MooMooMooMoo

Not sure if I can get it repaired. Oppo's website states they likely can't repair issues caused by power surges. I'm guessing the power supply is fried. GRRRR. I have special firmware that can't be replaced. Of all my Electronics, it had to be the Oppo.

I am still hoping to find someone locally, but there are very few (possibly 0 based on my last 2 attempts) digital audio repair folks left in the Seattle area. The one guy i knew who did quality work on digital got very sick & retired.

There used to be a guy who did mods on Oppos about 200 miles from here, but I can't find him on the net.

I also saw Oppo's website note about them not really wanting to repair units that were damaged in power outages. Not a good sign, as the Oppo is one big computer. On the other hand, if I can't find someone locally, it is possible that I could pay $100 + shipping for a bloody fuse!

Funny, what I was worried about was $100 or so in food going bad. It's all fine. The only thing that died was the Oppo & it was on a $150 power conditioner......... MY $3k+ cd player & McCormack amplifier were on the same Adcom & they're fine.......... (3 pin "bypass" mode also; for some reason the Adcom doesn't shut down the 3 pin outlets if a surge shuts the units down)

I can't currently play blu at all (I've replaced lots of dvd's (including the Criterion Bergman box) for blu's including a significant # with Region B), SACD's sound mediocre & DVD's look mediocre on my Pioneer (back up universal player). I've also sold many music cd's & replaced with formats that I can currently play only on my pc & in some cases my phone.

One way or the other, I have to get the Oppo situation resolved.

Sonic

Fuck that's heart breaking

I have an Oppo 203 that I love. I worry about stuff like that (power surges) happening to my gear.

Norm de Plume

Shit, very aggravating! Make sure anything valuable is plugged into a surge protector.

andicus

That does suck. I take it from your comment (it is possible that I could pay $100 + shipping for a bloody fuse!) that you're unable to do basic troubleshooting by yourself?

MooMooMooMoo

Yep. I had what ended up being an internal fuse issue on my McCormack a couple years ago & they walked me through that on the phone (awesome folks, especially as they had recently sold the co to Conrad Johnson & Steve's assistant still spent the time with me to troubleshoot & fix) but I don't have the skills to do it on my own. I understand most of the issues intellectually, but that's about as far as it goes.

Nick Danger

Replacing a fuse is normally a 10 minute job. A fuse costs less than $5. It looks like some Oppo models have a soldered in fuse, which is stupid. Looking at the fuse to see which kind it is would only take 10 minutes.

Someone named Oppomod sells a 203/205 power supply that anyone who owns a screwdriver could replace in ten minutes.
http://www.oppomod.com/
http://www.oppomod.com/pdf/oppo-205-lpm-install.pdf

If you lived here, I could take a look. Maybe someone on the board lives near you.

Another power supply:

It looks like these guys selling power supply upgrades include $100 fuses. They must be magic audiophile fuses.

MooMooMooMoo

Thank you for the info. If we lived nearby, I'd gratefully take you up on your offer.

Oppo isn't even answering their phone anymore; I'm waiting for an email reply. From talking with one service manager who had a clue here, he said it could be a fuse, could be the power supply, or could be a major board.

I could only find one shop, about 60 miles away that would look at it; & they want $150 to pop the top off. sigh... It's such a shame that afaik, there is no other brand who is offering what Oppo did at the price point.

And I agree; a soldered in fuse isn't real bright.....

andicus

With a cheap multimeter, you could at least 'check' the fuse. If it is blown, you can consider your options at that point.

I try to repair anything that's out of warranty. I saved my sis-in-law's hard drive after a lightning surge a few years back. It wasn't a fuse, but a surface mount resistor that fried. I will confess, it was luck that I found that issue.

It's frustrating, these days, when everything is surface mount and boards are made to be replaced, rather than repaired. At least with a power supply, you usually find serviceable components.

MooMooMooMoo

I moved 2 years ago, & I don't know where my @#$#% meter is. I'm in email dialogue with Oppo at the moment. They just had me go through a reset sequence. Unfortunately it didn't work.

Nick Danger

They give away meters at Harbor Freight with a coupon. They sell them the rest of the time for a few dollars. It doesn't need to be precise: you'd just be checking for continuity.

You said you have no skills. If you have the skills to know how to use a meter, I'm pretty sure you can disassemble it far enough look at the fuse.

MooMooMooMoo

I got a hold of several photos of the inside. I don't see any fuse. Oppo's charging $119 + 1 way shipping so I'm going to go that route. I hope my blu-ray region free board wasn't damaged.

andicus

Is the region free board a 3rd party mod? Hopefully that doesn't cause issues with their repair.

That doesn't sound like a crazy price for a player of that quality, from the manufacturer. Is that an all-in price, regardless of what they need to do?

