Audio bargain or flea market junk? (Rockville Audio)

[Bluewater272]

Turns out it was a minor hardware failure, and not the thing melting down inside. RCA input came apart. Tried to shove it back in, but no dice.

At least it was a nice night to sit in the slip and putz with the boat.

 

[bigblank69]

There are a lot of decent brands, that do Marine Audio besides JL that won't cost an arm and a leg... surprised no one ever talks about those brands...

 

[Austin1]

Anybody have any experience with these?

http://www.audiosavings.com/catalog...rine-boat-speakers-w-led-s-bluetooth-receiver

 

[bigblank69]

Yeah, MB Quart speakers are not what they used to be. I bought some for my last boat and it wasn't very impressive. Polk DBs are better for the money. Also stay away from Maxxsonics products in general (Hifonics, MB Quart, Crunch) it's all pretty low grade stuff now.

 

[the MfM]

Went to the lake Friday. Warmed up the engines and flipped the stereo on for a few minutes. Everything worked fine.

Went to go for a ride fifteen minutes later and... no sound.

Took the amp home and bench tested it today. Turns on and connects via Bluetooth no problem. But no output on any channel.

Found the problem but can’t decide if the capacitor is leaking or just poor assembly. As the black goo looks similar to what was used in other places.

This pic is looking at the bottom side of the board. So if that is leaking electrolyte I would have thought it would dripped down away from the board.



This little bit of what looks like a wire strand was embedded in the goo and touching the inductor.




I moved that goo/wire away from the inductor. And tested it again and the amp works again. On channel one anyways. Have not tested the rest yet.

 

[the MfM]

Changed my vote to flea market junk. But on the fence as to whether I should send it back now or just throw it back in the boat.

Might try to get the rest of the season out of it and send it back for warranty repair this winter and see if they will replace the board.

 

[Mainah]

Poor assembly or things are getting too hot. Look at the surface traces in that area at the lip of the heat sink chassis connector. What model is that?

 

[the MfM]

Poor assembly or things are getting too hot. Look at the surface traces in that area at the lip of the heat sink chassis connector. What model is that?

It’s the 8 channel marine version. Same one @seanmclean has I believe.

Went to amazon to look up the exact model and it’s not available there anymore. Checked the Rockville site and they don’t have it on their site anymore. I wonder if they know they have a problem with them?

Looked at the warranty policy closer and I think they’ll pay return shipping if it’s within 90 days so I’ll call them tomorrow and see what they say.

 

[Bluewater272]

https://www.rockvilleaudio.com/rxm8btw/

As long as you're within 90 days, they should do an advance exchange for you (place a hold on your card for the full amount, and ship you one). I might not mention that you disassembled it, lol.

 

[the MfM]

Just tried to call them and their message says they are out to lunch

 

[the MfM]

Spent a half hour waiting to talk to someone.

They won’t send out a replacement without me returning it because I bought it from Amazon and it’s been more than 30 days. If I had bought from Rockville 90 days is the cutoff.

Still have a warranty for one year.

But they don’t have any in stock to send me if they can’t fix it. In which case they will offer me an exchange for something different.

Sooo... I’m back to thinking I’ll see how long it will work the way it is.

 

[Bluewater272]

Ugh, that sucks. I still need to box mine up and send it back. Not sure what else I'd want if they can't repair.

 

[the MfM]

Yep. And they don’t know when more will be in stock.


Customer service guy seemed to indicate they would work with me to get something that would work with my system. Might be willing to give two four channel amps in exchange.

But by the time I pay to ship it back and then rewire for two amps I’m definitely not coming out ahead. Plus I like having Bluetooth direct through the amp.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

Well I think you guys have answered the thread question. A small sample size, but two failures.... the odds of that are pretty low.

Why not see what Amazon could do? Or be more stern with them? Your amp is defective, they don't have a replacement... you should get a refund.

 

[the MfM]

Well I think you guys have answered the thread question. A small sample size, but two failures.... the odds of that are pretty low.

Why not see what Amazon could do? Or be more stern with them? Your amp is defective, they don't have a replacement... you should get a refund.

The warranty is for repair or replacement at their discretion. Since I’ve already ‘repaired’ it there’s no point in sending it back.

Im thinking I should wait for it to stop working again then send it back. Maybe the next batch from China will be more robust.

 

[Bluewater272]

The warranty is for repair or replacement at their discretion. Since I’ve already ‘repaired’ it there’s no point in sending it back.

Im thinking I should wait for it to stop working again then send it back. Maybe the next batch from China will be more robust.

Did you get the rest of the channels working? If so, I'd let it ride at least til the end of the season, no rush to send back since they aren't exactly doing you any favors. If I had been able to get that RCA to connect again, I'd have left it til the fall.

 

[the MfM]

Did you get the rest of the channels working? If so, I'd let it ride at least til the end of the season, no rush to send back since they aren't exactly doing you any favors. If I had been able to get that RCA to connect again, I'd have left it til the fall.

I put the amp back together and tested all 8 channels one at a time and they all work.

I’ll put it in the boat this weekend and see what happens and if anything spontaneously combusts oozes black goo.

 

[bigblank69]

The black goo is likely CA glue used to secure components to the board... Capacitors do not leak like that...

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

The black goo is likely CA glue used to secure components to the board... Capacitors do not leak like that...

What kind CA Glue would melt like that? I have seen CA Glue hold up on 1000s of watts and extreme heat from subwoofers.

 

[bigblank69]

Did it melt or is it soft? Soft black could also be silicone. It is was a cap bursting you would see it on the top of the cap as the top of the cap usually swells outward before a total cap failure.