Repair time: Nikon MH-25 charger repair.

Рет қаралды 24,881

5 жыл бұрын

Problem: Unit no longer charging after a fall to a carpeted floor.
Opening this thing is a bear, its mostly glued shut.
So if you have a heat gun, get that out, and you will be a few steps ahead of me.
This unit is poorly designed, and the components seem to invite failure, and a one way trip to the trash.
There should be a recall on this piece of trash.
This is a $50.00 charger, so I kinda expect a little more at this price point.
At the very least, make it so that if you do wish to try to service it, that you don't have to destroy it to get it open.
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Пікірлер: 102

@hardbass3602 8 ай бұрын

I recently dropped my MH 25a charger(just a year old), it stopped working. Now I landed up here :) Unfortunately I don't have a soldering iron, would have to give it to a guy. But cool video, at least now I know what has gone wrong.

@JimsEquipmentShed 8 ай бұрын

Its never a bad idea to have a cheap iron and some solder kicking around for quick fixes like this.

@waynecarveth 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing this info. I repaired mine with your help but it failed again while I was in England. I was resigned to buying a new one but a camera shop in Bristol sold me a charger that connects to a phone charger. It is half the size & you use your phone charging lead. The brand name is hama & it cost £11.

@JimsEquipmentShed 5 жыл бұрын

I’ll have to look into that, thanks.

@chiragpatelvgm07 4 жыл бұрын

Had exactly same issue and fixed by just re-solder thanks for video

@JimsEquipmentShed 4 жыл бұрын

I'm glad it helped, its an easy fix if you know where to look. And with nothing to lose, its well worth doing.

@ohrah2003 5 жыл бұрын

Mine fell 18 inches onto a vinyl floor and stopped working. Won't be buying another Nikon charger for $49. Overpriced and this seems to be a problem with these units. Bought a 3rd party charger. Will try to fix the Nikon and use as a back up. Thanks again for a clear understandable video.

@JimsEquipmentShed 5 жыл бұрын

Yea, thats a really bad design, and its going to be that component, so at least you know what you are looking for. Some of the links in my description box go to others that have repaired it as well.

@kurtisfafard6648 3 жыл бұрын

Worked like a charm! thanks for saving me from having to buy a new charger. This repaired one now lives in the shop!

@JimsEquipmentShed 3 жыл бұрын

Glad it helped. It’s just too bad that the Nikon engineers let us down so badly on this one.

@kurtisfafard6648 3 жыл бұрын

@@JimsEquipmentShed I took the hot glue gun to it. It won’t be coming free again!

@JimsEquipmentShed 3 жыл бұрын

@@kurtisfafard6648 Yup, that’s the best way to deal with it. Prevention for the next time.

@ashitg65 Жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot for the video, Jim - I also had the same problem of the Transistor solder tracks getting broken. Fixed it and its working fine now !!

@JimsEquipmentShed Жыл бұрын

Glad it worked. I’ really amazed that they didn’t design that better. At the very least, they could have made it easier to disassemble…..

@ashitg65 Жыл бұрын

@@JimsEquipmentShed Very True - I have applied some hot glue to stabilize the Transistor and prevent damage again. Looks like they did not perform the Drop Test :)

@JimsEquipmentShed Жыл бұрын

@@ashitg65 Yea, that design only works for a device that is never actually used….It’s amazing to me something that simple slipped through the cracks….

@M1ZXZ 4 жыл бұрын

I had the same problem with the charger I have, I wonder how many duff chargers are out there because of this issue. After resoldering the track I finished off by gluing the component to offer some support and rigidity in an aide to prevent this fault happening again. Very good tutorial Jim. My charger is working again.

@JimsEquipmentShed 4 жыл бұрын

M1ZXZ Yea, Anything you can do yo keep it from getting rattled back off is a good idea. It’s a really poor design.

@richardquesnel7939 Жыл бұрын

Great video! Crisp comments, easy to understand! Repairs worked great for me. Thanks for putting on!

