Scary moment with the SC-25 last night...

AsSiMiLaTeD

I've been enjoying the hell out of my SC-25 the last few days, full review still forthcoming this weekend when I have some time.

However, something happened last night that may have scarred our relationship. We're watching TV and a big thunderstorm rolls through. We rarely lose power here, but I do keep everything on good surge protectors just in case.

So the power flickers off for half a second and then right back on. All my other devices power right back up, no problems, except for the SC-25. It just sits there staring at me with a blinking blue power light, not good.

So I try the usual stuff, unplugging the unit, trying another outlet on the wall, etc etc, nada. As soon as I plug it in it just goes straight to the blinking blue light.

I did some searching around online and found that this is a fairly common issue with these amps, at least enough that I was able to find several posts online about this exact same issue. Unfortunately the solutions range from everything to 'you just need to unplug it and plug it back in' to 'its' dead take it back to Pioneer'.

I decided to box it up and get it ready to haul in to a service center here locally. The unfortunate thing is that I got such a deal on this that I didn't buy from a store or anything and have no warranty, bummer.

Well I decided to plug it back in one more time before putting it in the box, and voila! It powered right up. I didn't DO anything else, the only thing that changed that I can think of was that some time (maybe 10 minutes) had elapsed whereas before I'd only left in unplugged for maybe 5 minutes before trying it again.

So, this brings me to 3 questions:

1 - WTF is wrong with these receivers that they can't handle a power outage, or did I (and a few others online apparently) just get a bad unit?
2 - I assume this wouldn't happen if I had it on a UPS? Are there any relatively cheap good UPS options out there?
3 - I assume not, but is there any way to purchase any kind of warranty on this thing if I didn't buy it through a store?

thesurfer

Perhapes it has a built in surge protector, when triggerd, it puts the unit in standby, and simply stays in that mode for a bit, just an idea,, as years ago, i had a pair of Cerwin vegas, they had tweeter protection fuses, when they would be overloaded, they would shut down, it took about 10-15 minutes before they would come back on,, just a thought, but it sounds correct, being it went into standby,, then came back on.

Sherardp

The blinking blue lights is an indicator that it was a glitch in Amp section. Easy fix but a pain, is to do a reset on the unit which would solve the issue in most cases. This has been known to happen in the earlier SC-05/07 models as well. You should be ok now, I would also suggest you update HMG, and other firmware updates on your model as there has been a few.

FYI blinking red lights indicate there is a glitch in MCACC. You may also want to bookmark these links for future use and quick reference. The SC models are identical in most ways during operation. Here are some very informative links, I would suggest the owners using these models bookmarks these if your not a AVS member. I have experienced quite a bit with these to include my own firmware updates using crossover cable, and fixing the DD+ audio dropouts with HD DVD. If you need something, ask.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17000858#post17000858

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16754063#post16754063

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14470673#post14470673

AsSiMiLaTeD

I will check on the HMG firmware to see if mine is updated. On the other firmware I need to take it in to Pioneer, right?

It sounds like the easiest thing to do is to just get a UPS and keep it on that, if I can find a good one reasonably cheap.

Joe08867

Its a protection for the amp section. If it kept flipping on and off with power surges and blew up you would be mad about that.

You need to pick you battle on this one. I would prefer the amp to protect itself and I never run my gear in a Thunderstorm.

Serendipity

I would suggest an APC SUA2200 (tower or rack, both are good) to protect the Pioneer.

It may need a dedicated 20A circuit though... not sure about the new models.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Joe08867 wrote: »

Its a protection for the amp section. If it kept flipping on and off with power surges and blew up you would be mad about that.

You need to pick you battle on this one. I would prefer the amp to protect itself and I never run my gear in a Thunderstorm.

I normally don't run anything during a storm either, the storm here last night snuck up on us and hit us all at once, one minute its fine outside the next minute BAM!!!!

Craziest thing I've ever seen, it was only here for about 5 minutes but that 5 minutes was some of the most intense lightning I've ever seen...felt like I was in a scene from The Day After Tomorrow, then it was gone.

thesurfer

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

I normally don't run anything during a storm either, the storm here last night snuck up on us and hit us all at once, one minute its fine outside the next minute BAM!!!!

