PLEASE HELP, I think my HK AVR-125 just died :( (1 Viewer)

[Josh Varghese]

I really hope I'm missing something simple here. Here's the story.

So after having a successful run with HarmanAudio through ebay, I decided why not try again. I purchased an H/K AVR-125Z (the Z simply means its a remanufactured unit).

Well everything worked beautifully for the first few days. But then today something weird started happening. The receiver will just shut off and the ring around the power button changes colors rapidly. Generally this occurs when I do something like change the source or go from a DD to a DTS track using the Audio button on my dvd player. Schreecy noise emits from the speakers, the receiver shuts off (as if some type of short circuit is occurring) and the ring light starts flashing like crazy. I have tried a system reset, and moving the receiver to another power outlet with no success. Same problem occurs.

Anybody had this type of thing occur with an H/K receiver? Know the fix? Or is something seriously wrong with my unit?

I appreciate any feedback I get, thanks.

Josh
[email protected]

 

[MikeMcGrew]

Hey Josh,
I have purchased a few different things from Harman Audio, all refurbs, and so far (over a year for some) no problems. I do know, however, that you have full warranty on all of the products they sell. If it hasn't been that long, just call them and let them know what's happening. If this problem has been occuring since you got the receiver, then they will replace it (probably with another refurb). Although Harman puts out some pretty decent receivers when they work, they sure seem to have a ton of remanufactured items too. This is usually a plus for those of us with sad little HT budgets but some times you do get a lemon. It's bound to happen and it is a chance you take when buying something that has been remanufactured. I know that probably doesn't make you feel much better with no receiver right now but take stock in the fact that you were smart enough to buy from an authorized dealer and that they will stand behind you. I think the most you may get stuck with here is shipping the receiver back to them. If I'm not mistaken, they are located in Pheonix. I do not own a H/K receiver but I have purchased refurbed speakers and the like from them (JBL's) and have been very pleased. A hint on the shipping, if the receiver arrived DOA, they will cover the cost of shipping it back so get in touch with them asap. It does indeed sound like the receiver is bad though. Sorry about that. Good luck and keep us posted as to how they handle the situation. The HTF carries a lot of weight with most of these companies. If you do run in to problems, don't be afraid to mention that you post on a board with over 30,000 members. Managers tend to know how to treat well informed/connected customers. MM

 

[Josh Varghese]

Dang. Well the only problem about sending it back is...I live in a college dorm room. Since there is not exactly a lot of room for storage, I went ahead and threw away the original box and packing materials after a few days of perfect operation.

Do you think they would send me another unit first and let me send back mine in the packaging the new one arrives in? I have already e-mailed harman audio (would call if I knew a number but can't find one) about the problem and am waiting for their response.

I guess my other option is taking in for repair somewhere. The warranty paper has a 1-800 # for HK repair centers. Anyone have any experience with these centers? What is the turnaround time and do you pay any out of pocket expenses?

Thanks

 

[MikeMcGrew]

Hey Josh,

Here is the link to Harman's website support page. The customer service number is 1-877-714-5467. This number and others are located at the link provided. Call them and let them know what's going on. All of the info you need should be at this site. MM

 

[Josh Varghese]

Thanks for your help. I will be calling first chance I get on Monday! Hopefully I can get this resolved quickly.

 

[Robert PP]

Josh,

Any word on the outcome?

I just bought an AVR-125 for Christmas, have just now set it up, and I think I am having the same EXACT problem, except I don't have to change the input source for it to happen.

I have an optical out on my computer connected to the #1 optical input on the AVR-125, and I'm using this as my source to listen to mp3's from my computer. Everything runs fine for a few minutes, then, ZAP! :frowning:

The AVR-125 receiver shuts off, sometimes preceded by the screechy noise from the speakers, sometimes not. The power indicator (the ring light) then flickers quickly from green to orange for a few minutes. I have to turn off the main power switch and turn it back on again to get the receiver to work again, or I can wait a few minutes for the indicator to stop flickering and stabilize orange. However, this "resetting" fix is only temporary, as the shutoff with accompanying flickering power indicator inevitably happens again after a few minutes of listening.

From HK's website, I found an authorized service center nearby. Can anyone give me some good advice on what my best option is? Should I call HK to see if I can get the unit sent back to them for replacement/repair? Or should I bring the unit to the nearby authorized service center to see if they can fix it?

