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Saturday, November 7, 2015

Logitech (Logicool) Z623's power button is unstable again


When my Corsair SP2200 speakers developed a crackling sound, I returned them for a full refund and bought the popular Logitech Z623 speaker set. Within the 2 year warranty period ran out, a problem developed in those speakers as well. The speakers would not keep turned on for a moment after pressing the power button. I would have to turn it off and turn it back on several times until the power button "sticks". Logitech (known as Logicool in Japan) replaced the speakers with a brand new set. 

They worked find for a while but after the warranty expired (I did not get an extension of warranty with the replacement; the warranty period was same as the original), they also started showing the exact same problem with the power button. The following video demonstrates the issue with the current speaker set.


This is not an isolated problem. There are reports from many people about the same issue on the Internet. It appears that the dust which gets trapped between the contact points of the power button is the cause of this issue. Some, who have been brave enough to open up the speakers to perform a clean up say that it fixed the problem for them.

Even though the warranty is for 2 years, I have had amazing customer support experience with Logicool, so I decided to ask them if they can do something about it. At first it appeared that they would replace the speaker set, but I soon found out that they weren't aware that the warranty has expired until I uploaded the receipt. To my dismay, they informed me that they are unable to do anything about it because of that, not even repair or nor provide instructions on how to do it myself. If it was within the warranty period, they would have replaced it. 

Even though I still can use the speakers fine, I do not want to take these speakers with me back to Sri Lanka. The speaker set is huge for a 2.1 set, and more importantly it only works with 100V. The power supply is external, so it is not that difficult to replace or even build a power supply that can work with the 240V Sri Lankan power grid, but it is too much hassle. I can buy a step down transformer but they aren't that cheap either. Thus, I want to get rid of the speakers. I know that I won't be able to ask for a good sum without fixing the power button issue though.

So I decided to see if I could fix the problem myself. If it really was the dust, how hard would it be to fix it? I followed this guide

Well, it turned out to be very hard. Not because it was difficult to disassemble (although it could have been easier), the knobs on the dials were very tight and I had to remove them to get access to the contacts of the power button because they were covered by the PCB. They could not be pulled out with my fingers. (Perhaps a stronger person can) I had to use pliers as per various reports on the web, but then they would get plier marks, an absolute no no if I am to sell the speakers. If I was going to use them, then if would not have been a problem.

Hence, I wanted to give a shot at selling the speakers set without fixing the power button. I listed them on Rakuten and mentioned the issue. It appears that there is very little interest for these speakers because only a couple of people have visited the listing page. So far nobody has bid for it, nor even add it into their watch list. That sucks. I really don't want to drop the price. The price I am asking for them is already very low, even though it is not defect free. They speakers work perfectly well, it is just turning them on is not very straight forward. But once you manage to get the power stuck, the power doesn't go out arbitrarily.

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