RB1080 just serviced - 6.3A fuses again!!

[sajaga]

Hey all,

my RB1080 died a few weeks back - the old no left channel trick!!
I am local in Melbourne and dropped it off to International Dynamics in Richmond. I explaind to them what Aussie Geoff had gone through with them personally, as I am sure many of you all have in your various locations, and was given the "this is the first that we hear of this problem" :M
Well after 6 days in the shop, I picked it up this morning with 1x6.3A fuse replaced :M :M :M
I thought that Rotel was upgrading these fuses worldwide to 8A on the 1080's to stop this re-occuring fault with these units. I am bi-amping with QED Silver Anniversary Bi-wire and am using the trigger on my 1068 to turn on the 1080 and my 1075.
Pissed off as I was, I went to RS components and picked up a 10 pack of 8A slow blow fuses (Min 5x20mm Anti-Surge, (T), LBC 218 Series 8A). Am I right to replace the 6.3Ax4 with these?? without voiding warranty??

I basically don't want to be without my 1080 for another 2 weeks for a 5 minute job - I am a comms engineer and have changed plenty of fuses out

many thanks in advance

Sajaga

[kwojciec]

Hi

I had the same problem last week. I replaced fuses and it worked well. My feeling
was that somehow blow out was related to the triggers. I have had RB 1080
for more than two years. I never had any problem until I installed trigerr
connection from processor to RB 1080 and from RB1080 to RMB 1075. Now I keep
my amplifiers on all the time. Of course I may be wrong

best

Krzysztof

[Spearmint]

Hi Sajaga

I also have the 1080, and what you have posted concerns me as well, incase my unit fails, and the obvious lack of help from International Dynamics.

A couple of questions,

1: - Do you use the 12V trigger?

2: - Is the amp on a dedicated power circuit, or do you notice the lights dim momentarily at power on?

I am just curious as I wonder if there is a common combination that may be related to these failures.

[Aussie Geoff]

Hi,

International Dynamics are (in my opinion) being misleading or very cute with their "unaware" claim they have (to my knowledge because I have corresponded with them) had 4 or 5 Australian Customers with the fuse issue (it is quite rare). There are fixes developed in the UK and also applied in the USA. It involved changing some resistors and capacitors in the RB-1080 and upgrading the fuse to 8 amp flow blow from the 6.3 amp. International Dynamics just don't seem to want to get the details from Rotel UK or USA (who are part of International Equity - a different distributor chain). I have talked to them about this and they are like "well this isn't an official Rotel fix more a local solution and we have had almost no one with the problem..."

That aside - the fuses are really easy to change - there are two (side on) for each channel of the amplifier. You can buy them from any good electrical part supplier (T6.3 T8.0 20mm x 5mm fuses. They come in packs of 5. I have changed mine myself and even keep spares. Though (touchwood) since going to the 8.0 amp fuses I have had no problems.

And most people who get the problem get it with the triggers (I did). No triggers = minimal to no problem - so I just don't use the triggers on my RB-1080 - I leave it on all the time (sounds better that way too).

Geoff

[Azeke]

I also suffered from the RB-1080 fuse blowing episodes (4x). I begin to conclude after the 2nd occurence that the 12v trigger was the culprit, then the fuses were changed to 8A, decided to try the 12v trigger again. Again the channel blew, so I, like Geoff and others, leave my 1080 on and thus far have not experienced any further issues.

I plan to get the mod to the 1080 and spoke with Rotel in reference to this issue, I am just waiting until I leave for vacation before sending in the unit.

Just my story,

Azeke

[Radec]

Note to self.........
Don't use the 12V Trigger on 1080.....
:T

[Kevin P]

Are new units shipping with the mod already in place yet?

[Andrew Pratt]

I believe they are Kevin as mines never had an issue.

[Spearmint]

Are new units shipping with the mod already in place yet?

They may well be in some countries, although I doubt it down here in Australia. I would guess when current stocks are depleted and new stock arrives this may well be the case.

My 1080 is approx 6 months old, I am using the 12v trigger and have so since day 1 with no problems to-date, although my gear is on a dedicated circuit, and I also delay the power on cycles of all my gear.

I get no noticeable power sags from powering on any of my equipment.

[soundhound]

My dealer recieved mine from stock on 3-4, from Equity. I picked it up a week ago, and for curiosity sake opened it up, and 6.3 amp on board.....I don't use the trigger any way, I control the line from my 1068 triggers.

[audiofan]

How much power comsuption does RB-1080 take if i leave it on all the time? Is it in standby mode?

thanks.

[Mitchell]

has anyone had a channel blow in a 1080 after the upgrade to the capacitors has been done?

[JDH]

I purchased my RB-1080 last August, had the fuse blow 2 times in the space of 2 months from new, both times my dealer shipped the RB-1080 to International Dynamics and in both cases they just replaced the fuse with another 6.3 Amp fuse, on the second repair they also replaced a resistor on the left channel. Anyway a month after the second repair I had a 3rd left channel failure (ie. fuse). This time I asked for either my money back or a replacement new unit. International Dynamics DID NOT respond to my fax, in the end my local Sydney dealer who gave very good customer service replaced the unit so I didn't have to deal any further with International Dynamics.

