciated! __________________ DonIago Iron Mod "When you do things right, people won't be sure you did anything at all."

07-20-2007, 11:23	#11
adamf663 Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 4	there has to be a better way How does cowon disassemble the x5 to repair the headphone jack? I'm not willing to cut the case just to make removing the sub-board easier. Perhaps the entire internals come out in one package and then the headphone sub-board can be separated without interference from the case?

07-27-2007, 11:40	#13
sick_sugar Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 12	operation successful! I have an X5L 30gb, which also had a loose headphone connection which drove me nuts. Like the_mort, I also encountered this problem that the board won't lift easily. I think it is a problem of the large models (X5L and X5 60gb), the board is attached to the headphone jack black plastic part which is stuck in place. Indeed, breaking the thin plastic above the jack will do the job, but i managed to pry the board out without breaking anything. As the_mort said, this thin gray plastic line is rather bendable, all you need to do is bend it slightly, while pushing the headphone jack out of it's socket (using a screwdriver to push the part through its frame), and making sure the little plastic pole that holds the screw is beneath the board, and doesn't prevent its removal. Do this slowly, in stages, a little at a time, a push here, a pull there, a little bending, and it will pop out. Obviously i take no responsibility, but all i'm saying is that it is possible. Anyway, thanks the_mort, for announcing the problem, offering a solution, with pictures and explanations, and thanks also to emperorjvl for this post http://www.iaudiophile.net/forums/sh...12&postcount=8 with clear detailed instructions on how to disassemble and where to solder.

06-02-2007, 12:31	#3
the_mort Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 6	Of course.

06-05-2007, 07:18	#5
GSV3MiaC Ancient Cranky Technocrat Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Shropshire, England Posts: 1,348	As far as I know the small board should just lift off (there may be one screw to undo?). See the pictures of the very similarly designed M3, 5th row down, right hand column, at: http://homepage1.nifty.com/c-kom/iau.../photo003.html (description in the thread http://www.iaudiophile.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=12051 )

07-05-2007, 13:32	#6
the_mort Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 6	After one month of boring train rides I decided to become violent I wrecked the smallest plastic bridge of the case near the headphone jack. Afterwards I could remove the upper circuit board and solder the jack back onto the board without any problems, just as described in all the guides. It is hard to see how I should have removed it without the little breakage. Maybe I have a slightly different model of the X5. I bought this thing in Switzerland, maybe there is an European version? This guy comes from France and his problem looks exactly like what happens when you pull to hard on the upper board without breaking the little plastic thing... http://iaudiophile.net/forums/showthread.php?t=15080 Now my player works very good again and you only see the break if you look very closely. BTW, I also upgraded to Rockbox and can reccomend it very much so far

07-09-2007, 13:30	#7
ee5154 Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 2	I'm fixing a friend's X5 and am experiencing the same issue you had with removing the board with the headphone jack on it (i.e. the posts are in the way to clear the jack from the side). In order to do as little damage to his player as possible, can you post a pic of where in the case you made the break and what you used to break it? Thanks!

07-15-2007, 11:27	#8
the_mort Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 6	Sorry for the late response. http://tai-wahn.de/iAudio_cut.jpg The yellow line marks where I cut through. I used pliers to do so. It's easy to bend then and get the board out.

07-17-2007, 04:40	#9
Tomomoto Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 2	I managed to get my out I twisted the board down towards the bottom of the X5, too bad my headphone jack cuts out and now I broke the play, record and Power button all in 20 minutes. Go me!

07-22-2007, 20:29	#12
jhMikeS Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 4	You should be able to carefully pop it past that point using modest force and a finger. It shouldn't bend noticeably or anything and tools really shouldn't be needed. I've never had to get destructive to remove the board though it does feel like something might to break.

08-11-2007, 17:36	#14
RealyPssd Junior Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 12	I was able to take out the small circuit board and solder all 3 of the headphone jack connections without having to break that small spot on the case. While I had the little board turned over though one of the red wires that was attached to the board (the one beside the black one) came off, so I half-assedly re-soldered that back on and it seems to be working fine... Does anyone know what that red wire is for so I can try to see if it is indeed alright? Thanks

08-11-2007, 19:53	#15
the_mort Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 6	I'm not shure - I think one red wire connects the battery and the other pair of red and black wires are used for the microphone. See for yourself where the cable goes to

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