Never buying used audio gear on the internet again

[mike7877]

Fortunately it makes music and sounds good. I don't expect it'll continue to for more than a year or two though - not looking like this...

I was sooo looking forward to my Arcam A18 - now all I see: problems - imminent problems. FFS WHY?!?!

 

[Count Arthur]

Hmm, it doesn't look like any of the capacitors have leaked.

Looking at the corrosion, it may have been stored somewhere damp.

You can try cleaning the PCB with some isopropyl alcohol, or PCB cleaner, and a paintbrush, or old toothbrush; be careful not to go at it too hard though, you don't want to knock off any of those surface mount components. You may find that it's absolutely fine after that.

https://cpc.farnell.com/c/tools-maintenance/cleaning-chemicals/workshop-cleaning-degreasers/flux-remover

 

[Mrpinortiner]

Looks like someone spilled a Coke into it.

 

[AnalogSteph]

If you don't know what it is, you can try a 50/50 mix of isopropyl alcohol and deionised water. Isopropyl by itself doesn't do anything about some common things like sugar, which are however dissolved very efficiently by water.

"Stored somewhere damp" isn't the worst theory, I imagine there's plenty of places like that in the UK.

 

[solderdude]

That's some ****** soldering job on the pins on the left. Also looks like an SMD cap (above R349) has been replaced or re-soldered.

Anyway... just clean the PCB a little and when it works just use it.

 

[3125b]

Looks rough, seems like somebody repaird it rather badly.
If it works without issue I'd leave it alone for now, you can always fix it when it breaks.
I'd use an antistatic brush with some alcohol and distilled water (depending on the kind of dirt, lemonade cleans up with water, flux with alcohol) to clean it up a bit, but with the whole thing assembled you won't really be able to reach all the places the dirt could cause corrosion. To get it really clean you'd have to use an ultrasonic cleaner, but that would require diassembly.
That resistor R403 at the bottom looks like it might be bridged with excessive solder.

 

[mike7877]

There's some CPU thermal paste between the output transistors and the heatsink... Sorry, not some... copious amounts. I thought this was in the picture. Well, it sounds good and runs cool, so whatever they did, didn't seem to be too horrible. I've gotta clean the board though, to prevent further corrosion

 

[Mikig]

when I buy used material on the internet I always follow some rules.

1) obviously I discard all the products that have passed through the hands of the various optimization "scientists";

2) I prefer them to have few passing "hands".

3) I prefer them to have the original box and accompanying material. It is usually a sign of care taken by the previous owner, who will therefore almost certainly have chosen official channels in the event of problems.

4) I don't like internal views in ads, i.e. of products opened by the seller; too often those who open and dismantle it, perhaps without the necessary skills, can cause damage.

5) I try if possible to listen and touch. I have already bought products sold as perfect in word...imperfect in fact.

6) when I see stripped screws or scratched bolts, I leave, it is a sign of too many internal accesses and above all carried out with inadequate material.

the rest as always goes by luck….

 

[DMill]

Fortunately it makes music and sounds good. I don't expect it'll continue to for more than a year or two though - not looking like this...

I was sooo looking forward to my Arcam A18 - now all I see: problems - imminent problems. FFS WHY?!?!


View attachment 347772

Sorry to see this. Makes me sick when somebody isn’t transparent about problems when they sell something. I’ve avoided buying from people that I’m at least not mostly sure of. For example, I might buy from some members on this forum, but probably not the guy with a 1 week old account unless he’s offering some guarantee. Even that isn’t a 100% thing, but it’s something. I sold a 25 year old Rotel integrated once and just let the buyer know it works perfectly fine, but it is a 25 year old amplifier, so I can’t guarantee it will work a year from now. I don’t need anyone’s $400 that bad to be a dick

 

[Sokel]

Cleaning the pcb can be relatively easy,the rust on the other hand can be tough and it requires to disassemble it.
It's not only the visuals about it,such bars must always be tied to ground with minimal resistance and rust can screw that big time.

 

[Mikig]

I once bought a Rotel RHA10 pre. Front photos only, seller writes immaculate. It arrives home, I open the box: 1) damaged wooden sides on the back. 2) evident crushing of the rear left side. I phone the seller and ask for explanations: the answer leaves me worse than what I saw: but yes, it's the back part, you can't see it... anyway it sounds good!!! I hung up the phone, there was no point in having a conversation anymore….. it cost me 250 euros in repairs from the official assistance to get it back to new condition…..

 

[Timcognito]

As a noob on this stuff, aren't there inert circuit board cleaners in spay cans that could hose that stuff off? If it plays well it just might be dirty. What would @restorer-john do?