@JimsEquipmentShed Жыл бұрын

Always happy to see a cheap fix working out! Nikon should redesign that for sure.

@G0FUW Жыл бұрын

Great video Jim. I dropped my charger from my hand onto a marble floor whilst on holiday in Italy and it stopped working. On return home I could not figure out how to open it. Your video was perfect. Sadly, no obvious physical issues with my unit, and there is no way I am going to attempt to fault find in the 'robot vomit' of SMD parts. Ver flimsy design for something likely to be used whilst travelling.

@JimsEquipmentShed Жыл бұрын

Even if it doesn’t look bad, just try resoldering that connection. That is most likely going to be the problem, even if it looks ok. It was amazing to me that their engineers let that poorly designed mess slide by.

@geffgddhgfffgg2386 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot, same issue with my device and I didn't drop it. My repair was just a bit of bumf pressing the transistor(?) in the right direction :-D

@JimsEquipmentShed 2 жыл бұрын

It doesn’t take much, one of our users swears that maybe he tossed it into his camera bag, but it certainly didn’t hit anything hard. (Other that’s the end of the power cord, and a loose trigger release. ) I think that component just weighs too much to be left unsupported. Eventually they all seem to break.

@hiwatt85 4 жыл бұрын

Today I've picked my MH-25 for charging the battery of my D600 but didn't worked... I've searched some tutorials for open the unit and found this video. After a bit of work I've extracted the board from the box and found the same problem of yours! I've fixed it and secure D7 with a drop of hot glue on components side of PCB. Now the bad boy is securely tight in place :) Thank you

@JimsEquipmentShed 4 жыл бұрын

I'm glad it helped! Its a shame that they engineered this unit so poorly, this is really basic stuff in the world electronics. If they have heavy components, they really need to be secured better.

@nfcintra 2 жыл бұрын

Nice, thanks.. same problem here.

@JimsEquipmentShed 2 жыл бұрын

Well, at least you know it’s fixable now.

@nfcintra 2 жыл бұрын

@@JimsEquipmentShed Sure, just need to buy a simple WELDING IRON to make the repair

@Scriptonusman 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for taking the time to make and upload this video. Today it has helped me. Just wanted to drop a comment out of gratitude :-)

@JimsEquipmentShed 2 жыл бұрын

Not a problem at all, I’m glad it helped!

@rmgwheelsspokeslab.7767 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the video. What a piece of trash. I was sat down on the chair. Picked up the charger with the battery in after a charge, hold it from the cable and the unit disconnected from the connector and fall down to the floor something like 30cm or so. It was so stupid to me to think it was damaged that I just checked the outside which didn´t have even a scratch, but something told me "try it"... and when I plug it in the light didn´t turn on, then did some noise blinked and isn´t working any longer. A D500 camera useless now because of a crapy charger... come on... My D90 had a better charger. I have 2 charged batteries and we are lockeddown. :( :(

@JimsEquipmentShed 4 жыл бұрын

RMG Wheels & Spokes Lab. Yea, at the very least, you can do this fix and that will get you through lock down. Because of the glue, it kinda (as you can see) damages the case if you are not careful. But at least it will give you a charger until you can get a replacement. Totally agree on the D90 charged. Those things are tanks! I don’t have any videos on repainting them. I’ve never seen one break.

@Latarnik66 2 жыл бұрын

Great job, I love home remedies, especially without the use of specialized equipment, which allow me to fix the device myself at no extra cost

@JimsEquipmentShed 2 жыл бұрын

Yup, this was a lot cheaper than replacing the charger. I wish they has assembled the case entirely with screws though, they didn't need to fight us on this.....

@rmgwheelsspokeslab.7767 4 жыл бұрын

Hi guys! I realized my MH-25a charged has a hole with a pin in the middle right behind the plug in piece. I´ve take a bicycle spoke, bent it with a curved shape (hook) to insert it through the mentioned pin. Then clamped the spoke and pulled out holding the other part of the charger. I´ve been able to open it so in a very clean way without damaging it much. But once opened have found everything seeming to be on place, so, as I know about electronics theres nothing I can do. Thanks for the video again.

