Harman Kardon AVR 430 suddenly shuts off (1 Viewer)

Hello all,

I have a three-year-old Harman Kardon AVR 430 that occasionally turns off on it's own. When I go to push the on/off switch afterwards, it makes the normal clicking sound as if it powering on, but then it doesn't actually power on. Then when I try it again a few minutes later, it powers on. All of my other electronics are plugged into the same outlet and they work normally when this is occurring.

In addition, a few months ago, the receiver's volume had an erratic episode where the volume jumped from -45dbls to -5dbls, and the advice I got was that it was just a temporary software glitch.

I would greatly appreciate your advice on what this might be. Is the sudden power off possibly a firmware glitch too? Should I try reinstalling the firmware? Or is this possibly a hardware issue and are the volume and power problems related? Thanks a million!

I have a HK avr435 and after 6 months it started to freeze up. Premier HK dealer soddered some points and problem was fixed. Then 3 weeks later it would not stay on for more than 20 seconds. No problem with power to the unit. Repair guy said it did the same thing for him but after he took it apart it did'nt shut off anymore.(which means it's more difficult to find out whats wrong) He got a hold of HK and they directed him to adjust the bias? and... I will hear monday what the verdict is. I want him to replace the processer while it's still under warranty. . Ofcourse their looking for easy to fix things first. I will keep you posted to let you know what transpires. Good luck.

Rob

i'm tempted to bookmark this post just to link to it when people ask about which receiver to get. i heard about issues like these over a year ago from a hifi dealer, who said they (HK) were having issues with quality control in their manufacturing, specifically in their low-mid range (sub$1000).
it's so hard to know who/ what to believe when there's so much info out there. but most of it is anecdotal and consumer based whether positive or negative. what bothers me about the HK stuff is that it specs so well, is competatively priced and is riding HK's historically good reputation. $300 is a lot to me. this is an expensive hobby. i would gladly trade reliability for bells and whistles. i have been very happy with my purchases. but i would be very bummed if one of them turned out to be a POS because a growing company decided to trade quality for market share.

Max, I should qualify my above post by saying that in the 3+ years I have had this receiver, the only problems I have ever had have been the aforementioned volume incident and the aforementioned instant-shutoff incident, I have been very happy with my Harman Kardon receiver: the performance it delivers is stellar, and I would gladly recommend them to others.

I have just had these isolated quality-control issues with it. The weirdest thing about these issues though is that they ARE isolated, having only happened a couple of times. If they happened more frequently, it would lead me to believe that the receiver is on its last breaths.

The one thing I had not previously done that was recommended in the FAQ's by HK is to reset the receiver. I did that tonight, and HK claims that this can fix an abnormality in the processor. The faq also says that if this doesn't fix it, then it is a hardware problem that must be fixed, so hopefully this case is closed, and I don't have to shell out money to fix it.

The only issue I've had with my 5 year old 520 is that it also shut off a couple of times. But this was caused by a voltage drop when my refrigerator kicked on. Affected my microwave too. I plugged the refer into a separate, dedicated circuit and the problem went away. My little used 435 has also been trouble free so far, knock on wood laminate! But I think there probably is something to this HK QC thing. Which is a shame because their avr's can hang with the best of them, when they work right.

Well, I got my reciever back and it's working fine for a day and half now. The repairman said he talked with HK and they told him my problem was vurtually the same problem that the AVR 430 is prone to, a problem with the wire from the heat sink to the bias processesor. Apparently it's a connection problem whereby the wire is crimped and becomes faulty. They reconnected mine and did two other things to prevent other problems which have been known to occur. I would suggest to get your 430 in for an easy repair.

Rob

Rob, glad to hear they were able to fix your receiver easily. It is nice to hear that if I continue to have problems with the AVR 430, the repair would most likely be simple and relatively cheap. I am going to hold off on getting it repaired until something happens again. The shutoff problem and volume problem have just occurred once each, and since I don't have a car, taking a 50-pound receiver on the train or renting a car would be a pain in the ass.

I had this problem as well, had it sent for repair 3 times (shipping a beast like the AVR430 isn't cheap!)

The first two times the repair lasted about 2-3 months each time. The third about 18 months. It is now well off warranty and I have a massive paperweight.

I tried the 'reset to factory settings' button combo, that doesn't fix it.

First repair: replaced the encoder and adjusted the bias.

Second repair: DSP board was defective, repaired.

Third and final repair: Adjusted bias.

Looks like a lemon to me. Maybe someone wants it for parts/remote

Mine just shut off an hour ago and I cannot get it to turn back on, as well as it also cranks up in volume a lot. I can fix that problem by turning the volume ALL the way down. How do I reset it so I can turn it back on?

First, make sure no loose strands of speaker wire are touching the receiver or each other.
Here's the procedure for a factory reset of the H/K 430
Processor Reset
In the rare case where the unit’s operation or the displays
seem abnormal, the cause may involve the erratic
operation of the system’s memory or microprocessor.
To correct this problem, first unplug the unit from the
AC wall outlet and wait at least three minutes. After the
pause, reconnect the AC power cord and check the
unit’s operation. If the system still malfunctions, a
system reset may clear the problem.
To clear the AVR 430’s entire system memory including
tuner presets, output level settings, delay times and
speaker configuration data, first put the unit in Standby
by pressing the Standby/On Switch1. Next, press
and hold the Surround Mode Group Selector2
and the Tuning Mode Selector8buttons for three
seconds.
The unit will turn on automatically and display the
RESET message in the Upper Display Line #.
NOTE: Resetting the processor will erase any configuration
settings you have made for speakers, output
levels, surround modes, digital input assignments as
well as the tuner presets. The unit will be returned to
the factory presets, and all settings for these items
must be reentered.
If the system is still operating incorrectly, there may
have been an electronic discharge or severe AC line
interference that has corrupted the memory or
microprocessor.
If these steps do not solve the problem, consult an
authorized Harman Kardon service center.
TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE
TROUBLESHOOTING

I have a avr 520 and had put it away for about 6 months to reno the theater room when it was done I hooked it all back up and it started to shut down. Not when the radio was on but when I was playing a blue ray movie after reading all the pages of info there was on this subject I went home and disconnected the speakers and sub and then played the movie with no sound for 30 minutes. Then hooked up one rear at a time let that run for 20 minutes each then the other rear. Restarted movie moved to sub then right front center then left front and it went off. Unhooked left speaker and it ran fine. ran new speaker wire to left front and it ran fine ran 2 full movies through it. The speaker wire I use is not cheap either 12 gauge 99 percent oxygen free wire. Somewhere in the reno it was snagged or pinched and was grounding out causing the unit to overheat and turn the unit off. Thanks everyone for their input that info help a lot. hopefully these helps someone

(Private User) said:

I had this problem as well, had it sent for repair 3 times (shipping a beast like the AVR430 isn't cheap!) The first two times the repair lasted about 2-3 months each time.  The third about 18 months.  It is now well off warranty and I have a massive paperweight. I tried the 'reset to factory settings' button combo, that doesn't fix it. First repair: replaced the encoder and adjusted the bias. Second repair: DSP board was defective, repaired. Third and final repair: Adjusted bias. Looks like a lemon to me.  Maybe someone wants it for parts/remote

Click to expand...

Wow that's rough luck. What's the average repair cost for something like that? I've had 4 yamaha AVRs since the early 90's, and never had one go bad. Maybe lucky.