New HDPLEX 200W LPS

[rickca]

2 minutes ago, Chopin75 said:

No, I was not doing anything intensive such as PCM-->DSD256 or uploading files at same time, was just playing 24/96 native 2-ch, not using HQplayer. Though I did nor check if the PC OR LPS was really hot before the meltdown. I think the LPS was rather hot but it is usually quite hot anyway, 

 

It doesn't sound like you overloaded the 19V rail in that event.  Please  post your diagnosis when HDPLEX receives your RMA unit and figures out what happened to it.  

[Chopin75]

3 minutes ago, rickca said:

It doesn't sound like you overloaded the 19V rail in that event.  Please  post your diagnosis when HDPLEX receives your RMA unit and figures out what happened to it.  

Sure, will do so! 

[Lebouwsky]

Deleted

[biosailor]

Got an HDPLEX 200 W LPS delivered yesterday. It took SIX for delivery from Germany to Switzerland because of lack of proper customs declaration. I was at the edge of my patience, but finally the parcel made its way to my place.

Unpacked it, connected it via the 19V outlet to my Roon Nucleus. Nothing happened, the LPS refused to power up my Nucleus. 

I sent Larry from HDPLEX an e-Mail, describing my problem. He advised me to open the top lid and check if a small board was proper attached to the mother board (he sent me a short film which board to check). I found that already a bit rich asking a customer to do QC!

Indeed, the board was loose and I pushed it to sit firmly on the motherboard. Re-connected the Nucleus to the LPS, still, it wouldn‘t power up!

For me, it is difficult to judge what is going on. My feeling is that the LPS is entirely non-functional, but in the absence a control LED on the power supply, it‘s hard to say. I definitely do not hear a tiny bit of transformer hum, nor do I see any internal LEDs that could indicate operation of the LPS. 

It‘s a nuisance having spent 450 $ for an LPS that fails to power up my Nucleus. Once again, it looks that Chinese products are hit and miss.

Curious to see what Larry proposes as next step.

[mozes]

Sorry for your unfortunate luck. Larry is  very responsive. Don't worry you are in good hands.

[TomWoB]

@biosailor

Hmmm ... really not good, hopefully the orange 110/220 switch is not set to 110V (?) ...

 

No chance to check the output voltage with a voltmeter?

Maybe you can rent one in the neighborhood?

... or buy one for a few bucks in an electric store?

 

Btw: where do you live in Switzerland?

[biosailor]

8 minutes ago, TomWoB said:

@biosailor

Hmmm ... really not good, hopefully the orange 110/220 switch is not set to 110V (?) ...

 

No chance to check the output voltage with a voltmeter?

Maybe you can rent one in the neighborhood?

... or buy one for a few bucks in an electric store?

 

Btw: where do you live in Switzerland?

 

The switch is set to 220 V, I checked that first. I do have a voltmeter, but it‘s a bit shaky. I use the XLR 2.5, or is it the 2.1 mm (?) converter cable for the Nucleus. Where do you measure the voltage? Between the outer and inner side of the cable?

 

I live in Basel, btw.

[rickca]

3 hours ago, biosailor said:

Indeed, the board was loose and I pushed it to sit firmly on the motherboard.

I had this problem as well.  Have a really close look at the motherboard slot and daughter card.  There are two rows of pins.  On my unit, I could clearly see a row of empty pin holes on the motherboard slot.  In other words, the pins on the daughter card were not properly aligned  with the slot, so just pushing down on the daughter card would not fix it.  I had to line it up properly, and then the daughter card easily was properly seated in the slot.

[Chopin75]

When I first started to turn on the HDplex (which is now smoked, RIP), it also on't work but I think because I did not plug in the connectng wires properly. just make sure the wires are well connected on both ends. This HDplex turns out to be a nightmare it seems! I should have done more research before getting it! 

[incus]

On 2/24/2019 at 6:26 PM, Chopin75 said:

 

I have I believe the updated 200W model as I got it in 2019, but it just spontaneously smoked yesterday!   I was  using 19Vm and 2 of the 5 V for  SATA and USB bridge and it happened only few min after I turned off the main HDPLEX PC. Has anyone experienced this with the new model too ? 

This happened to me minutes after firing up my updated 200W model for the first time too. It fried one of my cables in the process but luckily the server was fine. I contacted Larry and he sent out a replacement two-day mail without even waiting for the old unit to arrive back with him. Stand up guy. And yet the smoke was very disconcerting... He never did tell me what was wrong... New unit sounds great by the way. No issues since then...

[Chopin75]

56 minutes ago, incus said:

This happened to me minutes after firing up my updated 200W model for the first time too. It fried one of my cables in the process but luckily the server was fine. I contacted Larry and he sent out a replacement two-day mail without even waiting for the old unit to arrive back with him. Stand up guy. And yet the smoke was very disconcerting... He never did tell me what was wrong... New unit sounds great by the way. No issues since then...

Well. all Larry did was asked me to send it back to him but he did not send me a replacement right away so I am still without my LPS after more than a week.

[rickca]

2 hours ago, incus said:

This happened to me minutes after firing up my updated 200W model for the first time too.

Were you using the 19V rail with an HDPLEX 400W DC-ATX to power a motherboard like @Chopin75?  If so, what CPU were you using?

