Neil
We recently had yet another thread concerning the merits of leaving equipment powered up. I notice somebody mentioned a failed relay, and now you’ve also mentioned the fault could be a failed relay.
As a relay is a mechanical component, isn’t there an argument for exercising the relay by regularly de-energising/energising. This is common practice with a motorised heating valves, during the summer an inactive valve will be exercised once a week to avoid premature failure.
Hi Fatcat,
The fault with Holger’s unit could be any number of things really, the relays in the 52 are normally pretty reliable, but it’s not out of the question.
As for exercising the relays by power cycling, I’m not sure on that one. I can see why a motorised heating valve may seize without regular actuation due to water/sludge/inhibitor etc. being involved, but the only moving part inside these relays is a tiny reed, fixed at one end & flexes when attracted by the electromagnet.
Regards
Neil.
There is always a queue when it comes to places, where good work is done :o)
How long do you think the waiting time could be? Only guessing!
I am currently thinking about am interim preamp 72 or 102 could be fine. Or 82 for a reasonable price …
Don’t know but guess yes.
I would be interested to learn when this 52 was last serviced… 
I have a 72 as my back-up. Safe choice.
Pots 8 had Been done some years ago.
Full Service has Never Been Done i assume.
Sold my 72 Last year :0(
There you have your answer…
I don’t think, that it is possible to see a small piece like an relais, which is weak and will be faulty in a few days. BUT - if changed during service… 
Does anyone know, what is done during a complete update/service/recapping of the NAC 52?
How many components are replaced.
Is the update done in the signal path only or changes done in the sections too?
Things happen fast… :O)
I have a very good option for repair and (with good chance) for recapping in Germany - very good service point. :O) Did not know of him yesterday. If there will be a problem, I will send it to the UK. Here on the continent the options are a bit limited. Also at naim they send some of the repairs to be done to the UK. Will try my 52 to be repaired and tweaked in Germany first.
And my dealer offered me lending a 102 - this is very fine for me (THX to him).
But suddenly I found at eBay (Italy) a 52 from 2000 with black Burndy and in perfect condition / serviced in 2019 (full recap) including the service receipt. And the price was very good as well (very reasonable). The seller send me a lot of fotos - it looks very nice in every angle. Hope it will feel the same as it looks like.
For shipping I paid a bit extra and now have to decide if I would be best shipped via DHL Express or DHL - what do you think might be best…
Now I have 2 NAC 52.
Will definitely bring my 52 to service and repair and afterwards I will test them against each other. Will keep the better one - whichever it is.
If my current 52 wins (which might be possible, because it sounded so good :)), selling the new one will be no problem at all (even without Black Burndy ).
Happy again …
Wow! That was unexpected! I hope the new one is as nice as the seller says.
As for servicing, it includes all of the tantalum caps*, 47uF axials*, switch on delay cap & any other bits that need doing while it’s back at “home”.
*That would include phono cards if fitted.
Regards
Neil.
Thanks Yess - this is unexpected. These units do not come out very often…
It is late series and late green and with black Burndy… could be worse :o)
But you only know it, when it arrives…
Same with every second hand buy. Even when it is in your town - soundcheck can only be done, when you arrive at home.
Never would have bought it outside eBay … in our local eBay Kleinanzeigen there are daily fake adverts - when I see it, ill inform eBay every time :O)
The 52 is also first hand and Non-smoking environment!
Service was done at LASA service centre in Piacenza.
According to the forum here, they do a good job and are certified for naim service.
Think they know, what they are doing - even a small recap is better than none
Forgot to ask - since when is the Pots 8 included - is there a defined serial number?
That might require some deep digging!
I’ll see what I can find.
Regards
Neil.
Sorry - found it…
Yes - I’ve just managed to find some PCB data from 97.
To be honest - I have no idea what POTs8 means - something to do with the motors powering vol and balance?
The early revisions used an integrated circuit to drive the pots & the later ones used discrete components to do the same job as well as a more intelligent design that allowed the entire drive circuit to sleep when not in use. There is little difference between rev 7 & 8 other than the omission of an opto-isolator that became superfluous due to the redesign.
Regards
Neil.
Thanks - this is a reasonable improvement in my (non technical) understanding.
If there is a faulty POTs Board sometime - could this still be repaired?
My dealer told me, that the only difficult repair option are the remote circuits - so I understood. But I think he meant the motors, which are rare to get.