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Thread: RCF SUB 705-AS II Failures

  1. #1
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    RCF SUB 705-AS II Failures

    In June this year, we purchased a pair of RCF ART 912-A and a pair of RCF SUB 705-AS II.

    One of the SUBs failed at a gig last week. The fuse had blown right at the IEC socket, so I replaced it. 'POP', it blew again, this time quite spectacularly, rendering the little glass part of the fuse to dust. Another replacement produced the same result. This is disappointing to say the least as we have only had these speakers since June. Then, at a gig this weekend, the other sub did the same! I was concerned this would happen and took one of our Evolution subs just in case as a back-up.

    I got in touch with the retailer and they said all costs of returning the speakers must be met by ourselves. Legally, it is down to them to pay the cost of the return as these are less than six months old and obviously in warranty.

    The problem is, I now have serious doubts about these speakers. If they are fixed, what are the chances this is likely to happen again? I really think I should be asking for a full refund, or perhaps a swap for something else. With two of these speakers blowing, I feel that is very likely that the tops may do the same at some point.

    What blew the speakers was the simple act of switching them on! Volume levels are always set to minimum at switch-on and switch-off. We have looked after these speakers and have never had the need to run them flat out.

    I am still impressed by out old Evolution rig which has been 100% reliable and still goes out with occasionally.

    ** Has anybody else had problems with RCF speakers?

  2. #2
    Member GaFFLe's Avatar
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    Yeah... I have some very old EV SBA750 subs that I use for small gigs. They use a fuse as well and I have the same issue of one of them blowing as soon as it's turned on. I'm gonna attempt to get it repaired locally but do not want to invest too much into considering they're old and I don't want a money pit. Doesn't seem like modern-day speakers use "fuses" so I'm not sure why these do.
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  3. #3
    All powered speakers/amps are fused, either with an actual fuse or a circuit breaker. When it pops immediately there's a short circuit or blown circuit somewhere in the amp.
    Bill Fitzmaurice
    Bill Fitzmaurice Loudspeaker Design
    www.billfitzmaurice.info/forum

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    Hi there GaFFLe & Bill.

    Sorry to hear you too have had problems. We've been trying to decide whether we should get them repaired under warranty or go down the refund route. any speaker which continually pops the fuse at switch on is cause for concern. Both subs just don't work anymore. No power. Instant blowing of fuse, so something else has obviously gone very wrong. I see these subs are now discontinued, so old stock. Not that this should be a negative, but you can't help wonder why. RCF are a good name in the speaker industry, but you don't discontinue a good line.

    After speaking to the retailer, they asked if the units had been overdriven. A fair question, but I think they quickly realised that this is not something we would have knowingly done. You just wouldn't run such speakers up to their maximum output under most circumstances and we've never had the need to. The chances of both blowing these fuses within a week is not a good sign.

    I think it's a refund for us!

  5. #5
    It's pretty odd that you would have two bad units, did you run them together or only one at a time?
    If you ran them together, I wonder if you had one of them inverted (phase switch) and the other one not inverted.. this would cause them to cancel out. That's one way you could have run them too hard without realizing it.

  6. #6
    Even if they had been over-driven it would have to be by at least a factor of 10 to damage the electronics. Over-driving them could damage the drivers, but that wouldn't cause fuses to pop.
    Bill Fitzmaurice
    Bill Fitzmaurice Loudspeaker Design
    www.billfitzmaurice.info/forum

  7. #7
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    Agreed. They would have needed some serious 'hammer'. I think that's the correct technical term.

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    Sorry, light-o-matic, I missed your question. The speakers were run together during a gig. One bass bun failed after blowing the fuse at the IEC input on that night. It happened at switch-on and with the levels set to minimum - always. We had a gig the following week and took out only the other working bin, but this blew at switch-on too. So both blew the same fuse within a week of each other. I know - what are the chances?

    Unfortunately, the shop where we purchased them is refusing to issue a refund. They are insisting that they are assessed by another repair shop before any decision can be made on whether they refund or repair. While we appreciate that they don't know us from Adam and that they need to be sure that the faults are nothing of our own making, any repair will invalidate any warranty. What to do?

  9. #9
    Where warranty is concerned one usually deals with the manufacturer, not the dealer. It should be spelled out on your warranty document.
    Bill Fitzmaurice
    Bill Fitzmaurice Loudspeaker Design
    www.billfitzmaurice.info/forum

  10. #10
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    I've got to re-learn all this. It's been a few years since I took a company to court. The last time I did so it was a large UK retailer - and I won my case hands down. I am usually pretty good with these things, but I've had to start from scratch again.

    Are the consumer laws the same in the US though? I don't know if it's one of those things which varies from state to state. Here, I believed I was within my rights to ask for a refund from the retailer, but the current Consumer rights Act (2015) states that "30 days - six months: You must give the retailer one opportunity to repair or replace it before you can claim a refund". I was assuming that, because the speakers are "not fit for purpose" and the purchase was made less than three months ago, that I was entitled to full refund, however, it seems not. Either the rules have changed or, more likely, I got this wrong.

    It's just frustrating, that's all. In the scheme of things, "Worse things happen at sea!" as we sometimes say.

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