[biosailor]

9 hours ago, rickca said:

I had this problem as well.  Have a really close look at the motherboard slot and daughter card.  There are two rows of pins.  On my unit, I could clearly see a row of empty pin holes on the motherboard slot.  In other words, the pins on the daughter card were not properly aligned  with the slot, so just pushing down on the daughter card would not fix it.  I had to line it up properly, and then the daughter card easily was properly seated in the slot.

 

Thanks for the hint, will look into it. BUT: delivering a unit with obvious faults in assembly tells me everything about HDPLEX‘s QC: non-existent! The whole experience is disappointing.

[biosailor]

7 hours ago, Chopin75 said:

Well. all Larry did was asked me to send it back to him but he did not send me a replacement right away so I am still without my LPS after more than a week.

 

Larry‘s help is non-existent. A sparse line of an e-Mail I get. HDPLEX is a nightmare! We as customers should be warned, and protected, from such phoney companies as this one!

[biosailor]

I measured the voltage at the XLR/2.1 mm outlet and my voltmeter shows 0 volts, same when switching to the 3.5 V supply. Being a trained biochemist, I am not sure if I properly handle a voltmeter. I did test my voltmeter with a 9 V battery first, and it shows 9.36 V. So I guess the voltmeter is fine.

 

Nevertheless, as a customer, I do not feel inclined to do trouble-shooting for a product I paid for. I expect from a QC department (if they have one at all) to check the product and provide warranty that their product is functioning properly.

 

I am opting for sending the unit back for getting a refund. I am fed up with HDPLEX!

[TomWoB]

@biosailor

Hmmm ... sounds really bad☹️

 

More things to check:

• fuse (of there is one) is OK?
• different cables or
• try to measure voltage direct on device outputs without any cable (carefully!)

[PeterSt]

A very general remark which everyone can take as they please:

 

Rubycon caps are the most cheap capacitors used everywhere, while Elna's of the proper type are presented as audio grade and can easily cost several US dollars the piece. We use Elna's in 100% everything (FWIW).

I can't know about the SQ implications (tough I have an idea) but the sheer fact that a couple of these may make a difference of, say, USD 1 vs USD 20, is in Chinese terms a lot of money (maybe someone can tell what a month earning in China is in USD - then you'll know). I wouldn't accept this, if it was advertised with Elna's.

[PeterSt]

14 hours ago, incus said:

This happened to me minutes after firing up my updated 200W model for the first time too.

 

What motherboard were you using there ?

[rickca]

35 minutes ago, PeterSt said:

Rubycon caps are the most cheap capacitors used everywhere, while Elna's of the proper type are presented as audio grade and can easily cost several US dollars the piece.

HDPLEX sent me this and said I could post it here on the forum.

Our purchase price was 1.2USD for ELNA at 2k volume and 1.35USD for Rubicon at 500pcs volume.

[rickca]

6 hours ago, biosailor said:

The whole experience is disappointing.

I agree it's a drag to get a unit that doesn't work.  I was able to fix mine as I described.

 

HDPLEX says the daughter card may get unseated due to friction during shipping against the copper coating of the transformer.  HDPLEX says

In the new batch, we will move the transformer a bit forward and add a cage.  Also will add a lock pin for the plug.

[biosailor]

1 hour ago, TomWoB said:

@biosailor

Hmmm ... sounds really bad☹️

 

More things to check:

• fuse (of there is one) is OK?
• different cables or
• try to measure voltage direct on device outputs without any cable (carefully!)

 

Fuse looks OK, although I can replace it. But would need fuse specifications.

 

I don't have different cables, so I can't try (yet).

 

I already thought about measuring the output voltage on the XLR pins. Carefully, yes, of course 🙄!

[biosailor]

9 minutes ago, rickca said:

I agree it's a drag to get a unit that doesn't work.  I was able to fix mine as I described.

 

HDPLEX says the daughter card may get unseated due to friction against the copper coating of the transformer.  HDPLEX says

In the new batch, we will move the transformer a bit forward and add a cage.  Also will add a lock pin for the plug.

 

Well, all good measures, but what a client needs is some easy visual indication that the unit is on and delivering voltage, say in the form of an LED on the fron plate and some internal LEDs

[rickca]

1 minute ago, biosailor said:

 

Well, all good measures, but what a client needs is some easy visual indication that the unit is on and delivering voltage, say in the form of an LED on the fron plate and some internal LEDs

I agree.  The first thing I said to myself was ... how do I know this thing is on?

[rickca]

On 2/24/2019 at 10:10 PM, rickca said:

There's certainly no change in the new batch related to the unit going up in smoke!

I take this back.  Now that there have been several incidents of something (probably a rectifier) going up in smoke, HDPLEX will surely need to fix this in the next batch.  Once HDPLEX replicates the problem they will be in position to devise a remedy.

[PeterSt]

Could be apples and oranges:

 

 

 

 

The Elna exists in a more expensive quality. The Rubycon IMO not (but is the same that I wouldn't search for extra expensive lamp wire).

There is an other way around though: buy from Elna Japan and have them 10x or so cheaper (but also in 10x more quantity), which won't really work for Rubycon. But now the price is not "several USD" pp any more in the first place ...

 

Lastly, this is not about SMD parts, which HDPlex likely uses (but I saw a picture of the one above, right ?). These are far more expensive, with my idea that Elna doesn't even have those (I never investigated that).

 

Is it really important ? maybe not.

Did I ever hear a difference ? maybe not. But some things "for audio" one just applies ...