# Equipment failures...Getting acquainted with the service dept.



## Ricci (May 23, 2007)

I'm a little frustrated at my apparent bad luck with equipment lately. I seem to *always* have something out for repair. One system or another is always in an incomplete or compromised state due to some piece of equipment or another. Does anyone else feel like this or have these sorts of problems? Is it just me? 

Now I'd like to add that I'm a bargain shopper so I buy a lot of used items or sometimes factory B stock, or refurbished equipment, so some occasional failure or malfunction would be expected, but sometimes it seems that I can't get a break. Some items are bulletproof and simply work without fail. 

Here's an example of what I've had to deal with getting serviced in the last 2 years. 

RE Audio XXX 18d2. 
UPS delivered it to me in such a state that the wooden shipping container was completely destroyed. Screws from the enclosure had attached to the vc's and had scrapped and gouged the vc's up. Additionally the driver had a knock to it. Someone I live with signed for it, so I had to ship it back and get it reconed out of pocket. A few months after this I ordered a 2nd driver that was listed as "new" off of ebay and when I recieved it the crate was broken and there were watermarks and rust on the motor. This one also had a discolored coils, a knock at high excursion and mounting marks. I had to ship it back to RE Audio but everything was paid for by the seller at least. *REPAIRED*

I had one of my Crest 8002's blow it's output stage due to a power surge during a thunder storm. The amp was off at the time. *REPAIRED*

One of my AEtechron 7560 amplifiers developed a problem and now only produces noise and static. I'm not currently using these and at 21 years old and 92lbs they are really expensive/difficult to ship, so I've not had this repaired yet. Later:sad:

A used Behringer B2031A got shipped to me and arrived with the torroid floating around in the amp case. Fixed, paid for by seller. *REPAIRED*

Ordered a Presonus Firestudio 26x26 recording interface. It had a blown firewire card. It was replaced with a new one under warranty. *REPAIRED*

Presonus Digimax FS. This arrived with the power supply pushed into and floating around inside the chassis. It was replaced under warranty.*REPAIRED*

Ordered a pair of B&C 21SW152's and recieved 8ohm models. 8ohm was not even listed on B&C's site and I could find no information on them at all on the web. 4 ohm was listed on the seller's site and is what was needed. Shipped them back to the seller and got a refund minus shipping after 3 weeks. Bought 2 of the 4ohm version from PE. *REPAIRED*

My Onkyo 886p purchased factory refurbished from Accessories4less developed a problem with the video controller and would not pass any video at all. Off it has went to an authorized Onkyo electronics repair facility under warranty.

Onkyo 806tx also factory refurbished from Accessories4less developed the exact same problem as the 886P except with the audio not the video! It will not even output the internal pink noise for speaker calibration. Other times it would fire right up after cycling it off and on a few times. I sent this out under warranty May 6th. I just recieved correspondance from the service center a few days ago that it could be up to 3 more weeks until the parts get in. :rant:

QSC PL9.0PFC (CBA9000)
A pair were purchased used from a large sound co that was switching. Amps have known history of sketchy reliability. Figured "Hey what have I got to lose?" "My use will be much less strenuous on the amps they should be ok." Fast forward 6-8months and watching WOTW's at about -3 from reference and one of the amps goes into protect with a blown power supply. Off it goes to QSC. It comes back at the end of January. Works fine after that until last Friday when I powered it up ch2 was in protect. It had worked just fine the night before and hadn't been pushed hard in a few weeks. This is the same one that was repaired 6 months ago. I sent it back to QSC Saturday morning. :crying: The other one has been rock solid the entire time. *REPAIRED*

As of right now I'm missing my reciever from my main HT system. Right now I have 2.1 in there with a $200 Pioneer reciever out of my bedroom system. I have to choose between HD video and having surround sound (don't ask) so I chose HD because SD looks horrible on a 73" screen. 

Sorry...Rant over. 

Anybody had similar experiences? Share it here.


----------



## goyop (May 4, 2010)

Sounds like a string of bad luck even though as you admitted, you are not buying new equipment. Sometimes when you flip a coin it can come up the same way several times in a row. The more you flip it the more it evens out. Obviously, buying new gear greatly reduces the chances of some of your frustrations but where is the fun in that?

