Advice on channel dropping and north london techie (or near the a1 up as far as Durha

**Lawrence001** · 17-12-2016, 20:38

I finally feel like I've got my system sounding just as I want. The only issue is the right channel on my integrated drops out sometimes or loses volume so vocals etc move to the left. It seems to happen more often when it's just been switched on. However that's not always the case. Lifting and lowering the case does usually sort it out for a while. So I think the culprits are likely to be a dry solder joint, capacitor or relay. However I've noticed that the volume in the right seems to drop a bit when I turn the volume down I thought that was an imbalance in the pot but I'm wondering if this is a sign of a dodgy capacitor on the channel.

The question is what should I do can I sort this out myself ? If it helps it's an exact copy of the Electrocompaniet ECI5.

If I can't get to the source I'll be looking to find someone competent to take a look but I'm wary after someone who was apparently a genius at these things nearly destroyed my accuphase amp. As I suspect this problem happened in the post I will have to hand deliver and collect hence they should be based in north london or the A1 corridor. As I didn't spend a lot of money on it and I'm not sure it has a great deal of intrinsic value (despite sounding like an ECI5!) I'm reluctant to spend much on sorting it out, but it does sound fabulous so I'm determined to keep it going.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

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**Arkless Electronics** · 17-12-2016, 20:42

If you can get a little further up the A1... about 30 miles to be precise, I am only about 3 miles from an A1 junction.
How is it an exact copy of an Electrocompaniet ECI5?

**Lawrence001** · 17-12-2016, 20:55

It is a Chinese clone of the amp a pic of the real one inside shows the layout is identical to a mkI ECI5 (thought I can't vouch for the components).

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**Lawrence001** · 17-12-2016, 20:56

Oh and thanks, is that in Northumberland?

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**Lawrence001** · 17-12-2016, 21:31

Ok I opened it up to have a look. Fiddled with all the capacitors and tapped all the chips/op amps/voltage regulators etc with no result. Then I fiddled with the relay and the right channel cut in and out. So this is probably the culprit but I'm not sure if a it's faulty relay or a dry solder joint underneath. After about 10 mins fiddling again didn't have any effect if that shows anything. Anyway here's a pic of the inside and another of the likely culprit.

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**Arkless Electronics** · 17-12-2016, 21:40

Originally Posted by Lawrence001

Oh and thanks, is that in Northumberland?

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Yep, Bedlington.

**Lawrence001** · 17-12-2016, 21:54

Thanks that's still possible in theory . It has stopped playing up since I fiddled but I can't imagine it will last long. Just speaking theoretically for now, what would be the possibility of us popping to holy island for the day dropping it off on the way up (by prior agreement) and picking it up on the way back if the problem is limited to the relay? I've found a few of them on ebay with the same code [ hh54p (my4) ] but they seem to have various specs for the coil voltage so I'll have another look and see if there are any clues. Though I'm sure it's just a solder joint, tapping didn't do anything I had to rock it. Of course rocking it could have twisted the board and made a loose contact elsewhere i cant be 100% sure, and I'm sure you wouldn't assume I was anyway.

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**Arkless Electronics** · 17-12-2016, 22:45

Originally Posted by Lawrence001

Thanks that's still possible in theory . It has stopped playing up since I fiddled but I can't imagine it will last long. Just speaking theoretically for now, what would be the possibility of us popping to holy island for the day dropping it off on the way up (by prior agreement) and picking it up on the way back if the problem is limited to the relay? I've found a few of them on ebay with the same code [ hh54p (my4) ] but they seem to have various specs for the coil voltage so I'll have another look and see if there are any clues. Though I'm sure it's just a solder joint, tapping didn't do anything I had to rock it. Of course rocking it could have twisted the board and made a loose contact elsewhere i cant be 100% sure, and I'm sure you wouldn't assume I was anyway.

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It's doable yes but I'd have to order in a suitable relay (and charge for it) whether or not this turned out to be the problem as obviously there would not be time to order anything and get it the same day/within an hour or two.... it appears to be 12V BTW. Or of course you can supply the relay. Most generic parts (resistors etc) I'd have in stock.

**Lawrence001** · 01-01-2017, 14:24

Sorry for the delayed reply happy new year! I'll have a look inside and see if I can get to the bottom of the PCB. If not I'll probably bring it round. Have you worked on Electrocompaniet amps before?

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**Arkless Electronics** · 01-01-2017, 15:16

Originally Posted by Lawrence001

Sorry for the delayed reply happy new year! I'll have a look inside and see if I can get to the bottom of the PCB. If not I'll probably bring it round. Have you worked on Electrocompaniet amps before?

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Yes.... but it's totally irrelevant! Happy new year!

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