Hi all… I have a baofeng uv5r maybe for about 9 months. I don’t use it regularly as i have other radios. I was using it at the weekend and it suddenly died in me witout warning. I initially thought it was the battery but I tried 2 other batteries and it won’t turn on. The batteries work in another uv5r. Can anyone shed any light on what might be the issue with it or is it even possible to repair?
Probably not that hard to fix if you have the skills yourself, but frankly at the price they are just not worth paying somebody else to fix. I’m lucky enough to have the skills to fix radios, but to do this job would probably take a couple of hours - I could do it in my down time - but if a customer wanted two hours of my time, then they’d never pay it!
What do you think it might be?
First place I’d head to is the voltage regulator that supplies the 3.3V most of the design relies on. There’s a few capacitors and then the small 3 leg device that provides 3.3V from the 7.4V battery. also sounds daft, but it’s possible the power switch has failed. Not common, but it’s physical switch - shorting it out or metering it will prove it’s functioning before you dismantle too much. The biggest issue for me now I’m older is simply the size - working with a magnifying glass is quite tough - plus of course, the physical access side of working on small handhelds. Repairs at component level for me are now usually carefully planned bodges! Removing devices, leaving enough to re-solder too, to avoid having to totally dismantle things. Horrible to work on, hence why my own often just end up in the bin. Just too much hassle.