Disassembled and repaired a SRAM AXS Front Derailleur

[inertianinja]

PICS: https://imgur.com/a/H2wjTBf

About a week ago, I had my Red AXS front derailleur die on me. One of the pogo pins stopped popping out - I guess the spring broke - so the connection was intermittent. Apparently a known issue, according to google.

I tried to get SRAM to look at it, as it was just 3 months out of warranty. SRAM won't allow you to file warranty claims directly, Factor said I had to go through a bike shop, I went through the bike shop they directed me to - they graciously agreed to send SRAM an email, but a week passed with no further response.

I googled like crazy, even looking for FTC filings trying to find info on how to service this part - no luck. Since it was basically dead, I just decided to send it. Figured I'd post the details here, so it exists SOMEWHERE, for others to find it.


Details:
The electronics and gears are housed in the top section, connected to the lower joints & cage by two Torx screws (I think T10), but you also have to remove the upper outboard joint. The joint is held in via a small c-clip (note the black washer directly next to it), then the pin can be worked out towards the front of the FD. Once the pin is out, the joint can be worked apart. When it comes apart, you'll see a spring for the upper limit screw, a plastic sleeve inside the spring, and a plastic L-shaped bracket for the lower limit screw.

Once you have the top section separated from the cage assembly, there are four T6 Torx screws holding the electronics section together. It comes apart easily in halves. One is hard to reach - I found the ideal tool was an old Boa dial driver, I just removed some material to make it able to reach in far enough to grab the screw.

The electronics and motor assembly then pops out of the housing. The rear PCB has a power connection (use a spludger to pop it up and off) and a flex cable going to the other PCB (disconnect it from the other PCB by flipping the small black tab up). There's also a little rubber grommet around the pogo pins that slides off.

From there, it was just a matter of de-soldering the old pogo pins and soldering on new ones. I had bought a set of pins online that others said were correct (6mm) - weirdly the base was the same height but the upper section was a bit taller (I bought these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FQ5HJBP). I put them on anyway and it works.

From there, just re-assemble in reverse order (I put a tiny amount of free hub grease on the gears, we'll see if that ends up being a mistake). Note that the flex cable has a little flap that goes OVER the connector when re-assembling, and make sure to lock down the black tab (see pic).

Right now it's back on the bike and seems to be working fine.

**Bonus:** you can harvest pogo pins from the battery chargers. These are actually not hard to disassemble - there's a hidden screw under the sticker on the bottom.

[killerrabbit]

Thanks for sharing, I'm sure someone else will benefit.