@JimsEquipmentShed 4 жыл бұрын

RMG Wheels & Spokes Lab. that’s cool! I’m always up for a new trick or two! Thanks! I never even looked at doing that. Take a really close look on your charger, sometimes, until you wiggle that thing, you might not see the cracked wiring trace.

@clarapedrol6470 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! Had the same problem and i could solve it! Thaaanks!

@JimsEquipmentShed 4 жыл бұрын

Clara Pedrol glad it helped!

@aineanurseman289 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the video...I opened mine and put it back together without doing anything...and it works 😂😀👍

@JimsEquipmentShed 3 жыл бұрын

The solder joints might be touching again temporarily, you should hit those with a soldering iron just to make sure the connection is good. (Or the next time it gets bounced, it will probably lose connection again.)

@Alienbikers-in-India 4 жыл бұрын

Ohhh, shame on whoever made this charger and also Nikon quality control and engineers. I searched on youtube and found 3-4 videos about it. All have the same issue. I made thin "nose" on my soldering tool and will fix tomorrow. Most challenging part was to figure out how to open. Thanks for your video!

@JimsEquipmentShed 4 жыл бұрын

Yea, if they are going to engineer theses things so poorly, the least they could do is make it so that the case unscrews. The glue thing was really short sighted. Not as short sighted as their electrical engineering department, but still........

@snorke63 4 жыл бұрын

@@JimsEquipmentShed after soldering i will fix that detail with hot glue I think. To hold it on the plate well.

@JimsEquipmentShed 4 жыл бұрын

Aigars Liepins Yea, that’s what I did as well. It’s unfortunate Nikon didn’t do that in the first place.

@brianhenderson68 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing. I will look into getting a third-party charger also. Shame on you Nikon! SMH

@JimsEquipmentShed 5 жыл бұрын

Yea, its crazy Brian. This is basic electrical engineering 101, the components must be supported, and protected against the inevitable. Its not like Nikon is just starting out....

@intensitymediaJm 3 жыл бұрын

thanks it worked

@JimsEquipmentShed 3 жыл бұрын

Thankfully, it’s a fairly easy thing to fix once you know where to look.

@LarrySong712 3 жыл бұрын

same problem hanging transistor found

@JimsEquipmentShed 3 жыл бұрын

I’m glad I published this fix, I kinda figured it wasn’t going to be an isolated event based on the poor design.

@timelessbluesfoundation413 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your helpful instructions. How exactly would you go about opening the device using a heat gun?

@JimsEquipmentShed 4 жыл бұрын

Timeless Blues Foundation run the heat gun along the seem and it should help loosen it (the adhesive) up enough so that it wont crack. Then just use superglue to hold it back together again.

@M1ZXZ 4 жыл бұрын

That's exactly the way I split the case apart. Slowly heat the plastic, otherwise the plastic will distort if heated to much, so take it slow and easy, I then used a safety blade and gently pressed into the case between the two halves. It will be much easier if you only heat one section at a time and use the blade until that particular section is apart then move onto another section and repeat the process. Patience & perseverance is key to a nice clean job that you will be satisfied with with hacking and destroying the case.

@williambaglari5795 4 жыл бұрын

Sir what is the name of that blue part near transistor.... Plz

@JimsEquipmentShed 4 жыл бұрын

its a ceramic disc capacitor for RFI - EMI suppression.

@TechSavvy. 8 ай бұрын

As a retired Electronics Technologist with over 30 years' experience, I can tell you that this charger is not any more badly designed than most other pieces of home electronics. It just wasn’t designed to be dropped on the floor. It may have been supplied by a third party under contract to Nikon. One short drop onto carpeted floor won’t usually break parts free from a board. It mostly happens after repeated knocks or drops and people don’t notice it until it fails. There are many parts on this PCB that could be compromised if you drop it often enough and it would not be cost efficient to “brace” all of them. What you could do, now that you have it apart, is to use a hot glue gun to drop some glue around any parts that are heavier and stand off from the board. That was common practice years ago, but you don’t see it as much anymore, possibly due to cost-cutting measures. I have several different Nikon chargers and I dropped one of mine on a hardwood floor a few years ago. One of the fine traces on the board cracked and it stopped working. A simple solder repair put it back into service. If you solder a trace that has cracked, remember to solder a small piece of wire across it to beef up the join. On another note, if you keep your soldering iron tip clean you won’t struggle so much with your repairs.

