Hypex module reliability (UCD)

Got an bass amplifier (Hartke), power with an UCD400. I put to the "external input" an iphone. Unfortunately, the 3.5mm cable was not very reliable, and my input volume was high. I heards 3/4 big "cracks" and the amp suddently powered off. No fuse hangs. I disconnected power supply to the UCD amp, and left it connected to other modules (preamp, tube preamp, etc..) and power went back illuminating front plate.
It appears the UCD hangs and seems to be in short circuit.

It"s an UCD400 OEM module. Since i'm not an expert for repairing a class D amp, i started to source an UCD OEM to buy it. Ileft a message to Hypex and they don't want to sell anymore their oem modules to individuals...

Conclusion :
1/ The amp should be protected to overpower/over current, especially when used in conjunction with e associatied Hypex Switching power supply ans OEM solution.
2/ What a pity not to be able to buy a spare module to change it. My 600€ bass amplifier is unusable because of their stupid strategy....

Maybe another fellow user could idicate me whet to buy an OCD400 OEM module?

Cheers from france.
Ewidance
 
to me, reliability is not great.
frist the SMPS from them stop working after 6 months, that is used to power the UcD180
than my FA503 also stop working after 1 year and had to send by for warranty repair.
Now one of my UcD180 gone up in smoke.

very disappointing.
although their support is fast and responsive.
 
I’ve had a pair of NC400 monoblocks for years now, built almost as soon as the modules were available to me. One failed maybe six months ago, and I sent it to Hypex for repair. Reasonable (sub $130) cost, and fast service. It was ordinary unprompted failure of a regulator part, no big deal. Otherwise very reliable.
 
I purchased a naim clone amplifier, the amp boards have a voltage requirement of +/- 40 volts. When i measured the psu voltage at full volume it was 45 volts, The manufacturer of the amp had chosen a high psu voltage, perhaps to squeeze out a few more watts of output.
Do you think this may be the reason for the early failure of some amps ( in this thread we are talkng about a hypex module ) that many manufacturers buy hypex amp modules and put their own design on it, leading to different voltages, different amounts of heat being generated, and different life expectancies as forum members have testified . Do you think that perhaps choosing a lower psu voltage may aid in the longevity of amps
 
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I have a NAD D3045 with an integrated Hypex module. The enclosure is plastic over a metal chassis which has tiny holes for insignificant ventilation. It runs very hot unless the cover is pried up. One morning it was working normally until the audio volume soared to max power. I rushed to turn it down and pull the plug.

Reliability is suspect with Class D designs which has more failure modes. I plan to stick with Analog.
 
So people buy branded class D modules with a perceived reputation, so emotion, that have reliability issues (for whatever reason) and when these fail they blame the topology and compare to class AB. Both are analog BTW.

So if I buy a BMW X5 Diesel that fails at 15,000 km with molten pistons I just blame all Diesel engines. OK.

Coincidentally I had to deal with broken Hypex modules that died without any abuse or misuse 2 times. They just failed. I could not figure out why and it was not a user error. I instantly knew I was not going to try these out myself. There are chinese cheap class D amplifiers that just play for years without issues. Maybe you should not think branded/hyped stuff is better or even expect longevity. Maybe you are the customer that connects reputation, so emotion, to longevity?! Their marketing just is better. Especially NAD and all their sub brands is just crap that fails prematurely. Plain wrong heat dispersion/heatsinking, mediocre and failing electrolytic caps etc. Today's NAD is a faint image of what it used to be.

The Icepower modules seem way more reliable as I have encased many of those and never had one failing up to now.

Just saying.
 
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The Icepower modules seem way more reliable as I have encased many of those and never had one failing up to now.
Not so sure... unless I'm an isolated case...
125AX2 ... loss of power .... and nothing more... no sparks...😳
And when you look at the card... It's disposable.... SMD everywhere on 2 sides... Silicon galore!
Advantage to the class d with a well-designed chip.
The tpa are robust, I have one that has been on for 10 years in a placo partition with a wifi module in the bathroom.....
The MERUS chip has a better sound to my ears, I have 4 years of hindsight with it.... If they burn ... It will be because of my suicidal modifications.
Hypex, N'core, Ice Power... it's market sold at a gold price...
(given the price.... I'm going back to class AB) easier to troubleshoot...😕

They should stop this shitty glue!
 
Maybe there is also a pattern that high(er) power modules die earlier. I used mainly 50ASX2.

TPA are indeed sturdy. I have a few that survived quite a lot. “Suicidal modifications” ha ha 🙂. Mixed feelings about some of the Merus although they sound very good. Maybe one of the best even (did you compare with Hypex, Ncore?) but we are debating reliability.

Even designed by the best designer maybe those higher marketed modules simply do not have longevity on the design parameter list.

So keep buying 200W modules to play 1W max 😊
 
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