HK 221 Amp dies again :( but Harman Kardon now mend them :)

Submariner1

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mixed news ... the dear old amp conked out Again today, for the second time. Worked this morning perfectly then went stupid this afternoon.
So it definitely does have a terminal problem :(:(

Luckily one of the really top Audio guys in the UK, told me how to get it repaired by Harman Kardon. He reckoned they just swap out the mother board because they can obviously get all the parts.
Note he said they were the only people who could get them.
But HK said well we dont just do that if there is a tiny faulty component, we would mend that. But they do “exchange” it if its been water damaged.

1 Year Warranty
Both prices plus shipping
£535 - if No water damage
£679 - if its water damaged (they blame Mercedes for the failures).
In both cases they now reverse the fan, so it doesn't pull in so much crap, but blows out the hot air. Apparently just as thermally efficient but slashes the amount of dirt inside the amp.
3-5 Days turnaround

They can also test the MOST circuit and do repair it if required.

What I need to know is how to open the Amp? so I know is it water damaged?

The guy at HK said it has 2 tabs, I think he said at opposite corners, push them in and then the side with the fan, just hinges off. Which are these tabs?

Has anyone opened one of these?
Please tell me how you did it.


I also need to know if the iCarsoft MBII can normally see the Comand system.?

When I tried this today, I selected “ Contol Units”, then the “Comand system”, and the hint box appeared, and said something like “waiting” ; but then it just returned me to the menu.
Note it wasnt the Usual very busy screen, about a communication error, that one gets if say you select an option you dont have like “trailer connections”.

Was this the MBII failing to communicate with the command system? Or does it not interogate the Sound system module?

Note at that time, the Sound system was playing up big style.
 
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Botus

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I expect they repair them now (for that silly money) as they were making the boards and selling to Merc for 25p each anyway.... so they may as well make £500 mark up instead of merc
 

LostKiwi

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Just tried the i980 on ours and it didn't have a Comand option but then mine is a much earlier system than yours.
 

bembo449

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I expect they repair them now (for that silly money) as they were making the boards and selling to Merc for 25p each anyway.... so they may as well make £500 mark up instead of merc
tis a bit of a **** take at that price pal , they are also admitting the shocking quality of their equipment
 
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Submariner1

Submariner1

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Just tried the i980 on ours and it didn't have a Comand option but then mine is a much earlier system than yours.
Thank you for trying
As it started working again - I will try again tomorrow if the sound is back
 
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Submariner1

Submariner1

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tis a bit of a **** take at that price pal , they are also admitting the shocking quality of their equipment

I agree .. at that price and it cant even do 42,000 miles :(

MB should be selling them at cost in embarrassment.
 
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Submariner1

Submariner1

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only a 1 year warranty with a new board fitted , thats shocking !:shock:

But then whats the alternative £1390 from MB probably for a recon one :(

Blimey there are enough failures to start a class action.
 

Craiglxviii

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But then whats the alternative £1390 from MB probably for a recon one :(

Blimey there are enough failures to start a class action.
If only they were admissible in this country!
 
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Submariner1

Submariner1

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Quiet but just audible Shhhhh noise from left speakers .
The weird thing was the Comand was OFF, and when I turned it on the shhh noise disappeared.
Leave the Comand on and you dont get it.

I assume its all to do,with my intermittant Amp fault?

Even happended on re-entry when I had tuned the audio OFF.

Start the Comand or Audio and it instantly dissappears completely.
 

Larkone

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Someone is pulling your whatsit over the fan. If you reverse the fan it will still pull in cold air from where it blew out hot air previously. What you extract will be replaced - simples.
 
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Submariner1

Submariner1

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Someone is pulling your whatsit over the fan. If you reverse the fan it will still pull in cold air from where it blew out hot air previously. What you extract will be replaced - simples.

Yep it surprised me.
But that was from Becker USA’s Official repair centre.
My experience of cooling powerful amps is building a custom tightly fitting Polycarbonate cover with 4 fans
2x 80mm fans at the rear blast air in and 2x at the front suck it out. Smoke tested it fires across the rear and gets pulled back out.
Even loaded to 2 Ohms cranked to 1,000watts rms it stays just off cool, one can just about percieve some warmth.
D60C239C-E37A-43D9-86DA-F64CB37BA63E.jpeg

These fans are very efficient and its like a mini cyclone in there. Totally free flowing

I assumed the Becker amp pulled air in hopefully blasting it at/over the Amp chips, and pushed it out through all the crevices of the ill made casing. Not very efficient
Maybe they found expelling the hot air from the hottest area helped overcome the “choked” airflow design.

In any event I remain exceedingly undewhelmed with HK in comparison to the old DLS Class A amps.
Quality of sound HK 2/10 DLS 9/10
Power HK 1/10 DLS 9/10
Distortion HK 1/10 DLS 9.5/10
Build quality, design and reliability HK 0.5/10 DLS 9.5/10
Price HK £1400 1/10 DLS £900 10/10

As for HK speakers compared to say the old heavy duty solid metal basketted DynAudios
HK 2/100 DA 99/100
Say no more ....

All I can say for the ££ MB engineers must be deaf!
 

Botus

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Someone is pulling your whatsit over the fan. If you reverse the fan it will still pull in cold air from where it blew out hot air previously. What you extract will be replaced - simples.

the original fan direction is the most sensible from a cooling perspective, heat rises... the fan is at the bottom and pushes cool air upwards joining the heat in the amp and pushing it out the top. Reversing, would try to suck hot air above the amp (already heated by the amp) back through, collecting more heat to sit in a pool of hot air it just extracted.... virtuous circle of nothingness I expect

in cars where they sit still (chauffeur driven), the heat builds in the inner wing and it gets too hot. there are massive holes to allow significant air flow out the back of the car when its being driven. Stationary the flaps stay shut and in some cases "glue" closed exacerbating things
 
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