The service center is here:
RADIO SHACK CORP DBA TANDY # 4
10621 HARWIN DRIVE SUITE 300
HOUSTON TX, 77036
Phone: (713) 995-8337

Anyone have any experience with these guys?

Any advice anyone can give to get me on the best path is greatly appreciated.


EDIT: While typing this post, the unit had been playing almost the whole time with no problems (approx. 10 minutes), but just went out as described above. :frowning:

Thanks again for any help.

Robert

 

[Josh Varghese]

HarmanAudio showed great customer service back when I had my problem. Since my receiver (even though refurbished) had a 1 year manuf. warrranty, they gladly sent me a replacement.

One step better: I had thrown away the box to my receiver and had nothing to shipped it back in. They offered me the following solution: they charge me for a new receiver, send it, I use the new box to send in the broken receiver, and they credit my money back upon receipt of the broken reciever.

I took this option and everything worked out terrifically.

Josh Varghese
[email protected]

 

[Steve Adams]

Lot's of Harmans have this exact same problem. esp, the 125's. my friend had one , same thing happened, he got the new 130 on replacement....

 

[Robert PP]

Thanks guys.

I also threw away the original packaging for the receiver, so it looks like I will have to make a similar arrangement with HK if I get a replacement unit.

But before I go down that path, does anyone have anything to add (good or bad) about the other option of taking the receiver to the authorized service center for repair? If the nearby repair center (Radio Shack) is capable of fixing the problem quickly and competently, then maybe I can avoid the costs of shipping the receiver to HK, and avoid the (I'm assuming) longer wait for a new unit.

If not, then off I go to get an RMA from HK!

 

[David G Greene]

HarmonAudio.com replaced my broken 110 avr with a 120 avr at no charge. I'm happy.

 

[Mark Murphy]

I thought I had a problem w/my AVR-225 so I took it to an authorized repair center. It was quick and painless. I showed them the receipt (important to have that), they took my info and it was off. They called me two days later and I got my reciever back.

 

[Robert PP]

Please bear with me as I backtrack for a minute. Before I had the shutoff/blinking power ring problems, I first had a related problem, at least I think it's related.

I'm still waiting for my 12 awg speaker wire to arrive from parts express, so in the meantime, I decided to test out the optical inputs, using one speaker (Fluance SX-HTB front floorstander) for the sound output. To hook up the speaker, I used an old piece of 18 awg speaker wire from an old system, no banana plugs. I connected my computer's optical digital audio out to the receiver optical digital input. While doing this, I inadvertently bumped lightly into the left side of the AVR-125 receiver (the side nearest the power switch), nothing major I thought. And let me stress, I bumped it LIGHTLY, as would be expected when moving stuff around during installation. So I go to the front of the receiver, and the ring light is no longer lit, though the unit is plugged in and the main power switch is on. I think "@^!*&@!!!, my receiver is broken!" So I disconnect it and try to diagnose what's wrong. I try a different power outlet, nothing. So while sitting there pondering what to do next, I lightly tap on the left side of the receiver, and the ring light comes back on to orange, and the receiver "works" again. However, later I find that it now has the shutoff problem, as already described in the above posts.

So yesterday I call H/K and describe the problem. The guy on the other end says he's never heard of the shutoff/flickering ring light problem before, but he suspects that the receiver is going into some sort of "safe" mode. He suggests that I check to make sure the speaker wires are not shorting out, so I say okay, I'll try this and call back after I can eliminate that.

So today, I decide to eliminate altogether the speaker wires shorting out as the cause of the problem. I go to Home Depot and buy a 6ft length of 12 awg speaker wire and four banana plugs. I hook everything up, and everything works fine for a good while; the problem apparently "disappears." I don't trust it at all, though, so I give the receiver a test: I go up to it and lightly tap the left side, and ZAP! The receiver shuts off. Problem is back. After I shut off the main power switch, switch it back on, and play music, after a while the receiver shuts off, and the ring light flickers like crazy. Back to square one.

It seems to me that something in the receiver is loose that should not be loose. A receiver should not crap out when it is lightly tapped, should it? Shouldn't they be more durable/rugged than that?

So basically what I have is a hyper-delicate receiver that seems to work as long as you never touch it. If you should accidentally lightly bump into it (during installation, for example), it craps out as described above. It's a wonder that it survived UPS delivery.

Anyway, tomorrow I'll be a little late to work since I've decided to take the recevier to the service center, and this is more or less the situation I will be describing to them. Hopefully it turns out okay.

