Portable Dental X-Ray Repair: How It Works, Cost & Turnaround

Repair at XRD is a mail-in service built around a simple RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization) workflow. There is no dealer intermediary and no third-party depot: the unit you ship is diagnosed and repaired on one bench, by the team that answers your emails.

1. Submit a service request. Fill out the repair form on our Repair & Service page with your equipment details and a description of the problem. You'll receive an RMA number and shipping instructions by email.
2. Ship your unit. Send the unit via UPS or FedEx from anywhere in the U.S. to our facility in Clermont, FL. For warranty repairs, a prepaid shipping label is provided.
3. Diagnosis and estimate. A certified technician runs a full diagnostic to identify the root cause — not just the symptom. You receive a written estimate, free and with no obligation.
4. Approval, repair, and calibration. Once you approve the estimate, the repair is performed with genuine manufacturer parts and the unit is restored to original specifications.
5. Return shipping. Your unit ships back to you, typically within a few business days of completion — back in your hands, working like new.

Nothing is repaired without your approval. If you decide not to proceed after the diagnosis, you owe nothing for the estimate itself.

The honest answer: it depends on what the diagnostic finds, which is exactly why XRD starts every repair with a free diagnostic estimate rather than a flat menu price. A handheld X-ray is a compact high-voltage generator, a battery system, control electronics, and a display living in one housing. A unit that won't power on might need a battery pack — or a control board. An exposure fault might be a switch — or the generator. Quoting before diagnosis would mean guessing, and guessing in either direction is bad for the practice.

What you can count on with XRD's model:

• The diagnostic estimate is free and carries no obligation to proceed.
• You approve the written estimate before any work begins — no surprise invoices.
• Genuine manufacturer parts only, so a repair doesn't create the next failure.
• Root-cause repair, not symptom patching: the diagnostic identifies why the unit failed, not just what stopped working.

Repairs covered under warranty follow the same workflow with the added benefit of prepaid shipping. If your unit is an XRD 70 under an active plan, see the warranty page for what's included.

Turnaround is where the service model matters more than any spec sheet. When repair is routed through a dealer network, the clock runs through several hands: the rep who logs the case, the service department that books it, the depot that receives it, and the reverse path home. Each handoff adds days.

XRD's repair bench is in-house in Clermont, Florida — the same facility that handles diagnostics, parts, and return shipping. Most repairs are completed in days, not weeks, and once a repair is finished your unit is typically on its way back within a few business days. The practical difference for a practice is measured in appointments kept.

If downtime is the risk your practice can least afford, the XRD Care Club (Florida only) includes a loaner unit during service on covered equipment, so the operatory never goes dark while your unit is on the bench.

XRD's repair service covers a specific, named set of portable and handheld X-ray equipment:

• XRD 70 — full in-house repair and calibration for XRD's own portable X-ray units.
• Digimed portable X-ray line — XRD Dental Equipment is the U.S. Authorized Service Center for Digimed (South Korea), covering the Minix S, Minix V, Diox, Prox, Hybrid 70, Biox, and xray2go.
• Digital Doc XTG — authorized repair and diagnostic service for XTG handheld X-ray generators.

For a closer look at what's serviced on each of these, see our dedicated guide to handheld X-ray repair by brand. And if you're searching for a repair shop near your practice, our article on X-ray machine repair near me explains how nationwide mail-in service works from our Florida bench.

Portable X-rays live a harder life than wall-mounted units: they're carried, handed off, set down, charged daily, and occasionally dropped. The failures we see on the bench fall into a few recurring families:

• Battery and charging issues. The most common category by far. A unit that won't hold a charge, shuts down mid-session, or won't power on at all often traces back to the battery system — and sometimes to the charger rather than the unit itself.
• Exposure faults. The unit powers on but won't fire, fires inconsistently, or throws an error at the moment of exposure. The cause can range from a worn exposure switch to a control-board or generator fault — which is why the diagnostic matters before anyone quotes a number.
• Display and error conditions. Error codes, dead or garbled displays, and units stuck at boot. Frequently electronic, sometimes just a connector.
• Drop damage. Cracked housings and the internal consequences of an impact. After a drop, a professional inspection is worthwhile even if the unit seems to work — a radiation-emitting device should be verified, not assumed, to be intact.
• Calibration drift. Images gradually getting lighter, darker, or less consistent. The unit "works," but not to specification — and specification is the whole point.

Every one of these arrives at the same front door: the RMA form, the free diagnostic, and a written estimate before any work begins.

Because the diagnostic estimate is free, you never have to make the repair-or-replace decision blind. A good rule of thumb: if a unit is mechanically sound and the failure is a wear component — battery, switch, display — repair is usually the economical path. If the diagnostic reveals damage that approaches the value of the unit, the estimate gives you that answer honestly, and you can weigh a repair against a new XRD 70 with current warranty coverage. Either way, the decision is made with a technician's findings in front of you, not a guess.

One more habit that saves money: routine care. Our guide on maintaining your portable dental X-ray covers battery care, cleaning, and storage practices that prevent a good share of the failures we see.

How much does portable dental X-ray repair cost?

The diagnostic estimate is free with no obligation. Because cost depends entirely on what the diagnosis finds — a battery pack, a control board, a generator fault, or simple recalibration are very different jobs — XRD quotes each unit individually after a full diagnostic. You approve the written estimate before any repair work begins.

How long does a portable dental X-ray repair take?

Most repairs at XRD are completed in days, not weeks. Diagnosis begins when the unit arrives in Clermont, FL, and after you approve the estimate the repaired unit is typically shipped back within a few business days.

Do I have to ship my X-ray unit for repair?

Yes. Repair is mail-in: submit a service request, receive an RMA number and shipping instructions by email, then send the unit via UPS or FedEx from anywhere in the U.S. For warranty repairs, a prepaid shipping label is provided.

Does XRD use genuine replacement parts?

Yes. XRD uses genuine manufacturer parts — no generic substitutes — so the unit is restored to original manufacturer specifications and calibrated before it ships back.

Which portable X-ray units does XRD repair?

XRD services the XRD 70, the full Digimed portable line (Minix S, Minix V, Diox, Prox, Hybrid 70, Biox, and xray2go) as the U.S. Authorized Service Center for Digimed, and Digital Doc XTG handheld X-ray generators.