Pure Evoke 3 Major Problems

[Wildflower]

I am soooo angry i had to post .. |( |(

My £200 Evoke of 3 years old !! stopped working on Saturday. First the volume wouldnt work, then none of the keypads worked - I finally had to switch it off and it no longer works.. it flashes a initiating message and just hangs..

Why do i think this is a conspiracy..??

Pure posted a message to say they had problems on Saturday (the same day mine stopped).d

To date they have not yet responded... :silenced:

The radio has not requested me to upgrade for a while.. and i wonder if this is the problem??

Why do they get away with it?? is the radio not fit for purpose if it only lasts 3 years??

Grrrrrr

 

[DMX60fixed]

Are you about to destroy your PURE DMX-60 because it wants an upgrade? I nearly did but it's now fixed thanks to Bobetuk and his words of wisdom.

So, you've downloaded the update from the Pure website (DMX-60_2_3.exe), ran the program and it blew out.

So to fix this, shut the program down so that you are now sitting in front of your PC or laptop at the desktop, your DMX-60 is still plugged in and showing "waiting for upgrade".

Right click on "computer" or "my computer", select properties, select device manager (or find device manager, it'll be there somewhere). You will then get a window showing you all the devices on your computer. Provided you left the stereo plugged in you will see this on the list. If it has a yellow triangle or question mark showing on the icon, then that's telling you that the device hasn't installed properly and that windows needs the correct driver to make it work.

Select the device and then select "update driver" you'll then get some options, I opted to find the driver on my computer, which it did. So go install it. Once you've done that, the yellow triangle or question mark should have gone.

Go back to the Pure update program and run it again. Magic, it went through the whole process without any problem and within a few minutes I had a radio that worked, happy days.

Hope this helps.

 

[ballamannin]

Hi,

I have had my Pure Evoke 3 in a cupboard for over a year now due to this general problem. It had been fine for years then it started not to turn on and when I went to try to upgrade when it did turn on it was just waiting. I've tried now to download an upgrade, it looked like it worked according to the PC but on the radio it came up with ERROR. However it has turned on and the message has gone, will have to wait and see if the problem has ben solved. Up until recently I would have recommended Pure to anybody but my mums Evoke 2 died after just a couple of years. Now lost confidence in them which is a shame.

 

[stanharden]

Hi All,

This is my first post in any forum - so I am bound to get it wrong!

Now, last year I started buying off Ebay lots of Pure Evoke radios - some working and some faulty - this is my take on their demise.

This is my 'guess' on the problem - but it may be correct.

There is a common design block used - Silicon Frontier (whatever chips are availbale at the time) and Silicon Frontier use BGA chips which suffer from dry solder joints - especially when lead-free manufacturing came in. I believe the problem is some intermittent pins that corrupt the address to/reply back from the EEPROM. But then how does the upgrade software message appear? Well I remember repairing LAN equipment years ago and there was a protected part in the EEPROM which held the 'Bootloader program' - this program is probably initiated when the main software loops and the Watchdog Timer isn't reset. - if the bootloader is faulty or can't run or the dry joints disallow the main software to be fully loaded and functional again, then the radio will not work. If the dry joints are so bad that the software can't run then you have a dead radio. I have thought about buying a hot-air gun to reflow the BGA chip but I have limited cash funds and little experience using one. If the chip is reflowed but the boot loader is corrupted then you are not going to get the radio going. I reckon a lot of electronics landfill is due to the widspread use of the BGA chip format.

I have swapped out the Silicon Frontier module (in the Evoke 3) a couple of times and got dead units working (from radios with other faults).

Possibly someone with higher electronics knowledge than me will confirm or deny my thoughts.

A couple more ideas - electronic equipment is more reliable if kept at a constant temperature (though not too hot) - this will help reduce dry joints - this also means external heat/cold fluctuations will play a part in causing dry joints. I think that military electronics is still using leaded solder - lower melting point but more malleable.

 

[wrongsideof40]

Long story short: Try an alternative power supply. After months of the radio becoming more flakey and, eventually, not working at all, I bit the bullet and did some poking around. The power supply showed 6volts on the multimeter (correct) but on closer investigation, this collapses down to under 3 volts as the radio was going through its initialzation .

 

[trevorrwales]

I have owned a pure evoke 3 since 2008 which was a brand new unit when I purchassed it from Currys in Ashford in Kent. I have been very pleased with its performance overall.

These days It doesnt get a great deal of use I have to say. I mainly use it for the aux setting now for checking continuity of my hypnotherapy session recordings for my clients.

For the last six months I have had an annoying issue which used to only last for around five minutes before stopping and so it didnt really bother me too much. The problem is that when the radio is not in idle mode but with audio signal present there is a cyclical glitch which makes a sort of swishing/distortion sound rather like the pure evoke 3 ( at least mine ) makes when turning on from the alarm setting or from the on button.

About a fortnight ago we had thunderstorms in our area in Cornwall and even though the unit is protected by a belkin six way lightning strike surge protector I decided to not to risk problems and so unplugged the unit from the mains.

After the storm had passed I powered back up, the next thing was the unit took around ten minutes of making this swishing noise before eventually powering up. I called pure the next day to discuss with them and after trying the reset procedure was refrerred to the service company they use.

I called the service company and the chap I spoke to had no idea and said they would get someone to call back. I waited a week until today and called them back. Admitedly the guy I spoke to today was very apolagetic that no one had called me. However when I mentioned Evoke 3 there was a bit of a sigh as he explained there is no support for the unit as it is too old.

(When I was the other side of the counter in the hifi industry pre 2010, I was very aware that trading standards law of at least 2008, expects spares to be supplied for a statutory minimum of three years.)

