Crap! bent cooling fins

littlewoodboats

Rick at Big Sky Audio sent me images of my Adcom 585 after delivery from CA.

It is cosmetic but still sucks. Big Sky advised they did not wish to mess around with cast Aluminum fins so would leave this to me.

How would one go about fixing this? As it is only cosmetic would the risk of breaking something outweigh trying?

onebadchad

Try two oak trees and a come-along. worked for my blazer. did u insure it?

stretchl

Just my 2 cents, but dude... it's hidden and will never be seen, right? It doesn't affect the sound, right?

I say...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kl0rAnLvJs

littlewoodboats

It was insured for the purchase price. I would doubt a new casting was available. If it were the rebuild cost would increase for the extra work.

I will not see the fins. It will not alter the sound in any way. If I can fix them I would like to as they will bug the hell out of me.

The easiest thing would be to live with it.

Great vid. Just what I needed

BlueFox

Bent fin implies it was dropped. Being dropped could also have weakened/damaged something internal. I guess all you can do is be optimistic.

littlewoodboats

It was not packed well. The box showed corner damage but not what I would expect from a full drop.

You make a valid point Blue Fox. I have my fingers crossed.

F1nut

Horrible packing job, not even double boxed. You should return it for a full refund. Don't bother filing a claim, it will justifiably be denied.

VR3

Dude that box is so inadequate for an amp that heavy... @_@

Beta

Have to agree with VR3 and F1. Sorry this happened to you. I always prepare for the worst and just assume my gear is going to be dropped when I ship. Therefore, I pack accordingly.

Personally, I would not try to bend those fins back into place. I would not want to potentially make a bad situation worse. If you do try, please post a photo as it would be interesting to see the results. Best of luck.

littlewoodboats

You are correct about any potential claim F1. Were I the shipper I would take one look at the photos and say hell no to any damage claims. Not enough box for the load.

I should know today if there is any damage other than cosmetic. Had I bought this from a shop or paid full going rate from eBay or other such place it would be going back. For what I have in it I will live with the bent fins if nothing else happened.

I did not do the packing job. The guy I bought it from out in CA did the packing. He shipped directly to Montana to save a bit of money. I would have hated to see what it looked like after bouncing its way to Texas packed this way.

Cast Aluminum is not a material I am used to working with as far as bending is concerned so am not sure what if anything can be done to make them straight. A biker buddy fixes engine cooling fins using heat to make things easy. Sounds great but engine parts do not have electronics mounted. Beta is most likely correct that any attempt to make them straight again results in making the situation worse.

I am sure there will be a line item on my bill from Big Sky for proper packing materials when it ships to me.

leftwinger57

I checked out my 555 fins and they are not ALL that delicate. If itreally bothers you I would tape up a pair of linemans pliers w/ painters tape so no residude and gently grab as much as the fin as possible and see if it gives. I do mean gently,but as most have said Adcom amps are usually are on the bottom of the rack/or in my case stack and the fins cannot be seen.As some have told me the sky will not fall,to bad on the shipping though....

stretchl

FWIW -

I would not use a good thick piece of leather rather than painter's tape. You can get pieces cheap at a "crafty" shop like Michael's or Hobby Lobby.

Polkie2009

It makes me sick to see pictures like this of how pathetic someone packaged your amp. I bought a Soundcraftsmen A2502 amp off of CL years ago for a bargain price. Told the lady to double box it with lots of protection so it wouldn't get destroyed in shipping. That pretty much fell on deaf ears appearently, come to me in one box ,amp was wrapped in bubble wrap(are you kidding me?) and half of the bubbles were broken.There was styrofoam peanuts dumped around the amp and that was it. Needless to say, the corners of the box were dented in(because the amp was so loosely packed. When i took the amp out of the bpx and packing, the cooling fins on one side in back were like your amp,except I had about 3 bent fins. I was pretty pissed about it, but figured I'd try to see what I could do with it. Basically I straightened them out and went ahead and installed the amp in the rack. Has worked great,no problems with it. Decided that I wasn't going to stress over getting back to the previous owner since the amp only cost me $75.00. Good luck with your situation.

littlewoodboats

I did the same as you. I asked for it to be double boxed and offered up a bit of extra cash to pay for packing supplies. I was told it was not necessary as the guy knew how to pack heavy items.

