[Guy 13]

Hi Danny and al Audio Circle members.
After a few years of loyal service one of my four my GR Research SA-1 plate amplifier as died.
Check power. OK.
Check fuse. OK.
Check the source. OK.
Switch amplifier, work.
Conclusion:
The amplifier is dead.
Now the problem is,
where and who will repair it and not damage it
more that what it is now.
I will try to find someone that knows what he's doing,
won't be easy.
I'm lucky to have four units, so I can play switcheroo.
Was it not supposed to last a minimum of 20 yaers.
Well I guees I am unlucky
and now you know where my nick name: Guy 13
comes from.

Guy 13

 

[Hank]

Guy 13:  surely there is someone in VN that can repair an electronic circuit as simple as a plate amp.  Think positive! 

[Nick77]

Parts Express, buy a new one and move on.

[jparkhur]

The PE ones Yung are on sale this month.   Dirt cheap and still good amps.  Cheaper than trying to fix that....

JP

[Guy 13]

Guy 13:  surely there is someone in VN that can repair an electronic circuit as simple as a plate amp.  Think positive! 

Hi Hank and all Audio Circle members.
Think positive you wrote.
Come here for a week and you will see that it's not easy to think positive.
After 18 years in Vietnam,
if I did not think positive I would be swinging at the end of a rope by now.
Electronic repair man,
there are plenty of that here,
however, to find a good one, well I am still looking for one.
For 18 years I've being selling and repairing electronic flashes,
if it's just a matter of swapping a PCB no problem,
but finding the problem and replacing a chip, that I don't want to do.
I will give the plate amplifier to our gooffer or go for guy
and he will look for a repair store.
I have no time to go around the city to look for one.
Today I spent two hours repairing all the ground problems
I had in my listening room and found out that all the wall outlets
have different colors for the hot, neutral and ground,
no standard black and white and green.
Now it's all fixed, but I found a problem with my two weeks old
Made in Vietnam auto-voltage regulator.
The main power switch is defective, it won't go off, always stay on.
Tomorrow, I will go to the store and they will repair it under warranty.
Lucky me.

Guy 13
 

[Guy 13]

Parts Express, buy a new one and move on.

Hi Nick 77 and all Audio Circle members.
First I am in Vietnam.
Second the custom tax on personal stuff is 45 to 55%
I can save money on transport if a relative in the US bring it,
but around the Vietnamese New Years which is January the 30th.
Why buy a new one? I have stolen one unit from my V2 speakers
and I still have one more that I could use,
but I will give it a try to fix it.
Buy the way, it's easy for you to say:
Buy a new one and move on.
Maybe you could send me a few Benjamin Franklin this way...

Guy 13

[Guy 13]

The PE ones Yung are on sale this month.   Dirt cheap and still good amps.  Cheaper than trying to fix that....

JP

Hi jparkhur and all Audio Circle members.
Dirt cheap for me is still too much $ $ $ when I add the custom tax
and the trouble to send it this way.
But thanks for the suggestion,
one day when I will run out of spares,
I will probably buy a Yung or Dayton.
Yes they are dirt cheap.
I hate to do the trow away on nice stuff that can be repaired
when you can find someone to repair it.
Buy the way, dirt cheap for me would have to be: 50 to 75 USD.
For me, that's what I call dirt cheap.

Guy 13
 

[S Clark]

Take to a local electronics repair person.  If you are trying to avoid customs, shipping, etc. your only option is local repair.  Good luck.

[RDavidson]

Take to a local electronics repair person.  If you are trying to avoid customs, shipping, etc. your only option is local repair.  Good luck.

Yeah. I agree. Plate amps are typically easy to repair and shouldn't cost too much to do so. Take your time and find a good tech, even if you have to send it somewhere not local.

[Guy 13]

Take to a local electronics repair person.  If you are trying to avoid customs, shipping, etc. your only option is local repair.  Good luck.

Hi S Clark and all Audio Circle members.
That was my first intention,
but I am always reluctant to do something like that here in Vietnam.
I have now three (Electronic) items on repair at different places.
One Pioneer Home Theater Receiver.
It's been repaired, but when I go home, it never worked.
So it's back to square one.
I've got a Nakamichi BX-100 tape deck it's the third time they replaced the belt(s)
still not working and now they say a pulley is rusted and they are looking for a used one, I asked they if they could clean it and they said no.
O.K. it 30 years old. maybe I should buy a new one, but I am sure it repairable.
I also have a Rega Apollo CD player to convert from 220V to 120V.
It's taking forever.
I had a wiring diagram, buy it's the wrong one and Rega is uncooperative, they say I have to send it to Hong Kong, even if there is a Rega authorized dealer in Vietnam, but he says cannot be done, even if Rega says it can be done...
Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam country of frustrations...

