I agree, it will be the last ever time I will use Arcam. I only used it sometimes for music use. When I 1st removed the case and saw how small the heatsinks were I just thought WOW! something you would get on a 20w amp haha I phoned them yet again for other reasons but quickly got on the subject of how poorly designed it was yet they claimed again!!!! oh! old components are bound to fail some day, even when I quoted just before that - that how bad it was designed. Arcam, take no responsibility, was quite bad mouthed over the phone, didn't seem to care at all. For £185 all I have is a 12 month warranty, added internal fans x2 and, in their words "updated components"
I really will have to learn more about home repair and how to read service manuals in the future!
Totally agree Bare. Well, out of the £185 I had to spend to get it repaired, they used £55 of that money to send it back to me (bit too high if you ask me) so I guess £135 ain't that bad for internal fans, new caps, resistors, a few rectifiers and 2 power transistors. And they replaced the screws I lost taking it apart the 1st time lol
The cost and degree of renewal of refurbs is confusing. A number of UK manufacturers that still use high levels of hand assembly, do it routinely while companies whose brands are manufactured elsewhere don't want to know about returns or refurbs since the production lines may be on the other side of the globe and fully automated for complete products or sub-assemblies.
You pay a much higher price simply for local labour content in new products which can't be offset by higher resale value in the more objective used audio market.
I have a full refurb Cyrus 5 which turns out to be Cyrus 7 after the factory refurb. Such refurbs were resold for around 70% of the new, current model price but were virtually the same as current product after the complete rebuild and new accessories added.
If you are a DIY and use instruments, Peak Atlas sell factory refurbs of their handy little component testers at something over 80% of current model new price.
So 185 UKP out of 1,000 retail for a refurb. amplifier with warranty is pretty good value by comparison. The used product market is all about the seller's savvy for value. Some sellers can ask inflated prices for absolute junk because it has sentimental value, rarity or an old reputation and quality associations that may have no relevance to today's audio requirements.
My experience with many old products is that some idiot has butchered them with their idea of "mods" and "upgrades or attempted to repair it when it inevitably is damaged by their fiddling or misuse. Whatever they sound like, such an amplifier is then almost worthless and should be priced accordingly.
You pay a much higher price simply for local labour content in new products which can't be offset by higher resale value in the more objective used audio market.
I have a full refurb Cyrus 5 which turns out to be Cyrus 7 after the factory refurb. Such refurbs were resold for around 70% of the new, current model price but were virtually the same as current product after the complete rebuild and new accessories added.
If you are a DIY and use instruments, Peak Atlas sell factory refurbs of their handy little component testers at something over 80% of current model new price.
So 185 UKP out of 1,000 retail for a refurb. amplifier with warranty is pretty good value by comparison. The used product market is all about the seller's savvy for value. Some sellers can ask inflated prices for absolute junk because it has sentimental value, rarity or an old reputation and quality associations that may have no relevance to today's audio requirements.
My experience with many old products is that some idiot has butchered them with their idea of "mods" and "upgrades or attempted to repair it when it inevitably is damaged by their fiddling or misuse. Whatever they sound like, such an amplifier is then almost worthless and should be priced accordingly.
Acura I assume, is the Honda car model, a global mass market consumer product? I don't think there is any parallel between the vast, ongoing and ever competitive car maintenance industry with the now small world of traditional home stereo products.
The electronics service industry is all but defunct in my area for example, owing to consumer electronics being cheaper to replace than repair - solely down to labour costs, regardless of what expertise, spares and facilities are available. It means that there are few options for people who want their gear repaired, so any viable opportunity to repair should be taken whilst it still exists.
I think that labour cost has become the major repair issue everywhere today, resulting in mountains of waste and depleting resources at accelerating rates. The solution of DIY repairs is a good idea but certainly won't suit enough people to make a worthwhile difference or change the affordability equation for most people.
The electronics service industry is all but defunct in my area for example, owing to consumer electronics being cheaper to replace than repair - solely down to labour costs, regardless of what expertise, spares and facilities are available. It means that there are few options for people who want their gear repaired, so any viable opportunity to repair should be taken whilst it still exists.
I think that labour cost has become the major repair issue everywhere today, resulting in mountains of waste and depleting resources at accelerating rates. The solution of DIY repairs is a good idea but certainly won't suit enough people to make a worthwhile difference or change the affordability equation for most people.
Arcam Alpha 10 microcontroller
Reawakening an old topic (2014):
An Alpha 10 here shows different behaviors :
#1 it does not start up at all (no red/amber/green LED on)
#2 it starts up without switching the power amp on (amber LED on)
#3 it starts up normally, everything fine (LED green), but cannot be switched of with the power switch
#4 all fine, starts, runs and ***** down normal
The amp is fully reworked, everything works fine (in case it stars regulary).
After going crazy a hole day i found Z9 (microcontroller ht48r32, power amp control) to be very sensitive on thermal treatment.
When cooled down (cooling spray) direct on Z9 effect #1 comes up.
After warming up to room temperature sometimes effect #2 shows up, sometimes #1 (ratio 2:1).
After heating up Z9 gently with a fan the amp starts and runs just fine (#4).
When slowly cooling down again to room temperature it shows effect #3 from time to time.
All voltages are correct, no other faulty parts were to be found, all caps are replaced, boards are resoldered.
