Need help repairing my Pandora


benced

Still Fresh
Joined
May 1, 2010
Messages
38
I emailed GBAX to ask if I can sell my Pandora back (as advertised on the website) and havn't had a reply back yet but I think I might have had a change of heart now.

The main problem I'm having though is that one of the trigger keys is broken.  I left it unattended whilst around a drunk group of friends and it fell of table.  Both the plastic key itself and the switch (which is now off entirely off) are broken.  I took it to the local hacklab where someone there soldered the switch back into place.  That combined with a bit of blue tac managed to get it working again for a bit but long after the switch came loose again and ceased function (and is again now off entirely).

The machine has sat in my cupboard since.  I was mainly using the pandora to produce music at the time and this particular trigger (the left I think) was an important one for the program I was using and I didn't know how to remap the keys so I grew frustrated and stopped using it.

Listening back to some tunes I made on the pandora though I think I might have had a change of heart and might not sell it back but I was wondering if anyone here can provide suggestions for how to go about repairing it and how much that could potentially cost.

Thanks
 
Hmm, if the electrical switch has come off you might have difficulty - has it taken any of the board with it?


However, it sounds like you should be able to solder wires to it, which could result in a better solution using an external switch, especially if you're mostly using it at a desk. Would be a pretty poor gaming trigger though. For that you can buy the plastic parts from dragonbox.de (look for 'small parts'), and a replacement switch should be easy to source (although predicting whether such a fix would last any longer than the last fix would require photographic evidence at least)
 
You might be able to sell it and buy a new one in the same transaction (assuming you have a spare £150 or something)
 
@Levi I don't really have a decent camera but I'll try and take some photos to show the damage.

The three options that come to mind are to either

1/ Try paying a professional who does electronics repairs locally, and might have better luck than the random guy at the hacklab

2/ Send it to the Pandora Team for repair.

3/ Find someone on the forum willing to have a go (am willling to pay up to a certain amount that sounds reasonable to get it fixed)

My concern with getting it done locally is that because it is an obscure device they might not be able to repair it, get the right part for it or whatever, or that because it is an obscure device they may damage it through not knowing how to handle it the way it needs to be handled.

My concern about sending it to the Pandora team is the length of time it will take (getting through current backlog) but given I havn't used the device in so long now, a while longer might not be so bad.  I'm also not sure if the Pandora Team would be willing to repair it, as it likely won't be covered under warranty given it was stupidity that broke it not anything to do with a malfunction in the device, and that I first received it a good while back.

If the Pandora team are willing to repair it,  would be good to know how much they would charge to repair.  If the cost is too high I'd probably be put off though.

The third option is my preferred option, I think (depending on response from the Pandora team, will message them again), is if someone on this forum would be able to repair it, someone good with electronics who obviously knows a lot about the Pandora.  This again, would obviously depend on the cost.

If I can't get it repaired, I will continue to try and sell it back to gbax or failing that sell it on this forum/ebay


@Binky I'm not really wanting to pay for an upgrade unit.  The amount I spent on the device already was quite a lot compared to how often I have used it since, not really willing to pay almost the same amount I originally spent just to get it fixed and at this moment in time can't afford to either.

@Linux-SWAT Am based in Edinburgh, UK
 
Back
Top