My T1 mixer, which has been excellent, has started to have a screen back light problem. It fails to illuminate the screen at times when powered up, though it will sometimes come on after a little while. It actually did this a couple times before the Covid thing happened, but I forgot about it until it did it again at a gig last week. It continues to work well in all other respects, but it's difficult to make adjustments in the dark now. The back lighting for all the knobs and buttons still works.
I bought it new in October, 2017 from Long & McQuade in Canada, along with a Bose L1 Compact and it has been a great piece of gear through many gigs. I realize it must be out of warranty by now, but is this something that can be fixed with a firmware update, or I can get it serviced somewhere?
Thank you for joining, welcome to the forum! Sorry you're having this issue.
I would definitely recommend starting with the software update. For instructions on this, visit the Portable PA Product Updates page on Bose's website.
My T1 has been updated already so that won't help. However, I've booked it in for service through Bose Support, so hopefully that will take care of the issue.
Unfortunately, my T1 came back from the service center still exhibiting the same problem with the screen backlight only working sporadically. They said the problem could not found when they tested it, but it has been happening ever time I use it since it returned.
Since others have also experienced this issue I find it strange that they didn't test it more carefully.
sorry to read about your problem with the Backlight on your T1. I know that that can be pretty nervy, especially in dark surroundings when you need to adjust something quickly.
Did Bose Service charge you for having a look at your T1? If so you may have warranty on that. Over here in Germany where I live it's usually a fixed rate for any of the Bose units, varying from model to model (eg.T1 or Compact or Model II). You then have 12 month guarantee on the unit. I think a T1 has a flat rate of around 150€. I sent my Model II power stand back a couple of years ago and that was 199€ Flatrate with 1 year warranty on the unit. That's how it works over here.
I don't know if this suggestion will help, but maybe you could take photos of the powered up screen (without using flash) and send that to the service people so that they can actually see that the Backlight isn't on.
Thanks for your suggestions Seagull, the photo idea is a good one.
There was a charge from Bose applied to my credit card shortly after I sent the T1 in for repair, but it disappeared a few days later and there hasn't been a charge since.
I haven't able to find a way to talk to anyone at Bose about the issue, and I hate to send it away again if they won't fix it. It's hard to believe that they couldn't recreate the condition, as even if the backlight is working when first powered up it will usually go out within fifteen or twenty minutes. Often it doesn't even come on at first. It's a known issue, and I'm not the first to have the problem. Likely the fix is to replace the display, or possibly the main board, so I'm not sure why they should have sent it back unrepaired.
I gig with it twice a week, and it's a pain to find anothe mixer while it's gone.
The quoted flat rate for repair is about half of what I paid for the unit when I bought it new. It's also about half of what it would cost to replace it with something else, so I'm considering my options.
I'll try calling them again, perhaps I can get through this time.
"The quoted flat rate for repair is about half of what I paid for the unit when I bought it new" sounds about right. Also the fact that they reimbursed your credit card is a sign that they couldn't find anything. Sometimes it can be very difficult to find electronic defects in equipment. Before my retirement I worked with electronic circuits at my place of work and sometimes the defects refused to show themselves when searched for. It is however strange that it apparently didn't appear whilst in the service workshop. Maybe they didn't give it enough time to appear. I know that using a device that is showing some kind of defect throws uncertainty upon the whole issue when on the road.
I can understand "It's also about half of what it would cost to replace it with something else, so I'm considering my options." I would also be thinking along these lines. Having never opened T1 I've no idea of what it looks like inside, but I do know that there are some very clever electronics people around who can repair stuff where others have thrown in the towel. Maybe you've got someone like that in your area? It can't hurt to throw out some feelers. It's all I can really suggest at the present time.
I know that if I had to start from scratch today with a mixer for my Bose gear knowing what I know now after nearly 10 years using my T1, I'd also be looking at mixers from 3rd party manufacturers. There are no presets for most of my gear which means that I've had to tweak most of the settings anyway, so the Tonematch side of things doesn't carry the same weight as it did when they first started out with the dedicated tonematch presets. As far as I know there haven't been any new additions for years. My Anthem Pick-up has been on the market for around 10 years now and as far as I know there's no preset for it. I've been mixing for 50 years now, so I could live with a 3rd party mixer, especially as most of the smaller ones are cheaper than the T1 and also not much larger if at all. I have 3 T1's altogether (1 of which has a slightly noisy mic preamp which I only use if pushed). I also love the simplicity of using a T1 and would miss not having one at my fingertips, but should I need a new small digital mixer, I can't really envisage it being from Bose as the competition has become pretty fierce in this sector and other mixers also have some pretty good features including eq-presets for various things.
I hope that my thoughts will at the very least be of some help when it comes to making the decision of what to do next. Sorry I can't be of more help.
Your thoughts are in line with what I have considered, and it may well be that parts such as the display unit are no longer available. It could also be that the Canadian based service center that it was sent to doesn't do much work on these mixers, or just didn't give it enough time.
In the big picture it isn't that big of a deal. Having worked in the broadcast industry for thirty five years as an independent videographer with my own gear, I know about the pains of intermittent problems. And to put it into perspective, a battery for my camera costs more than a T1, and those things only last about three years.
I've enjoyed my T1 and will continue to use it as it still works and sounds great. Dealing with the fault isn't impossible, I just wish I didn't have to. It would be great if someone from Bose could reach out to me.
Nice to have exchanged messages with you Seagullman!