Since the unit replacement (approx. 3 months ago ) I haven't had a problem even though I use the 12V trigger.

I would have to agree that The Australian Distributor for Rotel does not care about its customers and does not seem to act to fix problems.

[hired goon]

G'day,

No triggers = minimal to no problem - so I just don't use the triggers on my RB-1080 - I leave it on all the time (sounds better that way too).

Do you just leave the amp continually on? I've got an RMB-1095 and RCD-1072 connected via a trigger to my RSP-1068. I'm wondering whether I should just leave everything on 24/7, or just the amp. My only concern is heat. All units are external, but I the RSP-1068 can get quite warm, and I think the same applies to the 1095. What's the consenus on leaving a 1095 continually powered on?

When I had the RB-1090 hooked up I powered it on manually. If I hook that back up, is it better to leave this on continually? What's the warm-up timew for this amp? I read somewhere that one of the ME amps requires a three day warm up period. I assume the RB-1090 isn't as bad as that

--Geoff

[hidefdvd]

How much power comsuption does RB-1080 take if i leave it on all the time? Is it in standby mode?

thanks.

Straight from Rotel's sight.

What is the power consumption of this amplifier when in standby?
When using the 12 volt trigger the standby consumption is approximately 3 watts. Without the 12 volt trigger the amplifiers power consumption at idle is approximately 100 watts.

[mjb]

hidefdvd, thats *idle*, not standby.
"Idle" is juiced up and ready to go but with no input signal. 100 watts is a fair amount of power.
"standby" is, well, standby - and is probably the same as when the 12v trigger is off - 3 watts.

[sajaga]

thanks all for your help!!!! You guys are GREAT!!! :T

I will change out the fuses to the 8A ones and retry with the trigger, and if all else fails, go always on. It really is a shame that International Dynamics do not come to the party with this fix.
This is an issue that Rotel should officially address, replicate the fault in a lab, and release a worldwide fix so that these distributors don't just shrug their shoulders and say that they have never heard of the problem. Between all the Rotel and Loewe gear I own I think that they have done alright by me!!

Aussie Geoff, with the 8A upgrade did you change the resistors and capacitors in the RB-1080 also or just upgrade the fuses???

Many thanks once again

Sajaga

[Aussie Geoff]

Sajaga,

Just the 8 amp fuses - I didn't want to send it away for a week or two for the capacitor / resistor change...

Remember this only applies to certain speaker / cable combinations when the amp can draw way too much current on turn on s it brings them "into circuit" with its high damping factor - 99% of people have no problem and the same amp for a different configuration can work fine...

Geoff

[soundhound]

Is that what they have done with the resistor, cap change is delay the "on"
time for the protection relay? Normally thats why the delay, allow the amp to get powered up b-4 introducing the load to avoid the d.c. to the speaks and the ugly sound affiliated with it.

[Spearmint]

Sajaga,

Just the 8 amp fuses - I didn't want to send it away for a week or two for the capacitor / resistor change...

Remember this only applies to certain speaker / cable combinations when the amp can draw way too much current on turn on s it brings them "into circuit" with its high damping factor - 99% of people have no problem and the same amp for a different configuration can work fine...

Geoff

Geoff,

Although I have no doubt what you say has merit, but in my situation, I know a guy who has the same speakers & cable as me (different pre/pro) and he has had his die 2x in 6months and that is how long he has had the amp, mine has (touch wood) not missed a beat. Although mine is only about 5months old, I am sure both amps came from the same batch.

Difference in our situation, mine is on a dedicated power circuit! Strange how no one wants to talk about if they have a dedicated circuit or not, maybe it is sacrilege...

Another thing I have noticed with my 1080 is the left channel runs hotter than the right channel, and the 1080 amp runs much hotter overall than my 1095. I wonder if this heat problem helps to make the fuses rupture prematurely.

At the end of the day there is obviously some problem with these amps and it looks like Rotel wish to just keep it under wraps.

[steveB]

My 1080 has blown 2x, 12 mths apart. Once before I installed a dedicated circuit and once after , so this is not a factor. I think what did mine is powering the units on /off and back on too quickly ( The last time it was blown by my 2 yo daughter playing with the on/off button of my processor , which in turn triggers the 1080.)
What pisses me off is that International Dynamics denies that they have heard of the problem and I called them 2 days ago , and they say this forum is a load of B.S.

SteveB :M

[Spearmint]

My 1080 has blown 2x, 12 mths apart. Once before I installed a dedicated circuit and once after , so this is not a factor. I think what did mine is powering the units on /off and back on too quickly ( The last time it was blown by my 2 yo daughter playing with the on/off button of my processor , which in turn triggers the 1080.)
What pisses me off is that International Dynamics denies that they have heard of the problem and I called them 2 days ago , and they say this forum is a load of B.S.

SteveB :M

Ahhh thanks Steve, the helps to clear up one facet of the equation, BTW is your 1080 getting hot, especially the left channel?

I have fans blowing across all my equipment these days therefore they all run very cool.

