LOL WTF Chord Poly FML

I bought a Chord Poly used from somebody. The person I bought it from pontificated unprompted on how they take care of their batteries and allow them discharge and charge and never left it on charge (should have been my first clue)(that being said Chord should have it’s own battery management but they aren’t Apple... so I digress).

Turns out the battery was totally shit and died way before my Chord Mojo.

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Fast forward two years later.

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I finally found someone to sell me a Chord Poly battery (what a nightmare)(I ended paying $120 including shipping which is a nightmare in it own right).

Chord told me to talk to my dealer, dealer offered replacement for like $200, I contacted Chord that this is ridiculous and just need a battery, Chord gave me emails for repair centres, repair centres tried to have me pay $160-$200+Shipping. Finally found a dealer to sell me a battery for $100+Shipping.

Anyways, I replace the battery and it works. Good news.

Bad news is this “light tube”(?) fell out and I have no f'ing clue how to put it in. It’s like a light tube for the Chord Mojo Battery indicator? I guess? I’m seeing if I can figure it out and if it’s worth fiddling with.

I posted this to SBAF for myself, it’s cathartic. I also believe that there is no repair guide that I can find on the Chord Poly so I wanted to contribute that.

It’s super easy, You need a 1.5mm Metric hex key. Remove the SD card. Remove the four (4) bolts/screws. Gently lift up on the bottom of the case separating the two pieces. At this point the light tube will be getting in your way, it’ll probably just fall out. The battery is attached with double sided tape that is weak and is easily removed. Battery connectors are easily removed from the board and replaced. Then you put it back together.

If I can do it, so can you.

If I find a solution to inserting the light tube that brings the indicator light from the Chord Mojo out to the from of the Chord Poly I will add it here. (Suggested here was using fishing line, might work).

PS: this battery looks like it expanded.

 

Having never held a Poly in my hand but being handy with all sorts of DIY stuff, I'm betting I can fix it. If you're interested (I'm offering to do it for free) message me.

 

Conclusion I came to about the light tunnel:

After about an hour fiddling with it, using putty, trying all sorts of things I have decided to keep the light tunnel out of the Poly.

It’s a total nightmare. Maybe I am missing something but I could not find a solution.

You have to thread it under a board while assembling is the conclusion, alternatively you have to remove the WiFi/BT window and then assemble? I don’t know but it wasn’t happening for me.

 

I guess this photo kinda illustrates it.

You have to get the light tube under that board. It’s a mess.

 

Maybe a stupid question but how did you get the light-guide out to begin with? Or it just fell out on its own?

 

I thought I broke the Poly when this light tube fell on the work table. My reaction was LOL WTF.

I had been gently rotating the two pieces of the case back and forth as they weren’t easily coming apart.

It was just a piece of plastic so I didn’t worry too much. Quickly installed the battery and made sure I didn’t break it.

Putting that light tube back in place however...

 

I'm concerned about that bloated battery. Thank You for posting this, I'm feeling better about my venture into Rpi based streaming. I wonder if thick fishing line could substitute for the light tube or cannibalizing a old TOSLINK cable might give you a little more flexibility.

 

I’d say the old battery was about 20-30% larger than the battery I replaced it with.

Kinda scary. Disappointing.

 

The Poly deserves all the complaints and flame.

 

For the record:

I will never buy a new or used Chord product.

I will never recommend someone buy a Chord Poly. It could have been great, but it is not.

My experience with after sales support is disappointing.

 

need MOAR taps. 88 BILLION TAPS.

 

Chord outsourced the development of the Poly, 2go, and 2yu to Disign Consultants and you’ll notice “disignconsultants.com” is printed on the PCB board. Chord sought to capitalize on the success of the DACs their independent consultant, Rob Watts designed and they attempted to create their own accessories without his involvement. They partnered with Disign Consultants and the project was troubled from the onset as they grossly underestimated the complexity of the software development and failed to setup adequate after-sales support. Chord rushed the Poly to the market, likely to to pay down development costs, and sadly initial purchasers became beta testers. Your comments and experience mirror those of the majority of early owners.

 

So are you saying it’s a better product today?

 

I’ll put it this way, considering the cards you were dealt you played them pretty well to get yours working. Good to see another SBAF member that’s not afraid of a DYI repair.

 

I am shocked that you were charged $100 for an LP113452 model battery. While not the easiest configuration to find, it seems they can be had for somewhere between $2-$4 via alibaba.

 

If you fancied having another go

http://www.just-hifi.com/Chord-Elec...-for-Mojo-Specs-in-1st-post_10208318-179.html

 

Wow. This battery switchover really made a big difference in the usability.

The Poly seemingly never turned off and the battery would always be dead unless left on charge.

 

The Poly still never turns off and runs out of battery. Annoying.

 

For future reference, you can quite easily source this kind of battery pack within the US:

https://www.batteryspace.com/polymer-li-ion-battery-3-7v-3100mah-11wh-5a-rate-battery-module.aspx

I'd trust his a little more than some random Aliexpress/Taobao store, I never go dirt cheap with Lipo.