Motorola Mototrbo XPR7550 Rehousing - Complete Tutorial - Talkwave Communications, LLC 

You're very welcome! I hope it will be.

Thank you! :)

Thanks for the info and the kind words Faustino! Paying $260 for a simple tool that will most-likely break in a year of use is absolutely insane. I WANTED to go that route, but a dealer said it was really, really expensive. I'm sure the tool cost Motorola about 25 cents MAX to produce. Motorola rips off people so badly, I can see why many departments are switching to Harris, Kenwood or Thales. APX radios require spanner wrenches (yes, two) and the cost comes close to $500.00. Motorola should be ashamed of themselves.

Thank ya! :)

Thanks for the compliments! 7550's are nice radios, but I hate the entire Mototrbo line. They are just not rugged enough (in my opinion), to stand up to constant use without getting beat up fast. They do work REALLY well in manufacturing and business fields and DMR Digital and Bluetooth are very nice. I like the features, I just can't get past how quickly they show wear. The first thing a buyer of any Motorola radio should do is to cut out an iphone screen protector and apply it to the window of all LCD's to protect them, that is if they want the radio to stay looking nice. It's cheap and easy enough to do. Motorola certainly COULD make them easier to field service but they count on repeat business and having the customer pay through the nose for the work done at their Depot. The APX line seems to be well-designed and so are the 5000's. 5000's are very simple to work on. 2500's are great radios too, but they certainly could have done better on their design. Take care too Dave! :)

I agree the XPR's seem to be more business radio's than rugged public safety. A town near me actually uses XPR6550's on DMR which is really interesting because I have seen 6550's that have been to heck and back and I always wonder what in the world people do to get them that way! The 6550's have a bit of an interesting design as well because the speaker is on the bottom and so is the mic. People are usually used to top speaker and mic but personally I like it! You could beat the living cr*p out of APX radio's and they would perform flawlessly! I would have to spend half of my life savings on one of those damn things though lol. I would really like to get an xts5000 however I am waiting on a good deal because ~$600 is a bit too out of my price range.

You need to install a new battery terminal. There is no other alternative that I can think of.

Nope

Engraving on the inside of a housing, I'd never have a problem with. I just detest people who take a perfectly good new radio and paint on them and engrave them. There are just so many better ways to ensure that identifications can be made. A UV pen and light is ideal if they must do anything to them. What they should do is stress the importance of the employees who use the radios to keep track of them and use them responsibly and not lose them. Many radios have frequencies to agencies and encryption keys loaded in them. The agencies or companies get them and just don't really care, or so it seems.

UHF Stubby for XPR7500 series radios. I don't have the part number. They came with the radios. You can pick them up online for around 14 or 15 bucks plus shipping. I also have three whip antennas for these units that cover the entire UHF frequency range.

Okay thanks..My last question what is a great extended battery for the XTS 5000 UHF |||?

OEM Motorola Impres lithium-Ion high capacity battery. Kit Number: NNTN6034A

Thank you!

I've been told for about a year that a Mototrbo tool is available from Motorola for the 7550, but I've also been told that they break easily and are way too expensive. Each model of Motorola radios take a different disassembly tool. The problem with them is that (if the detachment is on the bottom), repeated exposure to high heat or "slam down" types of abuse, can create indention's in the plastic lower housing of the case, thereby rendering the tool useless without a VERY CAREFUL pry of a screwdriver (if you're planning on reusing it; most folks and in my case, do not intend on reusing a ratty housing with possible cracked PTT buttons). Additionally, the same applies to a cracked bottom. Price the case disassembly and head disassembly tools Motorola currently sells for APX radios. They cost around $450.00 and require two tools for the nuts on the head. You HAVE to use them. Zero damage was done to the old housings I've removed from 7550's. You just have to know the technique and have patience and feel for what you are doing. I am always against using screwdrivers in radio case disassembly, but sometimes, you simply have to. Motorola is taking you for everything they can on the prices of simple tools. They would rather you send it into the depot, which is around a $400.00 drop-on-counter fee, PLUS return shipping fee, not to mention the service costs. If you are under warranty, you're fine, but Motorola charges LOTS of $$$$$$$$ for extended warranties and they are limited in most, if not all cases. Their original warranty is pitifully short. Also, they tend to keep your radio for a really LOOOONNNGGGG time due to radios they received before yours.