Momo8 IPS Internals & WiFi Fault

mnementh

Member
May 27, 2012
4
3
Hello everybelly!

After much pestering, my wife got me a Ployer momo8 IPS for Christmas. Like most momo8 users posting here, I have been amazed at the quality and speed of this little tablet. Mine, direct from the factory, came with Android 4.1.1 and a number of apps in Chinese; these were easily disabled and/or replaced with American English speaking counterparts as Ployer is ALSO a registered manufacturer with Google Play, which ALSO came pre-installed. I LOVED IT from day one; all except for... THE WIFI ISSUE.

Yes, mine too had the much maligned WiFi fault; signal would drop to 3 bars at the far end of the same room as my WiFi router, and in the next room would dip to 2 bars or even 1. The backyard was out of the question. And like others, it was constantly dropping and re-establishing the connection.

Well... I read and read, and figured I just had to wait for them to release the firmware patch to resolve my problems. And then, it happened. I dropped my little pink baby; I was heartbroken, but when I picked it up... it was all okay. except, I could hear (and see) the speaker rattling around loose. And there were dents in the aluminum back.

So... I set about taking my beastie apart; it was easy with a #000 Philips screwdriver and a guitar pick to rlease the snap-together tabs that hold it together once you remove the 3 screws from the "all the ports" end of the tablet. I was greatly disappointed to find that the antenna had been placed and secured properly; I was hoping for an easy fix.

I had an idea to try a better WiFi antenna; maybe install a second flag antenna from my drawer of bits robbed from old laptops. It was then I looked at the solder pads where the antenna wire was connected to the mainboard. I found that the shield/ground of the tiny coaxial cable was not properly soldered to the ground pad on the mainboard.

I resoldered it, but at first I thought it wouldn't work; the ground pad there is a large bit of copper, and my rechargeable soldering iron didn't want to put out enough heat to do the job. I had to use my good, 58W temp-controlled soldering station, and even then it wasn't easy to make a good solder joint; the ground tab sucked the heat away very quickly. This was enough of a PITA to solder properly that I wouldn't be surprised to find that it is a recurring problem with these tablets due to assembly line time pressure.

Eventually I got the solder joint fixed, and ironed out the dents in the back lid. And glued the speaker down with silicone sealant. Before I started messing around with it, though, I plopped it on my flatbed scanner and made a 600DPI scan of it so y'all can see with painful detail what's inside; I've added an arrow pointing to the solder joint in question.

Now, I get 4 bars anywhere in the same room, and it's always solid blue; next room I get 3 bars and 2 in the back yard; although I CAN go far enough away to lose all signal at the farthest corner of the backyard. At all times the WiFi signal stays blue until it drops out completely; even when it drops to 2 bars websurfing is STILL blazing fast and I can still watch Youtube and Netflix video.

And now for the required disclaimer: If you take your tablet apart and kill it, don't blame me. I'm an electronics engineer with 25 years experience in repairs like this one; if you're not comfortable doing repairs like this one, take your momo to someone who is.

Good hunting,

mnem
momo my momo!
 

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flxrms

Senior Member
Developer
Mar 23, 2011
365
52
Thanks for the tip... i also accidentally drop my MoMo8 last week..the tablet slide from my 8inch generic leather case...have a small dent at the side...now i also have an excuse to open this baby up and also resolder that cable!!!
 

vanzis

Member
Jan 30, 2013
1
0
Thank you for the great info. I would like to ask you if you are aware about the battery consumption of the wifi before and after the repair. Thank you in advance
 

davkirkster

Member
Feb 10, 2013
1
0
Hi that's great work thanks....I have a problem I bought one of these for my son for Xmas and the DC jack has snapped inside and therefore will not charge... I have a friend who has opened it to try and fix it but has had no joy he said I need a new DC jack socket. I having a clue about what size to get or where to get one from, I would be extremely grateful if you could help me with this matter as my son is devestated thanks in advance
 
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