My Kenwood TH-D74 has died after less than 2 years of service.  I was charging the battery with the supplied wall-wart charger, as I've done from the beginning.  The radio was off, and now no longer turns on.   This seems to be a fairly common problem with these radios and the battery management chip dying.

So contacted Kenwood, and I got a call yesterday afternoon from their amateur service rep Leo to send it to FTH group, the only authorized service center for Kenwood amateur radios.   I called FTH to get an estimate on their backlog/turnaround time, and they said they no longer service amateur radios, and to contact United Radio in Syracuse, NY.    I emailed United radio last night, and they replied today that they don't service amateur radios, althougth they hope to in the future.   I also emailed Leo back directly at Kenwood, but no reply yet, it took a couple of days last time.

So I'm sitting here with a bricked $500 radio, with apparently no Kenwood service centers to send it to for repair.    I stayed up last night investigating solder reflow stations, but the chip in question is 5mm square with 20 contacts.  I think I know my limits (eyesight and otherwise) for trying to do this myself.

I'm hoping someone in arfcom land might give me a clue where to turn to next.  I really don't want to just write this thing off...due to a $2.50 part.

Happened to mine too, luckily still in the one-year warranty period. Sent to their service center in California and had it back in less than 4 days. That was impressive but the known charging circuit defect should have been addressed after how many got sent back?
Sorry to hear about your radio, maybe DIY repairs are documented.

There is a good tear-down video and detailed internal photos here, so I think I can get to the chip that needs replaced (NCP1871), but being able to successfully swap it out is doubtful.   Not that I'm opposed to trying, and buying a cheap reflow station to do it, but as I said above, I think I know my limits on this one.

It's worth a shot. You could always practice on some junk boards first. Granted you won't necessarily know if you were successful.

I just sold my TH-D74. Frankly I never used it, bought it in 2017 probably used it less than 5 hours total in 5 years. Didn't use the wall wart though, I had the drop in charger. At least that charges the battery direct instead of relying on the radio.

Went back to my TH6, although they seem to die while charging as well. Apparently the secret is to plug the charger into the radio first, then into the wall.

Found the board you need on eBay. I've had this in my watch auctions for a few weeks, was thinking of buying it just in case.

TH-D74 board

If you believe you know what's wrong with it and are willing to have it repaired with no warranty then there are lots of electronic repair places that should be able replace the chip. I've had a number of circuit boards repaired in the past (for industrial equipment) and it was always reasonable. If you want to drop off a broken thing, have it troubleshot and get a working thing back then that costs more and you'd need an actual radio repair shop.

The chip can be bought: https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/ON-Semiconductor/NCP1871MNTXG?qs=AQlKX63v8RvHoa%252BxbC544g%3D%3D

Which board pic linked above shows this part in place?

Looks to me it's towards the right center, under the shield.

NCP1871

The chip can be seen in the photos "Transceiver Board Bottom and Transceiver Board Bottom Zoom 1" at the site above, just to the right of the upper brass colored shield (?).    You can see the number in the chip in the full photo, but not in the zoom version.  (thanks cmatcher, you posted that link while I was typing my reply)

Thanks for the link to the board on eBay.   It says "new", my only concern would be getting one that had the same issue as the one I have.  But that is certainly an option to consider, and would give me a spare if I do botch trying to solder it myself.

I was thinking about trying to find a local "ifixit" type cell phone repair, and see if they can solder that type of chip.  It doesn't have to be a ham repair place.

Thanks for the support, everyone.   I really liked this radio, and am missing having it for ISS contacts and testing an arduino-based digipeater project I was working on.  Hopefully I can get it fixed, and will be buying the desktop charger if I do.

I suspect the board on eBay is new, as it doesn't have the shields soldered on. I hadn't noticed that earlier. Probably easier to soldered those shields on than the chip itself, but still not a great option.

I like the suggestion of possibly finding a repair shop to put a new chip in for you, certainly more affordable since there is no labor of disassembly and diagnosing.

I'm just updating with the latest info I've received.

Yesterday, Kenwood told me to mail my radio to FTH Group.   I called FTH Group, and they said they don't repair Kenwoods...try United Radio.

I emailed Kenwood again, and now they emailed me back and told me to send it to United Radio in Syracuse.   However, I've emailed and called United Radio, and they are consistently telling me that they DO NOT do repairs on Kenwood amateur radios.

So...I guess if your TH-D74 (or any Kenwood amateur radio?) breaks, you're just SOL?  At least as far as a "Kenwood Authorized Repair Center" goes, which at this point, doesn't seem to mean much.   Off to try and find a general electronics repair place I guess.

Are you on Facebook?  We have a group for this radio that might shed some light.  

https://www.facebook.com/groups/538566523018128

If not, let me know and I'll ask for ya.

ETA:  I see where you already posted in the group... let's see if they help.

P.S. - I friend requested you  

Apparently Kenwood is "in transition" regarding their repair support.  The word finally trickled down to the amateur radio tech support guy I've been working with (Leo Fahmie).   He said to hold on to the radio for now, and he should know where to tell me to send it in a few days.   I'd guess it is going to be United Radio, as their customer service said they hoped to be able to do amateur radio repairs "soon".   Sounds like some sort of agreement or contract is in the works, but not finalized yet.  

What it probably means is they're going to have noob techs with no experience trying to fix radios...

This is the first I've heard of this issue.  What exactly is the issue with the radio?

Edit - it seems as this is an issue if you plug the charger directly into the radio?  I never do that - I use the drop in charger....

If you have a hot air station (remove current part, solder in new part), a magnifying glass (so you can see the pads / solder / part placement), a fine tip soldering iron (to pre-apply solder to the pads) and some 'no clean' flux (always need flux); you could repair it yourself.  Would use some kapton tape to mask off the shield and components around where you are working first.    Example:

I did watch that video earlier this week, and with some practice I might consider giving it a shot.  But for now, I think I'll leave it to a professional.

United Radio and Kenwood have both now confirmed that they are indeed able to work on amateur radios.   United Radio has been saying no all week, but finally confirmed today what Kenwood has been saying for a few days.  

I guess this service center transition all went down this week....exactly my typical luck/timing.  

Sounds incredibly frustrating. I hope everything else goes well from this point forward for you.

I have a Sparkfun 303D hot air station and have done a similar if not same part in the HackRF SDR. My advice is to get a jug of no clean flux. I flooded it with that and yea it will steam off but it makes things work so much better. I floated the part once the hot air got everything liquid and it just sort of settled in place.

Any updates?

Sorry for the frustrations.

I've heard from several Kenwood and Icom commercial dealers that they are having an extremely difficult time getting stock and repair components due to the shortages in Japan. If I am remembering correctly, this radio has also recently been discontinued in hopes they can get an alternate product as it has been estimated that Kenwood will not be able to resume production until the end of 2022.

I enjoyed my time with my D74 and I never experienced this issue. My reason for selling was I just didn't take it outside, I felt the battery with all the bells and whistles on didn't last long enough. It was fun to play around with in the shack. I hope you get the issue resolved soon. 73's