@JimsEquipmentShed 8 ай бұрын

In our fleet of Nikons, this was the only style of charger that had this issue. And it was the exact same fault.so sorry if you worked on this design, but it was insufficient.

@TechSavvy. 4 ай бұрын

You can't really call it a fault if it got dropped on the floor. It's a fact of life that the rougher you treat electronics equipment the more likely you are to have problems. If you have a fleet of chargers that are in constant use and they're getting dropped a lot they're gonna get broken. You can't call that a design flaw. That's more along the lines of abuse. Open up all the cases and put a dab of hot glue at the base of the voltage regulator so it supports the part. That'll stop a lot of the breakage and you'll have fewer repairs and unhappy end users.

@JimsEquipmentShed 4 ай бұрын

@TechSavvy. Design it with support like the old ones were, and it won’t break. The old ones didn’t.

@TechSavvy. 4 ай бұрын

@@JimsEquipmentShed It's too late for a re-design, now. Damage control only.

@JimsEquipmentShed 4 ай бұрын

Yup, thats the reason for this video, it's an easy fix. But it's not too late for them to put this warning into the engineering tech notes for the next design possibilities.@@TechSavvy.

@erik.... 5 жыл бұрын

I just dropped mine as well.. Trying to break into it right now.

@erik.... 5 жыл бұрын

My problem was not the transistor but a broken PCB where it's very narrow between the slot and the AC in.. Gonna fix it with a piece of wire instead.

@erik.... 5 жыл бұрын

And it works again!

@JimsEquipmentShed 5 жыл бұрын

@@erik.... Excellent! Although it would have been better had Nikon just built it better to start with....

@travelbydanimorem6371 2 жыл бұрын

I had exactly the same issue in my charger. Watching your video helped me a lot to fix the problem. Thank you so much Jim.

@JimsEquipmentShed 2 жыл бұрын

Not a problem at all, I’m glad this has helped so many people. Honestly, I figured it might, as it’s a really horrible design. I hope they design the next series a lot better.

@jamnj4319 5 жыл бұрын

My MH-25 charger stopped working but not same issue. Transistor solder connections seem fine. All solder connections on circuit board look OK. Here is tip on separating plastic case. I used a sharp chisel. Tap with hammer around all four sides. Seems to separate small amount of glue used. I welcome any other ideas on what could be wrong with charger?

@JimsEquipmentShed 5 жыл бұрын

I like the chisel idea, as I wasn’t pleased with the damaged case. I would resolder them anyhow, as sometimes those trace breaks are about impossible to see by eye.

@swips88 5 жыл бұрын

@@JimsEquipmentShed I took another closer look and found the apparent problem. A small crack in circuit board where power connector spring clip is mounted on board. The current path is interrupted. I will try jumpering with a wire soldered to spring clip pin and to TH1 pin where board path leads. This spring clip holds the swiveling power adapter. Another poor design since a lot of torque is exerted on this very thin part of circuit board when connecting and disconnecting the power cord. CAUTION best to leave your power cord always plugged into charger. Only remove from wall.

@JimsEquipmentShed 5 жыл бұрын

Swips Eightyeight Yea, anything that moves, and it doesn’t really need to, is a bad design. Glad you found the issue.

@ericchristoffersen9355 3 күн бұрын

Wow i watched your video after resoldering mine. Shoot i thought i was bad at reflowing joints but youre worse than me. I use a fine soldering pencil, not that big plumbing thing you were using. :)

@JimsEquipmentShed 3 күн бұрын

I think this looks bigger on camera, that’s an extra fine solder, as well. Those are the rooms I have at work, so that’s what I use. On the bright side, it’s still working, so I didn’t do that bad.

