Amplifier broke completely after being repaired.

[Michaelholder1]

I recently brought my Rotel Ra-1060 which had a minor intermittent distortion problem to a repair shop. The problem had been there for about a year off and on and as it was mostly un-noticeable I had left it but as I had wanted to sell the amp I decided to go get it fixed. When I brought the amp home I realised the previous problem was still there. Worse still, the next time I turned the amp on it went straight into circuit protection mode and wouldnt turn on. I brought the amp back to the shop for him to sort it out. He came back and told me it was a processor fault and nothing could be done offering not even a refund on my repair. Regrettably at the time I didnt kick up too much of a fuss and begrudgingly took the amp home to research the matter a bit more. The reason I hadn't kicked up too much of a fuss was as I wasnt sure what my rights were and if I could say without a doubt this was his fault. But it seems unlikely that it could be mere coincidence the amp breaks catastrophically straight after I had it repaired? It seems to me maybe he messed something up in the repair caused maybe some sort of short perhaps?

Was just hoping someone could shed some light on the situation for me. Thanks, Michael!

 

[Andrewjvt]

I recently brought my Rotel Ra-1060 which had a minor intermittent distortion problem to a repair shop. The problem had been there for about a year off and on and as it was mostly un-noticeable I had left it but as I had wanted to sell the amp I decided to go get it fixed. When I brought the amp home I realised the previous problem was still there. Worse still, the next time I turned the amp on it went straight into circuit protection mode and wouldnt turn on. I brought the amp back to the shop for him to sort it out. He came back and told me it was a processor fault and nothing could be done offering not even a refund on my repair. Regrettably at the time I didnt kick up too much of a fuss and begrudgingly took the amp home to research the matter a bit more. The reason I hadn't kicked up too much of a fuss was as I wasnt sure what my rights were and if I could say without a doubt this was his fault. But it seems unlikely that it could be mere coincidence the amp breaks catastrophically straight after I had it repaired? It seems to me maybe he messed something up in the repair caused maybe some sort of short perhaps?

Was just hoping someone could shed some light on the situation for me. Thanks, Michael!

Take the amp and throw it at his shop window

 

[BigH]

Seems quite an old amp? Think the best you can get is a refund of the repair money. Proving that the amp. was broken whilst under repair may be tricky. Best to write to the repairer and state you are not happy with the repair as it did not fix the problem and ask politely for a full refund, see what they say.

 

[Vladimir]

No such thing in the service manual parts list.

 

[Al ears]

I was thinking that it's not a computer. The man has a duty of care for anything he takes in to repair and if he does more damage than good then you should be able to sue for damages.

 

[Vladimir]

I was thinking that it's not a computer. The man has a duty of care for anything he takes in to repair and if he does more damage than good then you should be able to sue for damages.

It's an all discrete circuit integrated amp with just 2 simple ICs.

Processor... what a joke. At least he didn't say it was the flux capacitor in the time machine module. Those are unobtanium, at least in this quadrant.

It's probably just a cold solder joint and he wasn't bothered to chase it. Just took the money and lied.

 

[philpot1001]

name and shame the repair company? i for one would be interested to know which companies to avoid when seeking repairs

 

[Numbed]

I had a similar situation with a repair, but a better outcome.

A few years ago, my much loved old Marantz CD63SE, after about 12 or 13 years of faithful and regular service, started being temperamental about recognising a CD in the tray (would more often than not just display No Disc). After reading up, decided the transport must have packed up and, since I'm not much use with a soldering iron etc, and didn't fancy shelling out several hundred £'s on a new CD player of similar quality, decided to try and get it repaired. Went to Richer Sounds, from where I'd originally bought it, and they agreed to send it off for evaluation. A week or so later, got a detailed quote to swap the transport, for £95. Gulp! That was a bit steeper than I was expecting, but I thought, what the hell, hopefully I'll end up with a CD player I'm very happy with for another 12 or 13 years.

Anyway, after several weeks backwards and forwards, and the transport being replaced twice, it still had the same issue. RS informed me after more investigation that the fault lay eslewhere, and they couldn't get parts. So that was the end of that, EXCEPT that RS not only refunded me the £95, but gave me £10 out of the till to cover my expenses, parking etc. Top store!

So, what's the moral of this? Well, if you're going to get something repaired, make sure it's somewhere reputable, even if a bit pricey.

PS - I have no connection other than as a customer with Richer Sounds!

PPS - I sold the CD63SE on Gumtree, making it clear about the fault. Got £15 for it from someone who just wanted the remote! I've been using an old Toshiba DVD player ever since which is surprisingly not bad at all, considering it was much cheaper than the Marantz and designed primarily for something else.

 

[eggontoast]

It's an all discrete circuit integrated amp with just 2 simple ICs.

Processor... what a joke. At least he didn't say it was the flux capacitor in the time machine module. Those are unobtanium, at least in this quadrant.

It's probably just a cold solder joint and he wasn't bothered to chase it. Just took the money and lied.

He was probably referring to the microcontroller which would be a PITA to source if faulty.

name and shame the repair company? i for one would be interested to know which companies to avoid when seeking repairs

Easy tiger, you don't know all the facts yet, just one side of the story.

To the OP, what did he repair originally, he must have given you an itemised bill detailing what was replaced or repaired to eliminate the distortion. Also It worked for a certain amount of time so it was unlikely that he caused the protection fault. Did he look at the amplifier the second time to diagnose a faulty microcontroller ?

 

[Vladimir]

It's an all discrete circuit integrated amp with just 2 simple ICs.

