Why Motorola PMR446 (licence-free) radios are not repairable.
This article explains why we prefer not to supply Motorola PMR446 radios because they cannot be repaired.
Motorola Quality
Motorola are probably the best known radio company in the world. Famous for building the first 'Walkie Talkies' in the second world war and for building some of the communications equipment for the Apollo moon missions.
Motorola make some of the very best radios available however in the UK (and perhaps elsewhere) they have divided their equipment into two categories and offer very different levels of service for each.
Motorola Professional Radios
These are the superb licensed radios on which they have built their reputation, the GP300, GP340 and DP3600 etc. These are fully repairable and built to give years and years of service.
Motorola Licence-Free Radios (PMR446)
Rather disparagingly Motorola call these 'Consumer' radios. They provide next to no service support for them. No repair spares (other than perhaps battery lids) and no service manuals. These PMR446 radios which fail outside the warranty period (usually 12 months) cannot be repaired unless parts can be scavenged from other radios.
If you have a faulty Motorola PMR446 radio (models listed below) we are always happy to attempt a repair and we make no charge if we cannot get them working (other than return postage if require them back).
Wildtalk Sales Policy
Our overall sales policy is wherever possible to only supply equipment that lasts years. This is for two reasons; it is almost always much more cost effective for most customers to buy kit with longevity and it helps to fight the amount of electronic waste ending as landfill. For this reason we will nearly always recommend an alternative product to a Motorola Licence Free radio.
Of course there are exceptions, certain items such as earpieces cannot be repaired but even these we offer a full 12 months warranty because we know them to be high quality. Batteries eventually wear out but at least these can be returned to us for recycling.
Motorola PMR446 radios models:
TA288, T6222, Handie Pro Euro 446, CLS, XTR, XTN, TA200, T5522, T5512, T5422, T5622, T6222, XTL, TLKR T7, TLKR T8, XTNi, XTNID (and many more).
Common Motorola PMR446 unrepairable failure modes.
XTN, XTNi, XTNiD. Battery quickly goes flat, radio gets warm, very short transmit range: RF power FET failure
XTNi, XTNiD. No audio, strange noises.: Audio Amplifier failure.
You are welcome to return these for repair but it is unlikely we can do anything with them.
Adding more radios to your fleet of Motorola PMR446 radios.
If you are thinking of replacing your unrepairable Motorola radios then you are not obliged to buy more of the same Motorola's. You could choose a fully compatible and repairable alternative such as an Icom, Kenwood or Hytera. Get in touch and we will make some suggestions based on your application.