[JDH]

Spearment,

Just out of interest what type of fans are you using, ie. are you just using a standard PC case type fan at the back of the cabinet or something better. I'm also thinking of putting some form of fan in a cabinet with my RB-1080 to make sure excessive heat doesn't shorten its life.

John.

[Spearmint]

Spearment,

Just out of interest what type of fans are you using, ie. are you just using a standard PC case type fan at the back of the cabinet or something better. I'm also thinking of putting some form of fan in a cabinet with my RB-1080 to make sure excessive heat doesn't shorten its life.

John.

Yes I use 12v PC style fans, both 120mm & 80mm, I run all fans at around 5v this makes them very quiet and I use 2x for every component i.e. for the 1080 I have one each over the top left & right vents blowing air across the top from front to back. This obviously give better convection flow from bottom to top as the amp is hardly above room temp to touch.

[steveB]

The 1080 runs cooler than the RSX1065 that its piggybacked with .

[RebelMan]

Geoff, are the fuses you bought Fast Acting or Slo Blo?

[i_amadeo]

G'day,



Do you just leave the amp continually on? I've got an RMB-1095 and RCD-1072 connected via a trigger to my RSP-1068. I'm wondering whether I should just leave everything on 24/7, or just the amp. My only concern is heat. All units are external, but I the RSP-1068 can get quite warm, and I think the same applies to the 1095. What's the consenus on leaving a 1095 continually powered on?

When I had the RB-1090 hooked up I powered it on manually. If I hook that back up, is it better to leave this on continually? What's the warm-up timew for this amp? I read somewhere that one of the ME amps requires a three day warm up period. I assume the RB-1090 isn't as bad as that

--Geoff

could sombody please anser his questions they are very helpful to know

[JDH]

My 1080 has blown 2x, 12 mths apart. Once before I installed a dedicated circuit and once after , so this is not a factor. I think what did mine is powering the units on /off and back on too quickly ( The last time it was blown by my 2 yo daughter playing with the on/off button of my processor , which in turn triggers the 1080.)
What pisses me off is that International Dynamics denies that they have heard of the problem and I called them 2 days ago , and they say this forum is a load of B.S.

SteveB :M

I spoke to International Dynamics today after my 4th left channel fuse failure, they seem to be aware of the issue now and even said they are now using the larger rated fuses for all recent repairs. They also said they are checking with Rotel on what other official fix is provided, ie. resistors/capacitor upgrade etc. Seemed quite helpful today so hopefully a more long term fix will be issued shortly for Australian owners of this amp.

It would be good if someone from Rotel could provide a clearer picture of what the official situation is with the left channel failure on the RB-1080. If you search through this forum you will find 99% of all left channel fuse related failures seem to be with this model which surely must be telling Rotel that they have a design problem with that particular model.

[Andrew Pratt]

Rotel is aware and has a fix for the problem so there's no reason why any repair shop shouldn't be able to remedy the issue if they actually look into the issue and not simply just pop in a new fuse and call it done.

[i_amadeo]

sanchez this will be very helpful

[Radec]

It doesn't surprise me your dealer wasn't aware of the problem. I had the mod done about 3 weeks ago, and the 1st time I brought it in, they replaced the fuses with the 6.3's. I asked if the have heard the "scoop", they were unaware that anything was released. He promised to look into it and call me back. A few days later he said he contacted Rotel and they said that it is a problem and are suggesting that the Dealers do the mod, although an "official" change wasn't made. My dealer made it sound like it was up to the Dealers discression if they wanted to do the mod or not. Mine said they would be doing the switch on all 1080's they see. I'm glad they did as those pesky 6.3's blew again so they had their 1st chance!!!

[Mitchell]

I have had the full mod done in Oct and have had no problems since. I do not use the trigger however.
Does anyone know if anyone who has had the full modification of fuses, capacitors etc and uses the 12v trigger has had a reoccurence?

[Kens1]

I bought my 1080 in March of this year and after reading all the posts on fuses blowing with the use of the 12 volt trigger I stayed away from this set up. Instead I just leave it on and I have had no problems with it - and I use it everyday.

[jimypeny2]

Hi sajaga

I just read the many other threads particularly from Australia who've experienced constant problems from their dealer in relation to their RB 1080's.

Unfortunately, I've had my fuses and capacitors blow on the RB1080 several times over the period of their guarantee period and this includes having them in a box for 6-8 months. I must say that although the staff were friendly at International Dynamics in Richmond, they kept telling me that this is an 'isolated incident' and suggested it was due to the manner that they were set up.

I also own the RC 1090 which had some capicitors(?) blow once. What I find disappointing is that it has been obvious that this is a common proplem with the model and the staff were obviously aware of the issue yet made me feel it was my fault. More so, the fact that a 'fix' is available overseas makes it more difficult to accept.

To add to the problem, due to the many times I've had to take the amp to the store, I ended up scratching it as I took it in. As my house is about to be rennovated, I explained to the desk attendant that this will mean that the amp will be stored in the box for the next 2 months which will mean it has passed the warranty period of the amp.

As much as I love the Rotel's, it isn't a good feeling to dread putting them on.