I went on to explain the problem only to be advised that it was a known main board fault and one that was not cost effective to fix. They did however offer to give a goodwill discount of up to 50% against an alternative model. But what If i was a regular user of the SD card facility, which is not available on the nearest repalcement model Evoke 2s where would that leave me?

I am very disapointed having invested in a quality product only to find that when it needs attention I am informed that there is no support offered any longer. Six years isnt exctly very old and what I am left with now is a highly irritating swishing or pulsing sound which now appears to be permanent and makes the unit virtually useless.

Before deciding to complain i decided to do some research and what I have found is numerous complaints of this model appearing to have a series of inbuilt design problems and I think Pure should offer more than just a compensation gesture of up to 50% as generous as that seems.

If pure know that there is an inherent design fault that should be put right at no cost to cleints. I know some people will say there needs to be a sense of realism that I have had alsmost six years of reliable service from the unit , but it is very evident to me that from the large number of on line complaints that there was some sort of inherent fault in this otherwise excellent unit.

The discount scheme sounds to me like a get out of jail free card knowing that most customers will simply agree. I happen to like my radio and have looked after it very well since the original purchase date.I would really like it repaired and not replaced and anyway without looking how can one be certain it is a main board fault. It might actually not be as extreeme as a main board fault.

Has any one else experienced this issue and if you have were you able to resolve it and how please?

 

[ja8872ybea]

I came to this thread from a Google search, since our Pure Evoke 3 (January 2008 vintage) has started playing up. Firstly the backlight remained on when it was in standby (it was set to go off), and there was regular sound distortion when it was playing, and then it refused to turn on, and if disconnected from the mains, would take a long time to start, cycling through the Pure logo with a regular loud noise through the speaker during the process.

I tried a full reset (hold Menu button for 5 seconds), but this did not solve anything. I tried reinstalling the software, but this ended in an Error message. I then dug through my collection of orphan power supplies until I found a 12v 1.8w model which fitted the radio (I knew I kept them all for a good reason). Success! The radio started up, sound-effects had gone, and the blacklight went off when in standby. I have now ordered a proper 12v/2A replacement power supply from Amazon: there are a few there which get good reviews.

Fingers crossed it will last a few more years.

 

[ja8872ybea]

A couple of weeks on, it seems that the replacement power supply has done the trick and the radio is working perfectly again. £10 from Amazon, which is a lot cheaper than the Pure original power supply and it is less bulky.

 

[fmdist]

Dear all,

Would anyone be able to help? This Evoke-3 radio was working fine. Now however it is totally unresponsive. I presume it downloads any necessary software upgrade wirelessly. It indicates 'Press any key to cancel' but neither the radio itself nor the remote control have any effect. I guess this radio needs to be thrown into the bin. It was working alright but now it seems that it was a complete waste of money. If there is any way to recover it, I would very much appreciate knowing how.

Thanks.

 

[PaulG]

My Evoke Flow recently went intermittent then failed. I mainly use mine on the battery and repeatedly plugging the power connector in and out to charge it caused the internal connection between the power socket and the PCB to fracture. A quick dab with a soldering iron fixed the fault in seconds - once I'd worked out what was going on. I also soldered a wire link from the power connector pin to the leg of an adjacent capacitor so that should the PCB fail again, the wire link would maintain power to the radio. Full operation fully restored.

 

[polyposh]

I also had the same problem as others have said in this post.

My mothers radio stopped working totally, I thought it was the power lead as she tends to unplug it every night but 12v was coming out of it no problem.

Contacted Pure and they wanted £60 to investigate, and if it can't be fixed replace with a reconditioned unit. Not an excessive amount of money however not the sort of reply I expected especially as it appears that this fault is really common amonst others who own this unit and should be pointed out to consumers as a possible 5 minute fix. Anybody with a philips or pozi screwdriver and half a brain cell could attempt this especially as it was out of warranty anyway.

I removed the 6 screws, reseated all the connectors and hey presto it's working fine now!!

Great radio, poor information from supplier

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_1216149875084162]

Yes my radio is about 3 years old and just last week stopped working as an internet radio can only get DAB. nothing wrong with my Wi Fi just will not link up. Everything else in the house is still working.

Contacted Pure help line 8 times no reply.

These radios are not cheep and I will not be buying another Pure product.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Yes my radio is about 3 years old and just last week stopped working as an internet radio can only get DAB. nothing wrong with my Wi Fi just will not link up. Everything else in the house is still working.

Contacted Pure help line 8 times no reply.

These radios are not cheep and I will not be buying another Pure product.

Another unhappy customer! What a surprise.

 

[tigertot]

Hi i seem to be having the same problem with the dead Evoke 3.

I am taking Pure to small claims court as i have read of plenty of people with this model all over the Internet.

How Pure are fobbing people off with this model is just not on for a £200 radio.

If anyone could help in anyway or offer support would be helpful.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

More problems here:

https://www.avforums.com/threads/pure-evoke-3-major-problems.1215016/

 

[Deleted member 2457]

Hi i seem to be having the same problem with the dead Evoke 3.

I am taking Pure to small claims court as i have read of plenty of people with this model all over the Internet.

How Pure are fobbing people off with this model is just not on for a £200 radio.

If anyone could help in anyway or offer support would be helpful.

Good on you mate, it's about time someone did, I have said Pure is crap for years!

 

[hybridauth_Google_105535126626823702635]

I have 2 of these sets, both stopped working within a week, refusing to power on. Pure offered £60 reconditioned set as they have no parts to mend these, but the best set available I can buy new for £55!

A shame as I loved this radio