 

[mike7877]

Cleaning the pcb can be relatively easy,the rust on the other hand can be tough and it requires to disassemble it.
It's not only the visuals about it,such bars must always be tied to ground with minimal resistance and rust can screw that big time.

I wasn't even thinking about that! Even more work..

 

[mike7877]

Sorry to see this. Makes me sick when somebody isn’t transparent about problems when they sell something. I’ve avoided buying from people that I’m at least not mostly sure of. For example, I might buy from some members on this forum, but probably not the guy with a 1 week old account unless he’s offering some guarantee. Even that isn’t a 100% thing, but it’s something. I sold a 25 year old Rotel integrated once and just let the buyer know it works perfectly fine, but it is a 25 year old amplifier, so I can’t guarantee it will work a year from now. I don’t need anyone’s $400 that bad to be a dick

I was a bit desperate with this purchase and went with ebay... the seller is small business active, with near perfect reputation (99.8 I think?)

A18 are hard to find. I've been looking for years for the stars to align, and they did with this unit (except for.. you know - it's condition!)

It came all the way from the UK, it was shipped to the wrong address, I had to make a trip and ask the homeowner if they got my package/ wanted to give it to me (apparently the law is they can keep it, even with my name in it, which I found to be

It works well enough I guess. Glad he didn't flip the internal switch because I forgot about needing to and just plugged it in when it arrived. If it worked, I wouldn't have looked inside (it's pretty plain) and after 3-18 months I'd probably start hearing problems

 

[DMill]

I was a bit desperate with this purchase and went with ebay... the seller is small business active, with near perfect reputation (99.8 I think?)

A18 are hard to find. I've been looking for years for the stars to align, and they did with this unit (except for.. you know - it's condition!)

It came all the way from the UK, it was shipped to the wrong address, I had to make a trip and ask the homeowner if they got my package/ wanted to give it to me (apparently the law is they can keep it, even with my name in it, which I found to be

It works well enough I guess. Glad he didn't flip the internal switch because I forgot about needing to and just plugged it in when it arrived. If it worked, I wouldn't have looked inside (it's pretty plain) and after 3-18 months I'd probably start hearing problems

It’s mostly cosmetic from what I can see. Ask to return it if you feel cheated. There is a reason for user scores.

 

[restorer-john]

That's some ****** soldering job on the pins on the left.

That's the output transistors and they are through hole. Done by hand by the tea lady at the end of her shift.

Just give it a clean as @AnalogSteph suggested, gently around the SMD components. It really doesn't look bad at all- you've got no idea some of the things I've seen. Some fluid ingress through the casework vents at some stage. No harm done.

Enjoy.

 

[Mikig]

Fortunately it makes music and sounds good. I don't expect it'll continue to for more than a year or two though - not looking like this...

I was sooo looking forward to my Arcam A18 - now all I see: problems - imminent problems. FFS WHY?!?!


View attachment 347772

took the liberty of making two enlargements of your photo.

rather, looking closely at the photo it seems to me that one part is very damaged. the two rows of components on the left, the small rectangular ones should be the same, but in fact the ones on the lower part seem in bad shape, very damaged.

 

[restorer-john]

took the liberty of making two enlargements of your photo.

rather, looking closely at the photo it seems to me that one part is very damaged. the two rows of components on the left, the small rectangular ones should be the same, but in fact the ones on the lower part seem in bad shape, very damaged.

You really don't understand what you're even looking at. Some possible ancient fluid ingress and no damage to components, tracks, or even any deterioration of the solder. The event is long gone and the amplifier is functioning fine. It likely will continue to do so for many years.

Most of what you see is solder flux around the hand soldered devices. That's perfectly fine. A hand re-worked SMD cap, mostly likely done in the factory due to the original tombstoning or missed altogether by the pick and place.

This is the section of the amp we are discussing:

The OP can clean it up if he wants, I probably would too.

 

[Mikig]

You really don't understand what you're even looking at. Some possible ancient fluid ingress and no damage to components, tracks, or even any deterioration of the solder. The event is long gone and the amplifier is functioning fine. It likely will continue to do so for many years.

Most of what you see is solder flux around the hand soldered devices. That's perfectly fine. A hand re-worked SMD cap, mostly likely done in the factory due to the original tombstoning or missed altogether by the pick and place.

This is the section of the amp we are discussing:
View attachment 351142

The OP can clean it up if he wants, I probably would too.

If the reflections in the photo are not deceiving, it looks more like a re-soldered component.

 

[Glint]

that's a lot of thermal compound lol.