As an aside, the receiver is for my girlfriend, who knows very little about electronics, nor does she care to know. I'm having a hard time explaining to her that Harman Kardon makes good high quality receivers after all of this. I guess it's a matter of their receiver putting out high quality sound, IF you can get one that works, but this is splitting hairs to her and so falls on deaf ears. As far as she's concerned, the receiver I bought for her doesn't work, and now I have to go through all this freaking trouble just to get it to work, end of story!

Anyway, have a nice day and thanks for the feedback. Wish me luck with the service center!

 

[Rogozhin]

My refurb AVR225 does the same thing but only when driving a center channel alone.

It doesn't do it when I connect it to the FR or FL-but it will happen invariably every time with the center being driven.

rogo

 

[GraysonAng]

My refurb AVR125 is shutting off also. Is it a problem with the unit or a problem with something else?

I'm going to check the wiring. I'm also going to plug it into a socket by itself.

Thanks,
Grayson

 

[GraysonAng]

deleted

 

[Robert PP]

Here is an update to my situation.

I took the receiver to the repair shop 2 weeks ago today (Monday). At the time they told me the estimated time to repair would be 5-7 days, but as of earlier today (2 weeks) I still had not heard from them. So today I called them to find out the status of the repair. The (somewhat) good news is that I got to talk directly to the technician and he seemed very helpful and open. The bad news is that he said that the receiver is giving him fits. He got it to play for about an hour yesterday before it shut off. He said that he's been going through all the steps in various H/K repair procedures, but with no luck. He also said that he has a bunch of other H/K's there with similar problems, and that the AVR125, AVR225, AVR325, etc. were all prone to the shutoff problem. He was able to repair a lot of the other H/K's currently in his shop with similar symptoms, but he can't get mine to work properly for some reason. He said he would try a few more repair measures, and then if worse comes to worse as a last resort he would get a return authorization (RA) from H/K to replace the unit outright. However, he said that he hoped he could get the unit repaired within the next couple of days, because if we go the RA route it could be about a month before I get the replacement unit.

I will update my status as events transpire for those that are interested.

Bummer, so far.

 

[Robert PP]

Final update (hopefully):

Got the receiver back last week, hooked it up, works fine.

Word of advice:
If you ever take your receiver to a repair shop, it will save you a lot of trouble if the technician that is actually doing the repair is clear on exactly what problems you are having with the unit. I guess I learned this the hard way. When I first brought the receiver in, I tried to tell the check-in clerk the specifics of the problem, but all she wrote on the ticket was "receiver shuts off after playing for a few minutes" and that's it. At the time, I figured oh well, that's all they need to know, they'll figure it out. Wrong. The tech worked on my unit for a week and a half to no avail, until finally I called him to check status and told him my story (see above). He told me he wished he would have known sooner, because he had been looking in all the wrong places for the problem. Afterwards, he focused his efforts on whatever electronics are located near the power switch, and fixed the problem.

Anyway, as stated on my receipt, the repairs he ended up doing are as follows:

resoldered loose connections/broken traces.
aligned, cleaned and tested functions.
repaired many cable connections, resoldered ==BN96, CN90, CN96, ETC.== restored and verified proper operation

After a total of 3 weeks at the repair shop, my AVR125 is finally up and running with no further problems.

 

[Rogozhin]

I had the problem when driving on speaker only-but has been working fine until last night.

Listening to the radio, went oustide and when I came back a loud screeching (throbbing sound) coming from all the channels-so I put it on it's own outlet and checked all speak3er connections and then powered up again-runs fine for about 4 minutes and then the screeching kreeps back-if I shut if off and then turn it back on it screeches immediately but if I shut if off and leave it for 5 minutes the scheeching doesn't start until about 4-6 minutes in-the power ring is flickers too.

I'm call HK and then will see what happens (this one is an ecost refurb-have had it for 2.5 months).

Rogo

 

[GraysonAng]

I have the same problem.

The service center said that new capacitors are needed so they've ordered them from Harman Kardon. It'll take 10 days for them to arrive.

Grayson

 

[Chris Sherman]

For those with the shut off problem . Was your unit purchased new or a refurbished? I have an AVR 225 over a year old with absolutely no problems and just purchased an AVR 325 new factory authorized with full 2 year warranty. I was just wondering if this is happening strictly with refurbs or with new units as well. Any particular manufacture date involved? I'm wondering if it affected early production units or not.