RB 1080 and fuse....

[Bushmaster]

Hi

Have had my RB-1080 for 4 months now and yesterday it decidet to blow the fuse on the right channel, guess it didn't like the 12v trigger anymore, I can see trough the vents that it's the T8A250v fuse.
Guess I will have to ship it back to my dealer. :M

[DL86]

That is why I don't use the 12 v trigger

[Taito]

And why I'll probably stop using the 12V trigger when I get mine back - the left channel went down yesterday (After over 2 years of trouble free use, I thought I was home free). In the mean time, I'm using the power amp section of an older Rotel integrated. Makes me realise how nice the 1080 is... does help fill the void though. Funny how much more you want to listen to it when you can't, eh?

Bushmaster, you could try contacting your local distributer for Rotel to get the name and location of your nearest Rotel-authorised service centre. I dropped mine off today and was told to expect a 3 day turnaround. This could save you both time and trouble.

Good luck, Ben

[JDH]

And why I'll probably stop using the 12V trigger when I get mine back - the left channel went down yesterday (After over 2 years of trouble free use, I thought I was home free). In the mean time, I'm using the power amp section of an older Rotel integrated. Makes me realise how nice the 1080 is... does help fill the void though. Funny how much more you want to listen to it when you can't, eh?

Bushmaster, you could try contacting your local distributer for Rotel to get the name and location of your nearest Rotel-authorised service centre. I dropped mine off today and was told to expect a 3 day turnaround. This could save you both time and trouble.

Good luck, Ben

Ben,

Make sure when you get it back that the Aust. Rotel Distributor has done the complete fix (not just changed a fuse), ie. upgrade a capacitor, resistor and fuse. I had the same problem a number of time over a few months from new, after the propper modifications were done I have not had any problem at all, I also use the 12v trigger all the time too without an issue !!!

The Rotel distributor in Australia indicated that all new RB-1080's in Australia sold from around June 2005 will have the modification done, any older units can be returned to the distributor to arrange the modification which I assume is free as I didn't pay to have the modification done.

[Taito]

Thanks for that, JDH. I really need it back this weekend, but if it hasn't been done, I'll get onto international dynamics about it after.

Cheers,
Ben

[joetama]

That is a problem I didn't even know about. I never used the 12 volt trigger but am for sure never going to use it now on my RB-1080......

[Taito]

Looks like I don't have a fuse issue after all... makes me worry about what the problem actually is. I know 2 things about the problem... 1) It was originally going to be ready today. 2) It isn't because the repair place is waiting on more transistors.

Point #2 worries me quite a lot.

-Ben

[Stevebez]

Bottom line with RB1080 - if you can avoid it , dont use 12v trigger.

I have had the "fix" and it still happended when using the trigger - I never really used it without, but seems this is the culprit from other posts.

Rgds Steve.

[Marlboroman]

Looks like I don't have a fuse issue after all... makes me worry about what the problem actually is. I know 2 things about the problem... 1) It was originally going to be ready today. 2) It isn't because the repair place is waiting on more transistors.

Point #2 worries me quite a lot.

-Ben

If they are waiting on transistors then you actually had more wrong, probably had some blown output transistors which would definitely pop fuses. Just keep hope that once they are done with the repair your amp will be the bomb .

[Azeke]

I own the RB-1080 with the fuse issue. There are probably a couple of things that I believe contribute to the fuse blowing issue:

1) 12V trigger-I don't attach it, and leave the 1080 always on.
2) MIT Speaker wire with the interface box.

I believe this combo has proven detrimental. I have upgraded my fuses (more than once, tried the 12v trigger again, duh), but have not done any of the other internal changes, even though I have received prior approval from Rotel to send in for the upgrade.

It's been almost a year and no blown fuses, keeping my fingers and toes crossed.

If you amp blows, don't use the 12v trigger that's my advice, and humble opinion, YMMV.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[Taito]

Thanks, Marlboroman.

I've talked to the guys doing the repair a few times (I figured going direct would speed things up). I'm pretty impressed with the way they do their work. Once the transistors arrive (it was output transistors), after installing, they will check that bias points are identical on both channels and then test the amp under varied conditions for a full day.

Hopefully the 1080 will be back as good as ever! You can certainly tell the difference with a 60wpc ring-in amp.

-Ben

[whoaru99]

I suppose there is a thread somewhere about it, but why would using the 12V trigger cause fuses to blow in the amp?

[Audiophiliac]

I have seen lots of Rotel amps that like to blow fuses. We were told (wont say by whom, but the warranty wasn't affected on units that were still under one) to just up the value of the fuses. Works fine for all the ones we had problems with. I can say that the 1070 and 1080 arent too comfortable with speaker selectors and lots of speakers.

I, too, would like to know if it has been proven or released by Rotel that the 12V trigger in fact causes the fuses to blow. If so, I would think they would offer to repair them under warranty so they didnt do it. Do they do this already?

[Marlboroman]

As far as I know the Rotel technicians have never found a link with the 12v trigger circuitry and the fuses popping. They upgrade the filter caps on each amp channel to 105 deg C, instead of the 85 deg C caps that were in there, and then they put the 8 amp fuses in. They have also told me that it is very important to make sure that all of the output transistors, these are the transistors that are on the heat sinks, are tightened down. If these are loose then they do not transfer the heat properly to the heatsink and can result in the fuses popping. I spoke with George at the service department and he said that once these steps have been done they have not had any more issues with the fuses popping, even in the systems where they were popping continuosly.

[cfrahme52]

I've owned a 1080 since 3/04.
Had no problem with fuse issue until 10/05, when right channel blew while listening. (Never used 12v trigger at all)
The dealer was great, the amp was out to Rotel for servicing and back to me just a little over a week. Even loaned me a 1070.
Did the whole "upgrade" 8A fuses, caps, adjust bias, test.
All was fine until yesterday.
While listening I accidently hit the power off on the preamp remote while music was playing. ZZZZZTTTtttt....that "familiar" sound in the left channel and immediately no signal.
Now, I guess this was my "fault" and luckily I had some extra 8As on hand.
Those old fuses done for!
System was up and runing within an hour.
Don't know why the amp quit in this circumstance-but I certainly didn't expect it after the fixes were done.

[thyname]

Yes, left channel gave up on me last month! I did use the 12v trigger. My dealer was great at fixing it, it took them around 10 days (Myer-Emco in DC area) no questions asked. I am never gonna use the trigger again, even though I don't think it has much to do. I guess that's the purpose of a fuse, to protect the amp from some worse damage.