Second Hand Hercules II Motor Control Board

[youngdand]

Ibought one second hand which was dead on arrival, sent bck to edmond for repair, lasted 24 hours. paid $50

Blames it on a ground cable running from motor board. send him pictures of more than one deck with same grounds as mine.

Appalling. What is most serious, is that if a component on the board had not fallen out due to the excessive heat build up, is that it would have caught fire and burnt down my house.

Not impressed.

his response to my emails lead a lot to be desired. firstly claiming that the fault was mine, and secondly that to rectify it i should spend £200 dollars with him.

No thanks,

Lesson learnt the hard way.

[JaS]

Sorry to hear that, but are you sure there isn't a fault with the motor that's taking the board out? Also is it mounted onboard or in a separate box? I've never seen one in the flesh, but the Hercules seems to have a good reputation for reliability Also have you tried contacting the original seller or was it sold as DOA

Regards,
JaS

[youngdand]

I bought it from a guy on here, who said it was his spare and had never been plugged in.

I am just annoyed by the response "your turntable had been modified with extra grounds", when firstly, it hasn't and even if it had, it would be for safety and in accorance with the law, lastly, every rd11s has this ground as demonstrated in the various pictures i could find mostly from the gallery here, some of these tables were also fitted with the hercules. the ground in question attached to the plate that the motor sits on, which would be isolated for the ground to the top plate by the rubber gromets. He claims this is causing the board to overheat, which is just poppycock. it is most likely a faulty component on the board, one that he may not have been aware of, and th 1st owner would certainly not have ben aware of if they had never powered up the board. this issue is likely to build up heat over time and may not have shown in any testing, but it is the board at fault.

The board was fitted to the brace using nylon screws, and i have no reason to believe the motor to be at fault. the unit was returned once as it was dead, and feel that it is most likely still a fault with the board.

I have contacted the original seller, and will await their response. M next step maybe to contact my insurer to see what help they can give.

Cheers,

Dan.

[youngdand]

Just for reference, i have spent more on thisboard, shipping and repairs, than a new board now, and to add insult to injury, stamford audio are selling a reconditioned board for £135 with 12 months warranty.

[james n]

This is the first issue of a Hercules overheating/burning out/generally packing up I have heard of. It is CE rated, and has therefore complied to all Europe electrical regulations.

Blaming Edmond for a second hand unit is not the right way to go about things. The seller is responsible, and as it was a private individual, selling a second hand unit, neither Edmond or Stamford Audio are responsible.

I have no connection with the Hercules Board, other than being a very happy user.

[youngdand]

Well the board went o edmond, and was returned in a so called working order.

this is where the blame comes in i am affraid. I paid for a repair, the repair did not fix the board.

[JaS]

I bought it from a guy on here, who said it was his spare and had never been plugged in.

To be honest your first port of call should have been with the seller, unless the board was under warranty and this was transferable? Even then I'd have been tempted to send it straight back

The board was fitted to the brace using nylon screws, and i have no reason to believe the motor to be at fault. the unit was returned once as it was dead, and feel that it is most likely still a fault with the board.

It could well be a fault with the board, but it could equally be a fault with the installation causing a short, or a fault with the motor. Without knowing what the fault is and what caused it it's impossible to say. Did Edmond guarantee the repair or offer any further warranty when you sent the S/H board to him for repair?

M next step maybe to contact my insurer to see what help they can give.

For second hand electrical goods fitted by the owner? I'm not sure what insurance would cover this

Regards,
JaS

[youngdand]

furthermore, the problem with the board was so serious in nature that it could have endagered the lives of my family.

I feel this is sufficient.

[JaS]

furthermore, the problem with the board was so serious in nature that it could have endagered the lives of my family.

I feel this is sufficient.

I understand your concern but what exactly is the fault? If you've lost confidence in Edmond why not find a repairer in this country who can check out the board, the motor and the installation - it's the only way to be sure where the problem lies.

Regards,
JaS

[youngdand]

Edmond stated that the fault was with a transister, and that he had replaced it.

The component that dropped from the board when the solder round its pins melted was a varister.

I have emailed jonny seven to see if he can look at it. I know he services valhalla's so he may be able to troubleshoot it.

[JaS]

The component that dropped from the board when the solder round its pins melted was a varister.

It sounds like a short somewhere, whether on the board or elsewhere

I have emailed jonny seven to see if he can look at it. I know he services valhalla's so he may be able to troubleshoot it.

I was going to suggest J7. If he can't look at it he may know someone who can?

Regards,
JaS

[Edmond123]

Firstly, I must apologies for not being active on this thread for a while, I was thankful for some Hercules users trying to help me on this thread. This is not fair to listen to the story from one side. I must tell people what was happening from my side too. Then you can make your fair judgment.

Since this message has been there for quite long time, my reputation inevitably be damaged, I have no choice to disclose some emails to prove myself.