Did anyone ever experienced these "temperature issues" with this Arcam model/this sort of microcontroller?
Does somebody know, if there is replacement for this controller available or does someone have an defect A10 for spares in his basement?
Best regards
Reawakening an old topic (2014):
An Alpha 10 here shows different behaviors :
#1 it does not start up at all (no red/amber/green LED on)
#2 it starts up without switching the power amp on (amber LED on)
#3 it starts up normally, everything fine (LED green), but cannot be switched of with the power switch
#4 all fine, starts, runs and ***** down normal
The amp is fully reworked, everything works fine (in case it stars regulary).
After going crazy a hole day i found Z9 (microcontroller ht48r32, power amp control) to be very sensitive on thermal treatment.
When cooled down (cooling spray) direct on Z9 effect #1 comes up.
After warming up to room temperature sometimes effect #2 shows up, sometimes #1 (ratio 2:1).
After heating up Z9 gently with a fan the amp starts and runs just fine (#4).
When slowly cooling down again to room temperature it shows effect #3 from time to time.
All voltages are correct, no other faulty parts were to be found, all caps are replaced, boards are resoldered.
Did anyone ever experienced these "temperature issues" with this Arcam model/this sort of microcontroller?
Does somebody know, if there is replacement for this controller available or does someone have an defect A10 for spares in his basement?
Best regards
Silicon they certainly are not. Silicone possibly. No problem adding thermal paste to silicone rubber pads, they don't need it but silicone rubber is very inert and won't be attacked by thermal grease. If reusing old tired pads a bit of thermal grease is probably useful.
Silicon is to silicone as diamond is to wax or rubber - not the same thing at all.
The whole idea of sheet silicone rubber compounds used for thermal transfer, is that with the even application of clamp pressure and heat, it fully conforms to clean metal surfaces like the transistor backplate and the heatsink. Only negative effects come from adding thermal grease to the equation.
As said, thermal grease won't otherwise be harmful but unless all excess is completely expelled (unlikely) it can only increase thermal resistance. Sure, it could be appropriate for light duty on rough or uneven surfaces but that had better not be the case here.
As said, thermal grease won't otherwise be harmful but unless all excess is completely expelled (unlikely) it can only increase thermal resistance. Sure, it could be appropriate for light duty on rough or uneven surfaces but that had better not be the case here.
All depends on how tired the pads are and the relative thermal conductivities, which depends on the active filler material in each case, be it metal powder, alumina, ZnO or whatever. If there is good conformance between pad and metal the paste is squeezed out to a very thin layer which won't be a problem. If the pad has lost elasticity then the paste will fill the gaps.
Basically replace the pads if poss
On the matter of the microprocessor being heat sensitive, it could be bad solder joints ( take great care and use a very fine soldering iron tip to reflow the solder joints if you try to improve that yourself. It takes a lot of patience, skill and high magnification with good lighting to succeed at SMD soldering without screwing up the joins or the uP.) Also and more likely, the 4MHz ceramic resonator, X1, becomes erratic and often fails to start on a lot of old gear, not just ARCAM's. That usually means replacement with any similar type of the same nominal frequency.
Dear Ian,
thank for your reply. We are expirienced in soldering, that´s our everyday work (professionals). Everything incl. the SMD-joints were resoldered allready thoroughly. Also replacing the resonator did not bring any change, i missed to mention that in the earlier post.
As said, cooling down the processor directly (other parts covered) and heating it up brings the mentioned behavior.
I was wondering, if anybody had similar issues so to find out if this fault behavior is some more a common problem than a particular case.
thank for your reply. We are expirienced in soldering, that´s our everyday work (professionals). Everything incl. the SMD-joints were resoldered allready thoroughly. Also replacing the resonator did not bring any change, i missed to mention that in the earlier post.
As said, cooling down the processor directly (other parts covered) and heating it up brings the mentioned behavior.
I was wondering, if anybody had similar issues so to find out if this fault behavior is some more a common problem than a particular case.
On looking over your tests again, it does seem that the problem is with the μP, though as its power supply is independent of the amplifier and may well have been powered up 24/7 for many years, I wonder if there isn't another type of thermal/age problem there. Note that I haven't checked the μP in an Alpha 10 myself, so comments are only general.
Hoping not very much i contacted Arcam support, if this microprocessor was still available as spare. I was very suppriesd, when i got a reply, and indeed, it is still available. So finally i was able to order one (Arcam PartNr.:ARC-5B4830A128A) from audioservice.nl (official Arcam service partner) .
I´ll report the result as soon as it arrives.
I´ll report the result as soon as it arrives.
Arcam Alpha 10 IC controller
Hi there,i also am having the same issues,infact ,i swapped out a good IC out of one of my Alpha 10s to try in another Amp {10P} and on refitting back into the original amp,started going in to red flashing Alarm,nightmare....after contacting Arcam to order another 2 off IC s,waited a week for a reply,they told me to go to another dealer,as i live in Bulgaria,so thethey contacted them,been waiting 10 days now,still no reply ,after sales service is ridiculous,plus i know my way around hifi,no expert by any means but i do all my own re-caps and refuse to help in any way,...All i want is 3 IC s,its not rocket science to repace them,but nothing,dont think i will be buying an Arcam product again...I FEEL YOUR PAIN ,MAN.... Mk