So apparently I accidentally plugged the hicap socket 2 into my power amp. In the beginning it is fine, I played music through it for 2 hours and there were no problems. At night after I listened to my music, turned off the music, switched volume to 0 and mute. There were light popping sounds from the speakers , few seconds apart. After that, I went and checked the amps, I heard some sort of water boiling sound and a burnt smell from the power amp. Immediately turned off the power amp, and I never able to turn it back on again, The fuse was blown. Next day, took it to the shop opened it up and looked into the board, there was nothing burned but in fact it was clean. Currently it is being checked in the shop now. Anybody know what the damage would be.
With your system you use Hicap socket 4 to connect to the 62, using a 5 pin Snaic. You then connect the Hicap to the 110 using any of sockets 1, 2 or 3, using a 4 pin Snaic. Socket 3 is the recommended one, as the signal path is shortest, but it’s no problem connecting to either of the other sockets.
Thats what the person that checked my power amp said. There should not be any problem, but since i told him that there is a weird water boiling sound from the amp itself and popping sound from the speakers. He straight up told me that he will recheck it again. Since the fuse blew for some reason
You should have no problems with the amp connected to Socket 2 of the Hicap (socket 3 is usually best avoided on early Hicaps as it has a single 24v supply on one of the pins).
A water boiling sound in the amp does not sound good. I think you need to have a good talk with whoever “checked over” the amp at the shop. A blown fuse is both good and bad news - good because it protected you from a catastrophic failure (particularly if the transformer broke down), but bad news because it could indicate a serious problem (such as a broken down transformer…). Have you tried a new fuse yet? Make sure it is exactly the same as the standard supplied T fuse.
They took a whole day checking it, tmr im gonna ask them if it is completely fine or not. I asked them if i should buy a fuse and try it. Then, they told me not to as I may damage something more inside
Checked with the technician, and they said that there is definitely something wrong with the transformer because the fuse blew again and they smell something terrible from it. Hope it can be fixed or not I am doomed.
If it’s the transformer that has broken down then the only fix is a new replacement, and that’s a back to Naim job. It does of course depend on whether they still have any NAP110 transformers available. You should maybe also have a chat with Darran at Class A in case he has one spare that he can fit.
They said they are checking if the transformer is fixable first, if not I would tell them to change the transformer
Leadpin - so disappointing your system has been damaged. I hope it can be repaired for you - Naim kit is in my experience very reliable.
Case in point is the age old discussion about leaving Naim systems powered on or not. Most Naim users leave theirs powered up - but I definitely DO NOT! The reason being is that my old non-Naim phono stage literally blew up a few years ago whilst it was in use. The PSU went bang and took the whole house out (thank goodness for modern consumer units!) I know the system was being used and I was in the house, but what would have happened if I had popped out for a while? Thankfully the Naim kit was fine and didn’t even blow their internal fuses so I was lucky. I’d be the first to admit it scared the **** out of me.
So your system problems brought this all flooding back!!
So I power my system on about an hour or so before I use it and after the warm up period everything seems fine and stable. As long as I use the Naim recommended switch on and off sequence - things are hunky dory.
Good luck with getting your kit sorted.
Thank you man, it is in the shop currently. The technicians still checking if the transformer is still repairable. If it is not, no doubt I’m going to change the transformer. So far, they said that it should not have any problem since the whole transformer did not blow up or anything like that when they put in a second fuse and turning it on.
My hicap and preamp got checked before by them and the hicap recently got recapped and some transistors replaced. So they are still going strong.
Hey guys, don’t leave your Naim kit on because my non-Naim phono stage, you know, like blew up and stuff, but my Naim stuff was fine. So turn it off like now!
I’ll turn it off when im not at home, most of the time i leave the volume at 0 and mute. For the source, I completely turn off the balance to unbalanced converter off. When I’m at home, I’ll only leave the amps on
Do I contact directly to Darren or class a Sheffield for the transformer
Yes, contact Darran, or the factory. If they have one, you would have to send your NAP110 to them for repair. AFAIK, neither will just sell parts for an unknown to fit unless you’re outside the UK and your distributor has servicing facilities, in which case Naim could supply the distributor with the parts needed for them to make the repair.
I’m all the way in Malaysia, so only way is for Darren or the factory to send me the parts. My technician said that they can replace it as they have the equipments. My manager said that getting parts from naim themselves will be very expensive so I will get it from Darren.
Naim will likely only supply your local distributor.
Only other option is to look for a secondhand NAP110 or extruded case SNAPS (this used the same transformer), which sometimes come up on a certain auction site, ideally in need of service or repair and then scavenge it for parts.
The most economical option may just be to scrap your unit, sell the parts such as case etc… and then buy another working NAP110.
Darren will only service units sent from within the EU due to the complications with shipping and customs, so I doubt he will be able to help, but you can always ask. I suspect Richard’s suggestion might be the best way forward.
Some poeple keep on telling me that there is no fault with the transformer but instead the smoothing capacitors and the bridge rectifier.
It should be easy for your technician to check whether the transformer is faulty or not. Also the capacitors and bridge rectifier are going to be cheaper and easier to get hold of than a transformer, so there is a case for replacing those components anyway and see whether that sorts the problem out. They are far more likely to have failed than the transformer and if a capacitor has failed with a short circuit, that could explain the noise and smell.
Best
David
Which people? Another engineer? Or have you been in touch with Naims service dept.?
Surely the engineer should know best what is wrong?