@ericchristoffersen9355 2 күн бұрын

@@JimsEquipmentShed well… theres fine and finer. Youve got the skills. But totally agree about results. Im glad mine is working too. Now i know not to drop it. Embarrassing design. Mine worked great through all sorts of crazy travel, loaned it to my son and i broke when he arrived in france, no charger for 3 weeks. Returned home last night, it was rattling, opened (using vice and wood chisel) reflowed those 3 joints and its working again. I didnt think to lookup youtube until after but it all went well. Easier repair than i hoped.

@JimsEquipmentShed Күн бұрын

@@ericchristoffersen9355 I’ve repaired several of these, Nikon’s design is sloppy and made worse by gluing the case together to prevent service.

@jb.documentary Жыл бұрын

Hello, i just repaired mine , the problem is the same

@JimsEquipmentShed Жыл бұрын

Excellent! I’m glad the fix is easy, but also kinda sad that Nikon made such a poorly designed product in the first place. Rugged design was what made me choose them over canon.

@shawnmrfixitlee6478 5 жыл бұрын

I see that a bunch Jim !

@JimsEquipmentShed 5 жыл бұрын

Yea, terrible design Shawn, its amazing that they fail to support a component that actually has a hole designed into it for just that purpose.

@benglasgow Жыл бұрын

I just took apart my charger and it had the exact same fault with it. Broken solder.

@JimsEquipmentShed Жыл бұрын

Excellent! It’s nice to find a free fix eh? ;-)

@urbaniuks 5 жыл бұрын

Have same... just used trashbin to solve the problem... wow nikon... wow...

@JimsEquipmentShed 5 жыл бұрын

Yea, thats one way to do it! ;-) I just hate throwing away a $40.00 charger. (No matter how crappy its quality is.)

@user-gr2jx1cb2k Жыл бұрын

와 뜯는 것 까지가 내가 할 수 있는거네. 물론, 나사 풀어서 뜯은게 아님. 사야겄다. 10년 썼으면 많이 썼다..

@JimsEquipmentShed Жыл бұрын

Could you see the broken part once you opened it?

@user-gr2jx1cb2k Жыл бұрын

@@JimsEquipmentShed Even if there is a broken part, I think it wasn't broken before I opened it, but it was broken when I opened it because I opened it by making a hole in the case. I think the wrench used in assembly is a wrench that is not commonly used so I couldn't open it normally. It's okay. I bought a new one the next day.

@JimsEquipmentShed Жыл бұрын

@@user-gr2jx1cb2k In any event, it was interesting to take a look inside right?

@marcp.1752 2 жыл бұрын

OMG, this free wiggling Thyristor inside the charger seems to be mechanically a bad Nikon Design, at least after a drop on the floor, and no more charging. Should being re-soldered again simply. I'd suggest using a good old desoldering pump, to get old solder off the PCB. And just using a soldering iron with a finer point, no offense. I've just bought a cheap 3rd party charger (less than 10 bucks, instead of the original here, which costs >80 EUR up to 99 EUR, unbelievable), because i've lost my MH-25 somewhere (it never went defective, since my Nikon D7000, but was never falling down, too)

@JimsEquipmentShed 2 жыл бұрын

Yea, it is a terrible design, and it actually pushes the trace right off the board. So desoldering wouldn't have helped, that was a bridge over a cracked joint. The nikon engineers could have fixed this for sure with about three seconds of thought. If I really cared about the ascetic of it , I would have run a jumper wire and cleaned it up. In this case, I just needed a solid connection. That charger is in a fleet of like items, so substituting it with an off brand knock off wasn't an option.

@marcp.1752 2 жыл бұрын

@@JimsEquipmentShed I see. Yeah, at least you've fixed it! Good work. For such little electronics via PCB inside, i would really never spent close to 100 bucks new. It's being too overpriced via Nikon.