Parasound HCA-2200ii Loud Popping and Flash from Inside

PrazVT
PrazVT Posts: 1,607
edited March 2011 in Electronics
Over the last hour, I was in my room and hearing random popping sounds coming from the living room.

My HT system has been on (receiver, the 3 Parasound amps, DAC, and SB) all day but it wasn't playing anything.

I heard the loud pop one more time and thought it was coming from the speakers, and so I shut the system down.

I turned it on again, and saw that the loud (i mean loud) pop was coming from the Parasound HCA-2200ii and there was a flash of white light from the front inside of the amp (I think that is where the transformer is?). Anyway I shut it down and unplugged it immediately.

Has something died on this amp?! I just took it to be serviced at Parasound HQ like a month ago.
Dali Optikon 1Mk2
NAD D3020 V2
Schiit Bifrost 2/64

..the rest are headphone setups.
Post edited by PrazVT on
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,550
    edited March 2011
    PrazVT wrote: »
    Has something died on this amp?! I just took it to be serviced at Parasound HQ like a month ago.

    Sounds like something is toasty inside. You may have some sort of warranty on the repairs, so I would take it back to them asap.
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

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  • PrazVT
    PrazVT Posts: 1,607
    edited March 2011
    Yeah I'm going to call them first thing tomorrow. sucks.
    Dali Optikon 1Mk2
    NAD D3020 V2
    Schiit Bifrost 2/64

    ..the rest are headphone setups.
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  • aboroth00
    aboroth00 Posts: 1,106
    edited March 2011
    Sounds like something might have come loose within the amp. This is why you don't use a cheater plug kids!
    2Ch Tube Audio Convert
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  • PrazVT
    PrazVT Posts: 1,607
    edited March 2011
    Well, at least I wasn't doing that. Let me see what they say. Frankly, I'd rather spring for a new A21 than throw any more money at this thing.

    <insert expletive here>!!!!
    Dali Optikon 1Mk2
    NAD D3020 V2
    Schiit Bifrost 2/64

    ..the rest are headphone setups.
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  • PrazVT
    PrazVT Posts: 1,607
    edited March 2011
    Well, I dropped the Parasound folks an e-mail just now and Richard said he'd talk to Tony (the tech guy) about it tomorrow personally. So let's see what happens.

    As usual - apologies for a panicked post :)
    Dali Optikon 1Mk2
    NAD D3020 V2
    Schiit Bifrost 2/64

    ..the rest are headphone setups.
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  • kevhed72
    kevhed72 Posts: 5,083
    edited March 2011
    I had something similar happen with my 2003...the only thing I could figure was build-up on dust and dirt on the transformer...but after the loud pop and flash of light from the same areas as you described, it works fines.

    Does it work now?
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  • PrazVT
    PrazVT Posts: 1,607
    edited March 2011
    In my case it did it repeatedly for about an hour. Then I turned it on and off twice and it kept happening. Otherwise, I have left it unplugged since last night. I didn't see any dust inside (at least on the transformer), but I wasn't expecting much since they just serviced it literally 30 days ago.
    Dali Optikon 1Mk2
    NAD D3020 V2
    Schiit Bifrost 2/64

    ..the rest are headphone setups.
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  • PrazVT
    PrazVT Posts: 1,607
    edited March 2011
    I turned it on one more time, and something popped again (w/ a little smoke) ...the blue thing (capacitor?) on the left middle side this time:

    (this pic is just a google'd pic)

    Para_HCA2200_int.jpg
    Dali Optikon 1Mk2
    NAD D3020 V2
    Schiit Bifrost 2/64

    ..the rest are headphone setups.
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  • Erik Tracy
    Erik Tracy Posts: 4,673
    edited March 2011
    PrazVT wrote: »
    I turned it on one more time, and something popped again (w/ a little smoke) ...the blue thing (capacitor?) on the left middle side this time:

    Uh oh....that smoke is 'magic smoke' - once that escapes your amp won't work right. :tongue:

    Sorry to hear about that.

    I've had very few problems with my rig - but when they do happen it sure sours the mood. :frown:

    H9: If you don't trust what you are hearing, then maybe you need to be less invested in a hobby which all the pleasure comes from listening to music.
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  • PrazVT
    PrazVT Posts: 1,607
    edited March 2011
    Yeah. Whenever something goes south with my gadgets, it tends to ruin my mood too.

    Timing is just bad, though. I only recently bought new stuff for my room, in addition to an impromptu replacement of my GTX295 graphics card. So lot of $$. Glad I did my taxes last weekend ... my refund should cover a new amp if necessary.
    Dali Optikon 1Mk2
    NAD D3020 V2
    Schiit Bifrost 2/64

    ..the rest are headphone setups.
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  • PrazVT
    PrazVT Posts: 1,607
    edited March 2011
    So no updates yet. The last e-mail I got was from Mr. Schram last wed asking me how much I paid for repairs in Feb. I hope he didn't forget about me lol.

    ..ugh. patience is not a strong suit of mine.
    Dali Optikon 1Mk2
    NAD D3020 V2
    Schiit Bifrost 2/64

    ..the rest are headphone setups.
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  • PrazVT
    PrazVT Posts: 1,607
    edited March 2011
    UPDATE: Parasound rocks.
    Dali Optikon 1Mk2
    NAD D3020 V2
    Schiit Bifrost 2/64

    ..the rest are headphone setups.
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  • PrazVT
    PrazVT Posts: 1,607
    edited March 2011
    Ok - sorry, wanted to make sure it was finalized before commenting further.

    Though the current issue is unrelated to the previous repairs, Parasound was gracious enough to offer some options to resolve the issue. Of the options given, I decided to go with the one that is ultimately resulting in me bringing home a new Halo A21. Meanwhile, I'm not going to futz with this HCA-2200ii and will hand it over to them when I pick up the new one.
    Dali Optikon 1Mk2
    NAD D3020 V2
    Schiit Bifrost 2/64

    ..the rest are headphone setups.
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  • PrazVT
    PrazVT Posts: 1,607
    edited March 2011
    It's here!
    a21.jpg 364.8K
    Dali Optikon 1Mk2
    NAD D3020 V2
    Schiit Bifrost 2/64

    ..the rest are headphone setups.
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