Ithic.com has first US repair

[Link]

In an effort to help ED and customers on this side of the pond, I've been slowly easing into doing repairs within the US.


It took me a little while to get some parts, and community members helped point in me in the right direction in finding a suitable soldering station. ED has been extremely generous with parts.


And today, finally I received a unit from a community member here in the US. It's fixed and ready to ship back.


I've two more units coming back that I shipped, one I'll need to replace an LCD as it was damaged during shipping, and the other I may need to swap out a PCB to send back to ED & Global Components for a gander.


I should have new cases and old cases coming soon from ED for anyone who has been holding off on a case replacement as I know there've been a few of you waiting.


For anyone needing an RMA or repair, please PM me here and we can get things setup.


While we can't clone ED, I can do my best to save people some time away from their Pandora and money on shipping overseas.


Thanks for all the support everyone over the past few months on getting to this point.

 

[mindlord]

I will likely take you up on this. Mine will need the LCD cable replaced again, and not having to send it to Germany will save me tons of time.

 

[TangentDelta]

Do you do some large part replacement on the board? The USB port seems like an extremely straight-forward thing to unsolder and re-solder.

 

[Link]

^


It very well could be an easy fix, but I think Global Components are better suited to doing that type of work vs. me. It's not like someone solders that piece on the board to begin with, it's all done with the P&P machine.


I have no problem doing standard repairs like the LCD cable and/or case replacement. But the USB port could need more work than it appears. I hate for anyone to send something to me to fix, and then me having to send it to ED. For repairs of this nature or beyond my level of expertise, I would feel much more at ease with passing this fix along to ED, and if he needs to take it to Global Components for additional work, he can do that.


My thoughts would just be to arrange the RMA with ED, vs me taking on the order, then having to contact ED and reship the unit a 2nd time.

 

[mcobit]

The usbport should not be a big problem to solder on, but if you don't feel comfortable with it, just leave it to ed or gc.

 

[Link]

As time progresses, and I wind up with a trashed board to play with at some point, I wouldn't mind taking a task like this on. It's not like I have the part on hand to replace it with a new piece, which makes the most sense to me. I could be totally wrong here and am willing to admit that.

 

[TangentDelta]

Will you be offering an "upgrade case" service where people can mail in their Pandora and you re-house it in a new silver case? I'd certainly be interested.

 

[Link]

Yeah, that's something I want to provide. But if you wind up sending your unit to ED, just ask him if you can have a new case. I know the spot you are talking about where your hinge is cracking.


I have several units set aside that I didn't ship because of a crack already in the hinge. The crack in yours must have initially been below the surface, as I sometimes look with a magnifying lense if in doubt before I ship.

 

[dsleaf67]

Hi Link,


You should be getting mine soon too as I mailed yesterday and PM'd you.


Man I knew I'd miss it, but gee wiz its only been a little over 24 hrs. With all the exciting stuff goining on here it seems a lot longer already.


Talk to you soon.

 

[gruso]

Honestly not sure whether I'm better off sending mine to the US or Europe for repair. Gosh being in Australia is annoying sometimes.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

An US OP hospital :^).

 

[Link]

Hi Link,


You should be getting mine soon too as I mailed yesterday and PM'd you.


Man I knew I'd miss it, but gee wiz its only been a little over 24 hrs. With all the exciting stuff goining on here it seems a lot longer already.


Talk to you soon.

I'll do my best to get it back to you ASAP.

 

[Link]

An US OP hospital :^).

I'm kicking around the possibility of a small micro-business store front. You are the inspiration for this fellow Pandora repair extraordinaire. I would at least try it through X-mas as my town has a lot of tech foot traffic and also 21000 cars pass by my window everyday at that location. It would be part of the local renaissance that's happening with this community.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

Cool !


Here's a test picture i made at a friend's shop.


I'm still waiting for some units to sell, hopefully receiving them soon. I'll certainly have feedback to give.

and also 21000 cars pass by my window everyday at that location.

A gas station may be a good idea too .

 

[Link]

^


That looks good, it should have its own place, it seems a little cluttered IMO.


Gas stations around here would not be a good place for a Pandora, there's far too many of them, and it's something they might also grab when they want the free gas, drawn guns, and emptied cash registers with a carton of Marlborough to go.


Then it would wind up in a pawn shop in Georgia.

 

[Binky]

it should have its own place

Preferably with a spotlight on it

 

[Linux-SWAT]

It was a quick test picture, it's one of my own OP ^^.

 

[Gyges]

I believe that my Pandora is the subject of this thread, and I have just received it back from Link. I felt like I had to comment.


Link's service has been truly astounding. He did the job he offered and then did a whole lot more. He's done the OPT proud, and I for one am extremely glad that he is able to offer this service to the community. I can't remember the last time I've had such excellent service, and all I had to do was pay postage.


I am extremely grateful to Link, and I encourage everyone to take advantage of whatever services he offers.

 

[Link]

Thank you for the kind words.


I'm just wondering why your volume nob isn't moving easy now. I'm wondering if that case combination is too tight, but I've seen some volume wheels move smooth, and others like yours now... But if it wasn't like that to begin with, then I'm thinking the case is too tight or something is rubbing. The casing I used was just a bunch of different parts thrown together from what Linux-SWAT, Askarus, & I found to be slightly flawed beyond putting them as part of new units. I now know to check these things ahead of time.


You got my last full case until more parts arrive next week with the new cases ideally. If you can't fix that volume wheel issue on your end, feel free to send it back when you'll know you'll have a break from your Pandora for a few days. The shipping timeframe is fast since you're so close to Vermont.


And I think the D-Pad will loosen up in time.


My goal is to provide this type of service to others in time. I may not be a Linux guru, but my hope is that this is where I fill the void.

 

[pokitfoxx]

This is a good and bad thing for me. I have been putting off getting my lcd cable replaced, so other pre-orders can get done and people that would use their pandoras more than me can. I like the idea of sending my pandora to you because of the save in time/shipping prices. however I did want to send Ed a gift of some sort when i sent my pandora to him. My question is if I send it to you with a present for you and Ed, would the present i send for Ed be able to piggyback on the next package you send Ed, (im not sure how often, if ever, you send things to him) with a bit of extra money to cover any extra shipping costs.


thanks