Getting Started with the Teardown
Alright, so I finally decided to tackle that old clock radio that’s been gathering dust on the shelf. It stopped working ages ago, probably back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Figured it was time for a proper kaisan, you know, take it apart and see what makes it tick, or rather, what stopped it ticking.
First thing, I cleared some space on my workbench. It’s usually a mess, tools everywhere, bits of wire, you know how it is. Found my small screwdriver set, the one with all the tiny heads. Always lose the one I actually need, but found the right Phillips head this time. Lucky start.
Opening It Up
Getting the case open was the first hurdle. These things are snapped together tight. Looked for screws, found four hidden under the little rubber feet. Sneaky. Unscrewed those easy enough. But the plastic halves still wouldn’t budge. Had to get a flathead screwdriver, the really thin one, and carefully pry along the seam. Heard a few scary cracking sounds, thought I broke it worse, but it was just the clips letting go. Finally, the two halves popped apart.
What Was Inside
Inside wasn’t much of a surprise, really. Just a circuit board, a speaker, some wires connecting everything. Looked pretty simple compared to modern stuff.
- The main board with the clock chip covered in some black blob.
- A smaller board for the buttons.
- The speaker, surprisingly heavy for its size.
- Lots of wires, mostly red and black, connecting everything.
- The power cord assembly.
Pulled out the main board. A few more screws held it in place. Had a look around. Didn’t see anything obviously burnt or broken. Maybe a bad connection somewhere? Who knows. Wasn’t really planning to fix it anyway, just curious.
Hitting a Snag
Then I tried to get the display off. That was tricky. It seemed soldered directly to the board in like, a million places. Didn’t want to mess with my soldering iron today, too much hassle setting it up. Plus, the fumes stink up the place. So, I kinda hit a wall there. Decided to leave the display attached to the board. The goal was just the kaisan, the teardown, not reducing it to atomic particles.
Finishing the Job
So, I disconnected the speaker wires (they just clipped on, thankfully) and the power input wires. Laid all the main pieces out on the bench. The empty plastic shell, the circuit boards, the speaker, the screws in a little magnetic tray so they don’t roll away. Felt kinda satisfying, seeing all the guts laid bare.
Took a few moments just looking at the components. It’s amazing how these simple bits used to work together to actually do something useful. Now, it’s just a pile of parts. The kaisan was complete. Nothing too dramatic, just a straightforward process of taking something apart piece by piece. Cleaned up the bench, put the parts in a box for maybe salvaging bits later, maybe just for the bin. Job done.