I am told it was only cosmetic so the upgrades are in progress. It is a bummer more than anything else. It will go in the rack and I am hoping it will be an out of sight out of mind deal.

transmaster

I have a suggestion get yourself a sheet metal clamp the one below is made by Visegrip and costs some where around $19 dollars. I have used them for the very thing you need to fix. Because the clamp spreads out the force it presses the fin straight and does not bend it back like you would with a pair of pliers. You should be able to find one of these tools at any hardware store, or any place that sells welding equipment, and, of course, you can get one through Amazon they have everything.

littlewoodboats

Great suggestion transmaster. The reading I have done would suggest that consistent pressure over a large area is key to avoid stress cracking the casting.

I looked for a part number for the casting to see if one could be sourced from the manufacturer. Adcom did not number the part that I can find so figuring out who made the casting for Adcom did not go far.

I "almost" feel lucky the damage was not worse.

dorokusai

Yeah, just bend it back a little and forget about out. Even as is it will no ZERO effect on anything in regards to heat dissipation or operation of the amplifier so you could just leave it alone.

transmaster

Carefully measure the heat sink and check out Allied Electronics they have 75 catalog pages of them if they are still made Allied Electronics will have it.

Ern Dog

If it happened to me, I'd return it for a full refund period. I wouldn't try to fix it.

chumlie

I hope you shared those pictures to the guy you bought it/packed it from. The very least he could do is pay for Big Sky to properly pack & ship it to you. And when i say the least, thats what i mean.

gudnoyez

I do believe that double boxing is a must. If Fed Ex and Ups would handle freight as if it was their own there would be less damage, but instead they manhandle everything they touch. Sorry to hear about your amp.

littlewoodboats

Had this been a retail price point purchase I would have returned the amp. I bought this thing so cheaply that the refund for purchase price would not touch a replacement to send for restoration. I am into this for $280.00 delivered to Big Sky.

I only see this as a real problem should I decide to sell one day. For the time being the plan is to put this in the bottom of the cabinet to be fed with the GFP-750 in hopes it is never moved from that spot. (wishful thinking I am sure)

gce

If that is a casting you're lucky it didn't already crack. Pulling it out will probably crack it. If its machined you'd have better luck straightening it out.

Good luck...

Polkie2009

If Big Sky is doing work on the amp, they'll see if there's any damage done inside. Judging from the pic of the one bent cooling fin, you'll probably be fine. If the Adcom is anything like my Soundcraftsmen, the damn things are built like tanks.

dkr919

Same thing happened to a 555 I had, boxed terribly, bent fins just about the same as yours. Still worked so I just let it be. No biggy to me.

nwohlford

littlewoodboats wrote: »

Had this been a retail price point purchase I would have returned the amp. I bought this thing so cheaply that the refund for purchase price would not touch a replacement to send for restoration. I am into this for $280.00 delivered to Big Sky.

I only see this as a real problem should I decide to sell one day. For the time being the plan is to put this in the bottom of the cabinet to be fed with the GFP-750 in hopes it is never moved from that spot. (wishful thinking I am sure)

If you paid $280 shipped and board is fine, I would count yourself ahead of the game even with the bent fin. I find that the people who give those kind of deals are usually really crappy packers. Unfortunately, that is part of the bargain. The best solution for the seller would be to have you return the item, and unless there is damage that limits the function of the unit, returning the item is usually not your best solution.

I got a GFA-7400 for a riduculous price, but the guy just put it in a box. (Literally nothing else in the box but the amp.) Somehow the only real damage to it was to the plastic on the cord. I sent him a note on how to pack better and called it a day. Even with having to fix the cord, I still would come out well ahead.

littlewoodboats

I heard from Big Sky Audio yesterday, the shipping damage is isolated to just the two bent fins. The boards have all been cleaned of the leaking cap residue. Repopulating the boards should be finished today in readiness of testing. Once it passes then the remainder of the upgrades will be done. At this point we fully expect a positive outcome.

