Repairs

As these toys are approaching 20 years old, we are going to come across non-functional ones. But fear not! Here is a page dedicated to finding out what the most common problems with these units are and how to fix them.

What seems to be a common issue is the wire connecting the negative battery terminal to the motherboard will become corroded on one or both ends. (Side note: this issue is pervasive among virtually all older, handheld electronics and is by no means exclusive to Skannerz.) Fortunately, this is a straightforward fix requiring only the basics both in terms of materials and soldering skills.

First, you need to open the Skannerz unit by removing the 6 Phillips screws. Unfortunately, the two halves will not fully separate due to the wires connecting the battery terminals to the motherboard. You have the option of cutting these wires or desoldering one end of the connection in order to separate the two halves and make the repair easier to complete, which would be recommended for more beginner skillsets.

The battery terminal on the inside of the back cover has two eyelets through which the stripped ends of the battery wires go through, are wrapped around, and covered in solder. Removing the end of either of these wires is as simple as removing the solder. The other ends are a bit more challenging to remove as they are through-hole components, but still something even a beginner could do. Listed below is a diagram showing which shows which pads need to be desoldered on the back side in order to remove the battery wires from this end.

One precaution that should be noted is that while most the internal components are fairly robust and durable, the ribbon cable is a very delicate piece and needs to be treated with the utmost care. Particularly when using the soldering iron and solder, you need to be careful not damage either the cable or the LCD screen. (Please see the photo below for an example of the things that could happen if you are not careful when working on the internal components of your Skannerz device!)

Once the wires have been removed, new wires simply need to be soldered to the motherboard and to the battery terminals. The process is made easier by the fact that it is simply the reverse of the process described above. Try to use a high-quality wire, like single stranded copper core (even if Radica themselves did not do us the same kindness!), and try to be particularly careful not to touch the soldering iron tip to any of the plastic components as they will melt right before your very eyes! To try to make this fix a more permanent solution, add a little dab of dielectric grease (think something the size along the lines of a quarter of a pea). This will work to keep corrosion away from the areas that are hyper-prone to corrode and make your hard work last for as long as humanly--or should I say, robotically--as possible! (Right now I am not sure exactly what size/gauge this wire is, but once I determine what it is I will be sure to report back here!)

The hard part of the repair is now behind you, as the only thing left to do is throw the back cover back on, secure the Philips screws inside, and then you get to enjoy your Skannerz for many years (and even decades!) into the far-reaching future!

There are a few other repairs that you can do to these old toys, such as replacing broken speakers, swapping capacitors that have leaked onto the motherboard, and just general cleaning of the PCB.

For replacing the speaker, the amp rating is the key metric