Guy 13
 

[Guy 13]

Yeah. I agree. Plate amps are typically easy to repair and shouldn't cost too much to do so. Take your time and find a good tech, even if you have to send it somewhere not local.

Hi RDavidson and all Audio Circle members.
Thanks for your kind words.
Even if I can find a good technician,
the problem is the spare parts all Made in China for the Asian market,
which is lower in quality.
The parts for export to USA, Canada and Europe are better quality,
but you can't really get those.
I know, I import professional photographic equipment as a distributor for Chinese manufacturers for the past 18 years.
Anyway, in the mean time, I can still listen to music with my spare plate amplifier.
 

Guy 13

[Danny Richie]

These have been pretty good on the reliability scale, but over time several of them have failed. So far the most common problem has been the power supply caps. See if any of them are swollen.

[FullRangeMan]

Hi Nick 77 and all Audio Circle members.
First I am in Vietnam.
Second the custom tax on personal stuff is 45 to 55%
I can save money on transport if a relative in the US bring it,
but around the Vietnamese New Years which is January the 30th.
Why buy a new one? I have stolen one unit from my V2 speakers
and I still have one more that I could use,
but I will give it a try to fix it.
Buy the way, it's easy for you to say:
Buy a new one and move on.
Maybe you could send me a few Benjamin Franklin this way...

Guy 13

Consider you Lucky 13, in my country everything electronincs and CDs are charged 100% over product, ship and insurance values.
And I neither can move to Canada...

[Guy 13]

These have been pretty good on the reliability scale, but over time several of them have failed. So far the most common problem has been the power supply caps. See if any of them are swollen.

Hi Danny and all Audio Circle members.
Thanks for joining.
I've checked already all the capacitors and they all look good.
I know a little about capacitors,
because I sold in the last 18 years thousand of flashes in all of them
they have between four and 10 capacitors ranging from 100uF
to more than 4000uf each and when they blow up you know,
because they make a mess,
but sometimes they look new from the outside,
but are short or disconnected from the inside.

I am anxious to know what's the problem, but it might take several days and probably even up top a month.

Guy 13

By the way, I have similar capacitors in stock, however, they are rated at 360V which is better than a capacitor rated at 80 or 100V.

[Guy 13]

Consider you Lucky 13, in my country everything electronincs and CDs are charged 100% over product, ship and insurance values.
And I can not move to Canada neither...

Hi FULLRANGEMAN and all Audio Circle members.
I am a lucky, but a frustrated Guy 13.
O.K I won't move to Brazil, too expensive,
I will still stay in Vietnam, it's cheaper here to import.
Why don't you come and join me here in Vietnam?
Now that I think of it, better if we stay where we are.

Guy 13
Born a Friday 13 in 1948.

[FullRangeMan]

No thanks, here sun every where, is less hot than VN and girls are nice.
But thanks for the invite.

[Guy 13]

No thanks, here sun every where, is less hot than VN and girls are nice.
But thanks for the invite.

Hi FULLRANGEMAN and all Audio Circle members.
Here in Vietnam we also have very nice girls.
Why do you think I came to Vietnam and stayed in Vietnam for 18 years.

Guy 13

[Hank]

Guy13, you are quite a character   Replace the big power supply electrolytic capacitors and see if that solves the problem.  If it doesn't, put the old ones back in and get a repair estimate.  If it's too high, order a Yung amp on sale.
We all have our challenges - here in Austin the property taxes are increasing at a high rate because every idiot in the nation is moving here 

[gregfisk]

Guy13, you are quite a character   Replace the big power supply electrolytic capacitors and see if that solves the problem.  If it doesn't, put the old ones back in and get a repair estimate.  If it's too high, order a Yung amp on sale.
We all have our challenges - here in Austin the property taxes are increasing at a high rate because every idiot in the nation is moving here 

Guy13, you are a character, but a good character

Hank, Austin is getting a lot of good press these days, at least in some parts of the country. My understanding is that it's a very different city than what most of Texas is known for and for of lot of people that is a good thing.

[Guy 13]

Guy13, you are quite a character   Replace the big power supply electrolytic capacitors and see if that solves the problem.  If it doesn't, put the old ones back in and get a repair estimate.  If it's too high, order a Yung amp on sale.
We all have our challenges - here in Austin the property taxes are increasing at a high rate because every idiot in the nation is moving here 

Hi Hank and all Audio Circle members.
Telling me that I am quite a character is a compliment for me,
therefore:
Thanks for the compliment.
The amplifier is now being looked at,
will report the technician findings soon, well,
I hope it will be soon.
By the way, here in Vietnam property tax is almost non existent,
I pay 25 USD a year for this house:



Property tax here is based on land surface not house value
and land is only 15 feet on two sides of the house.

Guy 13