JayCee

littlewoodboats wrote: »

I heard from Big Sky Audio yesterday, the shipping damage is isolated to just the two bent fins. The boards have all been cleaned of the leaking cap residue. Repopulating the boards should be finished today in readiness of testing. Once it passes then the remainder of the upgrades will be done. At this point we fully expect a positive outcome.

Have you received it yet? I picked up my Parasounds from Big Sky on the 20th and spoke to Rick about your amp. It was on his bench and he hoped to complete it in the next day or so. I tried to call you the following day but you must've changed your number when you moved? His opinion is to leave the fins alone.

I finished my move to Maryland last Wed (just in time for Polkfest) and have just short of a week listening to the Parasounds. They sound smooth and I love the detail. I don't think you'll be disappointed w/the work Rick did on your Adcom. He said the Adcom was probably not in as good a condition as the seller led you to believe, but he would have it 100% (minus the fins) plus the upgrades. After personally seeing Rick's shop and spending several hours speaking with him over the course of 2 visits, I think he's a knowledgeable technician and very honest/fair with his work. I'm still setting up my house but will give the amps a more critical listen when I'm done. Also, I'd considered a GFP-750 over the past year. Rick and I discussed the 750 and he really got me thinking about getting one. Saturday morning I jumped on one listed on CP and it'll be here this Friday.

Looking forward to seeing your impressions of the amp.

John

littlewoodboats

Dealing with the fins is probably not worth the risk of the damage that could happen.

It was supposed to ship today. I knew the rebuild would draw blood so was unwilling to pay current eBay rates to buy one. I was not paying $500.00 for an amp I knew would have an eight hundred dollar shop bill.

By time all is said and done I will be close to a thousand bucks into the silly thing so I hope for great results. I could have bought a new amp for not much more than what this is costing me. The new amp would have the same consumer grade sleaze parts. Class A/B amps are not everyone's cup of tea. I defy anyone to find a great class A/B amp in this power range for less than a thousand bucks. I got it cheap and bled money making it right. On the upside Rick said it is a total beast. Drive any load presented and say "Thank you Sir may I have another"

The GFP-750 is silly good. I am currently running a Yamaha CA-1000 class A/B integrated for the early 70's. Consumer gear but good consumer gear. Decoupled and running the Adcom changed every thing for the better. I would have never told you that the top of the line Yamaha gear was lacking to any major degree. The pre in the CA-1000 sucks next to the Adcom. The amp in there is truly amazing

Make sure any 750 you look at has the Blue board.

cnh

There is no way you can compare that Adcom pre to what is in the Yamaha integrated, which is a compromise at best. That said, that Yamaha amp is not bad at all. Pretty clean but it has nowhere near the power reserves of the Adcom amp, however some might like its sound more, some less!

Enjoy. You've got some great stuff there. I sometimes run the less costly Pass designed Nakamichi CA-5 with an Adcom GFA-545, not quite up to the level you have there. But still damned good! Nelson, you gotta love the guy!

cnh

littlewoodboats

cnh wrote: »

There is no way you can compare that Adcom pre to what is in the Yamaha integrated, which is a compromise at best. That said, that Yamaha amp is not bad at all. Pretty clean but it has nowhere near the power reserves of the Adcom amp, however some might like its sound more, some less!

Enjoy. You've got some great stuff there. I sometimes run the less costly Pass designed Nakamichi CA-5 with an Adcom GFA-545, not quite up to the level you have there. But still damned good! Nelson, you gotta love the guy!

cnh

I agree.

I set off on this deal with a $2,000 threshold of pain for an amp and pre. Counting the interconnects from Signal Cable I made it just barely.

I would guess that some would argue the money could have been spent more wisely. I feel good about the deal as a whole and that is what matters. I get up in the morning, flip on the tuner, and smile. The Adcom will be a more resourceful amp than the one in the Yamaha. The spec sheet gives the edge to the Yammie in ever catagory short of raw power.