Processor... what a joke. At least he didn't say it was the flux capacitor in the time machine module. Those are unobtanium, at least in this quadrant.

It's probably just a cold solder joint and he wasn't bothered to chase it. Just took the money and lied.

He was probably referring to the microcontroller which would be a PITA to source if faulty.

name and shame the repair company? i for one would be interested to know which companies to avoid when seeking repairs

Easy tiger, you don't know all the facts yet, just one side of the story.

To the OP, what did he repair originally, he must have given you an itemised bill detailing what was replaced or repaired to eliminate the distortion. Also It worked for a certain amount of time so it was unlikely that he caused the protection fault. Did he look at the amplifier the second time to diagnose a faulty microcontroller ?

This is the Toshiba 4-bit microcontroller IC: TMP47C400BN-1A57. Same one used in the Rotel 1062. It should be replaced instead of ditching the whole amp.

 

[eggontoast]

This is the Toshiba 4-bit microcontroller IC: TMP47C400BN-1A57. Same one used in the Rotel 1062. It should be replaced instead of ditching the whole amp.

Well done, you can use Google.

I agree, it should be replaced if you can find one. I'm guessing the repairer can't be bothered to look for one. The OP needs to get a second opinion on the fault though; I would think that something else is probably causing the protection fault. This would also give him more grounds to go back to the original repairer.

 

[Vladimir]

This is the Toshiba 4-bit microcontroller IC: TMP47C400BN-1A57. Same one used in the Rotel 1062. It should be replaced instead of ditching the whole amp.

Well done, you can use Google.

I agree, it should be replaced if you can find one. I'm guessing the repairer can't be bothered to look for one. The OP needs to get a second opinion on the fault though; I would think that something else is probably causing the fault. This would also give him more grounds to go back to the original repairer.

Good old HiFi Engine. Never leave home without it.

 

[chebby]

Well done, you can use Google.

You can reel off all the different components found in every single amplifier from memory?

 

[philpot1001]

It's an all discrete circuit integrated amp with just 2 simple ICs.

Processor... what a joke. At least he didn't say it was the flux capacitor in the time machine module. Those are unobtanium, at least in this quadrant.

It's probably just a cold solder joint and he wasn't bothered to chase it. Just took the money and lied.

He was probably referring to the microcontroller which would be a PITA to source if faulty.

name and shame the repair company? i for one would be interested to know which companies to avoid when seeking repairs

Easy tiger, you don't know all the facts yet, just one side of the story.

fair comment

 

[Jota180]

A bit late for the OP but if I ever take something in to get repaired I want to see it up and running before taking it home. I also enquire about what kind of guarantees the person gives with his repairs.

 

[drummerman]

I don't know what the guy charged but it just shows that repairers should be chosen with care.

Cyrus charge something in the region of £200 to £250 for a out of warranty repair. This complete service includes amongst other things replacing any components that fall outside tolerances, a complete check-up, a 12 hour soak test, clean, re-packaging.

The unit has to perform to the same specification as when new and will be given a 6 months guarantee.

Whilst the cost may seem high you have in essence a good as new product at a fraction of the price and which still costs less than a second hand buy of an identical unit.

Choose your repairer with care. There are some good independent ones, often recommended/endorsed by publications such as HifiNews and HifiWorld but the likelyhood is they wont be cheap.

A decent technician will likely charge anywhere betweet £35 and £50 an hour plus parts. - Testing, repair and testing again will probably take somewhere between 2 and 3 hours, more in complex cases. Ask for an estimate after the initial test if what you have is not worth a lot of money.

Even a very 'small' repair will probably cost £100 to £150 if you want a warranty with it (which a reputable repairer will give).

Any less any you probably take a risk.

For an old component which is not worth a lot of dosh you could always try and self teach fault finding, buy a meter and solder iron and use it as a baby project.

Or you could just buy Bryston which come with 20 years warranty.

 

[Michaelholder1]

Thanks for all the responses! I assumed when he said processor he meant a microprocessor inside. I would have thought anything which processes inputs and gives outputs, such as from a remote, needs one but my electronics knowledge is very limited. He kept saying it was 'completely locked out', the original repair he said was a simple switching problem. In all fairness, my understanding of microprocessors is that you need to program them so would you be able to just replace them?

It did work when I got it back in fairness thats true, but I only used it once, then it wouldnt turn on the second time. Even then, the first time I used it the original fault hadnt even been fixed. I also had an Arcam alpha 7r repaired at the same time, the amp 100% had the same problem as well when I took it back, although this time it was intermittent. I took them both back to the shop, he assured me he'd tried it everyday and not seen a fault and it must have been somwhere else in my system. I havent used Arcam yet so I am yet to discover if its working this time.

Im not going to name and shame him yet as I wanted to get some advice before contacting him just to make sure other people agreed it there was some professional negligence involved. Also, if I point him in the direction of this thread he can understand the consequences if I do name and shame, as although his repair shop is only local is website is national.

 

[eggontoast]

I also had an Arcam alpha 7r repaired at the same time, the amp 100% had the same problem as well when I took it back, although this time it was intermittent. I took them both back to the shop, he assured me he'd tried it everyday and not seen a fault and it must have been somwhere else in my system. I havent used Arcam yet so I am yet to discover if its working this time.

Just out of interest, what fault does the Alpha 7r have ?

 

[Michaelholder1]

The right channel was weirdly crackely. Har to explain really. The pre-amp worked. The guy said it was a switching problem as well. Although the problems did both sound very different.