I must emphasis that the reason for the overall damaging of that Hercules because user put glue or epoxy on the PCB to stick that Hercules board onto the turntable. I am not sure the glue is from new user or the user sold it to him. But the glue is quite new, looks like newly added. The fact is RD11s does not have standoff clips for Hercules board like LP12. But glue is not a good idea. As you know, some glue is possibly conductive when being exposed to high voltage, nothing to do with Hercules quality. As some user mentioned, it has been selling for more than 5 years, the complaints is rare.

The story begins :

I received an email from youngdand on 15 Feb 2012

Hi Edmond,

I was hoping ou ma be able t help with a problem i am having with a hercules board aqquired from a respected member of this site.

The board is new, and unused. I have attached it to my aristone RD11s. The board powers up, and the switch lights up and changes speed no problem, however the motor doesn't spin, even with a little persuation. My Motors model number is 9904 111 31302.

Do you have an idea what could be causing this problem?

When I ask him to send me the photo of that board, that Hercules board was recognized 5 years old. I can identify from the components being used.

Because it is working but no power to the motor, I ask user to check the output voltage to the motor, actually, I am providing a free consulting service to him as usual.

youngdand replied to me that no voltage was being measured at output to motor.

My email to him

In that case, it is really hard to tell what is wrong with your Hercules board.
Unless you send it to me.

You can send to address below:

XXXXX
I will check the problem, I won't charge you more than USD50 including freight charge sending it back to you by speed post.

I wish it is acceptable to you.

reply from youngdand

Hi edmond.

Thanks that would be great. could you also make up a longer switch cable for me too? to fit an ariston rd11s, i believe you have made a few of these for other members. this would save me the bother. let me know how much this would be.

I will send the board over next week by airsure so should be with you by friday.

Once again thanks for your help.

Hi ,

Your board is fixed. The extension cable is done as well.

If you send the payment 32 quid to my PayPal account as below.

I can send it back to you by speed post after received the PayPal notification about the payment.

Man, 32 quid including speed Post which cost me 15 quid and a free longer switch cable including modification to him because his application was RD11s.
Is it a bargain?? I mainly try to help him to resurrect that Hercules board.

My email telling him what was wrong with his board on 2March2012.
Thanks for your payment.

I found there were trace of glue stick on the board, I have to clean most of them. In additional, one driving transistor is dead, replaced a new one.

I will ship it out in 1-2 days.

Best regards,

After sending back the Hercules back to him, he replied to me

Hi Edmund,

The board arrived back. Worked fine for 24 hours. When i came to listen to some music this evening. no power. I have since found the fuse to have blown. One of the blue sincera 10d151k blue varistors apeaers to have melted off at the legs and detached from the board. I found this laying in the plinth of the turntable, and there was a faint smell of burning. The board is fitted exactly as instructed. it is mounted using nylon screws bonded to the crossbrace.

Thanks,

After reviewed the message from user about the Varistor melt off, I believe there were possibly still some trace of glue stick on that board was not removable or user put new glue again to stick that Hercules board onto his turntable. , that trace of glue may caused that Varistor damaged and dropped out when high voltage being conducted for 24 hours. This is good sign, it means the Hercules Varistor protection circuit is working fine.

Youngdand worte ,

Appalling. What is most serious, is that if a component on the board had not fallen out due to the excessive heat build up, is that it would have caught fire and burnt down my house.

This is over exaggerated, How does it catch fire???? if so, that Varistor will not be CE approved????? Or it should not be used in any electrical application.

In fact, I offered his a very good price of Mose, so he can send back his bad Hercules board. I will fix it for him free and installed that inside Mose , so he don’t need to fix that Hercules board by glue again.


After he received my offer,

hi Edmond,

No i cannot afford anywhere like that.

What i will do is pass this matter to my insurance company to look into. I can show that i paid for repair, and that it was not repaired. furthermore, if the component had not fallen out, then it could have burnt my house down. the turntable is stock, and wired according to uk law, so they can test the board to see if they can find fault and take it up with you directly.

Thanks,

My last mail to him

I have no comment until your insurance contact me, Sorry sir.

I try to resolve that issue with him friendly, but he want to settle this case by law.

I truly believe he will send that case to his lawyer, so I have nothing to do until his insurance contact me.

I didn’t know he try to bad mouth me on the forum instead.

[Edmond123]

youngdand accusing me . It is not truth:

his response to my emails lead a lot to be desired. firstly claiming that the fault was mine, and secondly that to rectify it i should spend £200 dollars with him.

No thanks,

Lesson learnt the hard way.

My original email to him on 19 May 2012

Hi Dan,

My best offer for USD199 less 15% off , which is USD 169 plus freight charge by air parcel USD35.00.

The total will be USD204.00.

As you said you were impress by the sound , I can say the Mose + Hercules is many times better than Hercules alone.

If it is acceptable to you, you can send the payment and the bad board and the switch to me.

Best regards, Edmund

[rockdove]

I think thew seller should offer you a full refund inc shipping.
Then get one from Stamford.
I got a Herc II around 2005/06 for my lp12 it's a great board & never given me ounce of trouble.

lp12/cirkus/hercules II/lvIII/empire vdh-1000