Being a consummate bargain hunter also, and having worked in pro sound for a while that is just the way it goes. My first amp was a Crown 300 that I knew had been around the block many times. It worked great for a while and then it sent DC current to my "new" show discounted 15" full range box. Lots of smoke. Luckily I had a new QSC as backup on me at the time. So I had one speaker under warranty to return and the crown needed fixed. I fixed the output and sold it. I later sold the QSC to a friend and a month later one side fried. So in these heavy duty amps it is assumed they will eventually blow a tire. But they are made to be repaired and used forever.

I have tons of re-purposed used gear but for my main AV/TV setup, other than a used EQ which I can bypass if needed, I stick with "new" equipment. However, I never pay retail for anything. I am going to be adding a factory reconditioned Onkyo receiver from the same place you used. I figure it was fixed and had to endure some sort of burn in before going back out. Most devices fail immediately if they are faulty and then you shouldn't have a problem until much more time has passed and wear and tear from heat. Also, I have never had a consumer power amp go bad in 30 years as long as it was used in a home setting. 

Probably like you, I take pride in my awesome sounding system and knowing how much I didn't pay for it.

Good luck


----------



## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

I have to say that i've been lucky, only setback i've had was a bad surround on one of my paradigm 11s, i called my dealer and had a new one in 3 days.


----------



## videobruce (Jul 11, 2010)

1. Get the service manual.
You might even be able to get it for free. Even if you have to pay, it's more than a worthwhile investment, especially for a big ticket item.


----------



## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Wow Josh, thats quite the run of issues!
So far the only two issues I have had with electronic equipment were with UPS and them damaging them. One was an Amiga Computer system that I got for a great price two years ago and the second was a studio grade VTR that was dropped so hard that it bent the frame and the entire front panel was smashed.


----------



## Ricci (May 23, 2007)

Yeah....I probably go through a lot more equipment than the average Joe though. Out of that huge list above everything has been repaired except for my 7560, my Onkyo 806 reciever and my 886p.

I currently am still waiting on my 806tx to be fixed. It has been out since May 6th. Nearly 10 weeks now. I keep getting updates stating that the parts are on order. I've been told that they are "due Friday" on 2 occasions now. So far I'm not real happy with Onkyo's 3rd party service in my area. I figure if it goes over 12 weeks I'm going to start seeing if I can get some other resolution from Onkyo. If Onkyo's service provider can't repair the thing or they can't get the parts in a 1/4 of a year then Onkyo should replace my reciever with another of the same model and keep my original as far as I'm concerned. 

On the other hand QSC's service has been exceptional. The PL9.0 took less than 3 weeks total turn around to get repaired this time :sarcastic: and they are in Cali. I did have it develop a hideously loud fan noise when I fired it back up, but after taking the cover off it was discovered that there was a cable zip tie end that had slipped in the path of the fan blades of 1 of the 4 fans. Easily fixed.


----------



## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Thats good Of QSC to have that kind of service More companies need to do this.
I had a great experience with a company called Newtek, They make a really good video editing hardware system along with software and a 3D rendering program called Lightwave. Anyhow they have been around for over 20 years and I still have one of there first video editing systems that runs on the Amiga computing platform. one of the two boards developed a problem about 4 years ago and I contacted them about it and they said that they still have me on record as the original owner and that they will fix it free of charge now remember this is over 15 years ago that I bought it. I sent it to them and within two weeks I had it back (they even payed for shipping) and its still working today.
Now thats service!


----------



## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

We have an entire area devoted to Service and Support, including a Manufacturer and Vendor Reference Information forum. Please post your experiences, good and bad, in the thread for the appropriate manufacturer. If we don't have a thread we can start one. If you have additional contact information that is not included we can add that as well. We have the resources there, so lets use them to help others when they have an issue.

If you use a service centrer that you are happy with suggest that they create a vendor entry in the 
vendor listings. The listing is free and we will start a forum thread for them as well. If you have problems with a servicer or manufacturer, post the facts in their thread. Fact are useful. Ranting is, of course, not allowed.

If you have trouble getting things done, contact me directly. I have lots of contacts and resources and I know how to talk to servicers and manufacturers and how to massage the system to get better results if it is possible.


----------



## Ricci (May 23, 2007)

Called it... My 806 reciever had to be sent to Onkyo for repair or replacement. I haven't heard anything from them yet. Must've been bad.


----------



## lcaillo (May 2, 2006)

Tell us the details. Where did you have to send it? What was your experience through the process? Post your story and the outcome in the Onkyo thread.


----------



## Ricci (May 23, 2007)

Will do... When I finally get it back.


----------

