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Ion pathfinder 2 portable bluetooth speaker

Joeyboi

Feb 20, 2022
8
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Feb 20, 2022
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Greetings,

I am.trying to troubleshoot an ion pathfinder 2 portable bluetooth speaker. I Purchased the speaker from Costco, i was very happy with the performance until it just wouldn't turn on or charge after 2 months of very light use. Normally i would of returned it taking advantage of Costco great return policy but i due to spending cut back i did not renew my Costco membership. I reached out to ion customer service rep and was told that it was a battery issue, i was sent a replacement and upon changing it it still didn't work, i reached out again but was denied further assistance due to its weak 30 day warranty policy.

I tried to do some troubleshooting myself but im not that electronics savvy. Im a degreed mechanical engineer with a manufacturing engineer background so jm somewhat understand how the speaker works. So far ive check the power cord, and the fuse. Ive dissamblee the speaker to see if maybe there was a loose connector. So far i have not been able to find the issue.. can someone please point me in the right direction? As far as tools , i own a multimeter; and 2 solder irons 30 watt and 50 watt, ive done basic soldering.

Thank you much.

Ps if this isnt the forum for my type of issue, my apologies . If anyone Knows of a forum thats for my type of issue, please advise!
 

73's de Edd

Aug 21, 2015
3,613
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Aug 21, 2015
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3,613
Good, in close, focus-ses-sed photo(s) of the main board, to see how its built and what's on it are needed, to start with .
We assume its te- totally dead and no lites or sound whatsoever ?
No conjunct info found of there being a teardown on the internet of its internals for referencing . . . .the back panel tells me that the FEE-NOM-in all boasted L O N G playing time is attributed to its internal old school 12V 7A SLA battery and its spec of 2.7 A absolute max current pull.
 
Last edited:

Joeyboi

Feb 20, 2022
8
Joined
Feb 20, 2022
Messages
8
Thx for responding.

Answer to your questions :

1. Yes, the unit is totally dead.
it was working fine at first, however, it began to act weird, it would not turn on unless it was plugged in. Than after a week it just wouldn't power up. Thats when I reached out to ion and was sent a new battery but still would not turn on. I fully charged both battery with a battery tender just to rule out 2 faulty batteries. Still no power.

<The back panel tells me that the FEE-NOM-in all boasted L O N G playing time is attributed to its internal old school 12V 7A SLA battery and its spec of 2.7 A absolute max current pull.>
I don't quite get this, over my head . Electronics is my weakness

Here are pictures of the devices internal power supply and pcb main assembly.

upload_2022-3-1_10-35-39.jpeg

One thing I noticed was that the internal power supply is not insulated. I was under the impression that these things need to be insulated from electronic interference.



View attachment 54430
 

Joeyboi

Feb 20, 2022
8
Joined
Feb 20, 2022
Messages
8
I realized that when i replied to your post i didn't hit the reply link, i replied as a seperate post thus you not knowing i replied. This is just a reply to your post just in case you did not get the notification.

Not trying to be a pest, i do realize you may have other priorities. Im appreciative of your willingness in helping out .

Thx

Good, in close, focus-ses-sed photo(s) of the main board, to see how its built and what's on it are needed, to start with .
We assume its te- totally dead and no lites or sound whatsoever ?
No conjunct info found of there being a teardown on the internet of its internals for referencing . . . .the back panel tells me that the FEE-NOM-in all boasted L O N G playing time is attributed to its internal old school 12V 7A SLA battery and its spec of 2.7 A absolute max current pull.
 
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