Craziest thing I've ever seen, it was only here for about 5 minutes but that 5 minutes was some of the most intense lightning I've ever seen...felt like I was in a scene from The Day After Tomorrow, then it was gone.

Like i said in my post, it more than likely, went into protection mode,,I would look into this first, But hey, its your time and money, just trying to help,

AsSiMiLaTeD

thesurfer wrote: »

Like i said in my post, it more than likely, went into protection mode,,I would look into this first, But hey, its your time and money, just trying to help,

I'm not disagreeing with you, that sounds like a perfectly reasonable explanation. If I add a UPS though I could keep this from being triggered during a brief power loss, at least that's what I'm thinking.

rooftop59

You can buy a squaretrade warranty for anything you have a receipt for. If you bought it new you have 60 days i think. My experience with them has been perfect. They had money in my paypal account within 5 days of filing a claim. So i would highly recommend purchasing a warranty from them.

Serendipity

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

I'm not disagreeing with you, that sounds like a perfectly reasonable explanation. If I add a UPS though I could keep this from being triggered during a brief power loss, at least that's what I'm thinking.

This is a good idea. I have an APC SUA1500 and besides the power/surge protection benefits, it also provides better sound. I tested this against a Monster HTS3600 and the APC UPS had a lower noise floor, much wider dynamic range, and cleaner sound compared to the Monster. It seemed as if the Monster was choking the amp and preventing it from delivering good sound. The Monster unit also made my AVR run hotter and required a few dB increase on the volume knob.

codyc1ark

rooftop59 wrote: »

You can buy a squaretrade warranty for anything you have a receipt for. If you bought it new you have 60 days i think. My experience with them has been perfect. They had money in my paypal account within 5 days of filing a claim. So i would highly recommend purchasing a warranty from them.

I'm thinking about doing the same thing with my 25, but I can't seem to find a 2 or 3 year one, looks like they will only offer me a 1/yr for $68.00.

AsSiMiLaTeD

there's an option to extend it to 2 years when you check out.

AsSiMiLaTeD

That APC is nice, but is more than I paid for the receiver!

I bought mine from a guy on CL, so doesn't look like I have any warranty options. At the price I paid its not the end of the world, worth the risk.

codyc1ark

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

That APC is nice, but is more than I paid for the receiver!

I bought mine from a guy on CL, so doesn't look like I have any warranty options. At the price I paid its not the end of the world, worth the risk.

Phew! You must have got a heck of a deal, and I thought I was getting a good one.

Serendipity

The APC SUA2200 can be had from Amazon for only $804. I thought the Pioneer Elites were in the $2k+ range?

punk-roc

Those SC-25s can be had for under a grand pretty regularly.. I got mine for $900 1+ year(s) ago.. an ebay deal might have been below $800

Jason

codyc1ark

punk-roc wrote: »

Those SC-25s can be had for under a grand pretty regularly.. I got mine for $900 1+ year(s) ago.. an ebay deal might have been below $800

Jason

Oh yeah, I agree. I think I got a pretty good deal myself, but I saw those backups around 440ish on a quick Google search, I didn't get near that.

AsSiMiLaTeD

I paid $600 for my SC-25.

I bought it on CL, and its in excellent condition minus one small ding on the back. Its a risk because there's no warranty, but for $600 I decided it was worth the risk.

codyc1ark

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

I paid $600 for my SC-25.

I bought it on CL, and its in excellent condition minus one small ding on the back. Its a risk because there's no warranty, but for $600 I decided it was worth the risk.

Whew, I feel a lot better. I just a bit more then that, plus shipping. Refurbed under $700.00 overall though, so neither of us did bad. I'm glad you like yours, I can't wait till I get home tomorrow afternoon to roll this baby!

AsSiMiLaTeD

Sherardp wrote: »

You should be ok now, I would also suggest you update HMG, and other firmware updates on your model as there has been a few.

It actually looks like I'll need to take mine in and have the firmware updated. I'm having another issue that's apparently fairly common with these, sometimes the unit does not respond to the power on command sent by the remote. Not a big deal for me to get up and go turn it on, but with the Harmony remote it kinda sucks because the remote think the receiver is on and sends it commands...

I'm thinking a firmware might fix the issue...