MooMooMooMoo

1. Yes. I'm using it in "external mode" (plugged into a USB & Serial port). It won't impact the repair, but I sure hope it still works & even more that it doesn't harm the repair if it was damaged. It's price has also gone from $30 in 2011 to $100 today

2. Yes, I agree it's a great price. What a shame they've switched to cell phone manufacturing only. I actually don't know why a Chinese company would have spent $'s to buy the name, then totally changed the product line. As the immediate sell out of the extra 205 run showed, there is still a big demand for their players.

Shannon Nutt

Had a power surge about 3 years ago and ever since then I can't get my Oppo to recognize my home theater speakers. No problems with any of my other players, and no problems with the Oppo through the TV speakers. After months of trying to get help from both Oppo support and support from my TV manufacturer (since I never knew if it was the TV or the Oppo player), I gave up.

My Oppo BD103D is finally hitting the closet this week (or going to a good home), as I'm upgrading to an LG UBK90.

MooMooMooMoo

The good news is Oppo is only charging a total of $119 for the repair including shipping back to me no matter what is wrong.

The bad news:
1. UPS charged me $144.50 to ship it to Oppo

2. A tech friend says I MUST replace the blu-ray region free add on, which is another $100.

Sonic

I take it this is international shipping? The UPS rate is pretty absurd, but Oppo's part including one way shipping is pretty cool.

MooMooMooMoo

No. While the fee did include packing, UPS is the rip off of the century. Seattle to California. I don't know how Oppo can afford to include both repair and return shipping for $119. And I brought it to a UPS owned store. I will use Fed Ex or Ontrac in the future.

And we're having a string of windy weather like never before in my lifetime. E2 (almost 3) Tornado yesterday about 30 miles from me, & tomorrow's Windstorm is supposed to be worse than the one that killed the Oppo.

slybone

^You were clearly charged the "full retail price" for the shipping method, which is obviously quite high. Large volume shippers (like Amazon, etc, and perhaps Oppo) who may ship hundreds of thousands of packages per day get a large discount off of that retail rate, maybe 30%-50% off or more. That is how they can afford to do the repair and ship it back for that price. I used to work for a lighting distributor who shipped 700 or more UPS packages a day and we received a UPS discount of around 45% off of retail. It is literally how that lighting company stayed profitable. It was not uncommon for them to clear more profit from the shipping charge than they made from the product sold.

andicus

That shipping price is insane! I shipped telescope gear weighing over 80lbs to Canada from California, using expedited and it was around $320. Insurance would've added a bit, too, as the value was over $6k. Did you have them pack it, or something else that would've added to the cost?

Did your friend say why you would need another region free add on? That seems odd, when you don't know if it was damaged.

MooMooMooMoo

Yes, I did have them pack it, & I added insurance (Shipping only comes with $100 ins). The vanilla shipping part was around $97 which is still ridiculous.

My friend felt that there is a good chance the add on circuit board coukld have been fired, & that just plugging it in could fry the unit. I am going to ask Oppo what was wrong & make an uneducated guess. What concerns me when my tech friend was being a little vague, I asked, "If it was more unit, what would you do"? Answer was: "Either get a new region board or only play USA discs". He didn't consider using the old one to be an option.

The person is ? is very good with analog & admittedly clueless about digital, so I'm still in process of making that decision. For obvious reasons, that's the 1 part Oppo does not want to help me with. Oppo's really been pretty great to deal with.

andicus

It sounds extremely unlikely that the add on board would cause damage. Even if it was fried, it would be more likely to just not work.

Originally, you couldn't power on at all, correct? I.e. turning on the power didn't result in any lights or activity? If so, that's clearly a power supply problem.

When you say this person is good with analog, do you mean from an electronic repair standpoint, or as a user?

Personally, I would ensure everything is working properly, when it's returned from Oppo. Once I did that, I would then try the add on.

MooMooMooMoo

I spoke with a second tech who also said it wasn't worth the risk & that there was no way to definitively test the kit. Common sense says it shouldn't be damaged, but I have significant $'s into just the repair & shipping.

Grand total for the outgoing shipping to Oppo, repair & replacement region free circuit board was $347. Problem was a blown power circuit board.

Ironically the most expensive part was shipping from me to Oppo by UPS $145.

Breakdown:
UPS: $145
Repair AND return shipping $119
Replacement region free board (2 techs told me not to risk plugging the old one back in) $83

I will NEVER use UPS again. $145 is a major rip off (15 pounds + packing it)

The unit should be here Wednesday if the signature required doesn't cross me up.

Not sure when the region free board will arrive, but I can go a week or 2 without playing UK blu & dvd's.

Sonic

Did you throw away the Oppo box? Because my Oppo box for the 203 came with cushioning inside which I have kept. In case I ever have to ship my Oppo I would use the same box. No need to pack the box in another box etc

It sounds to me you did discard the box if UPS had to pack it for you.

It still doesn't justify the $145 UPS shipping price.

MooMooMooMoo

I only had the inner box. I bought it in late 2011..............

Josh-da-man

I’m still trying to wrap my head around the $145 shipping.

Holy shitballs.

I think I’d probably just drive down there with my player instead.