Can it be Fixed ?? MoltenSolder

[eeza]

Guys my Duo2 has been playing up for months now and It's finally getting right on my nerves.... I bought from our Sponsor in 2016 and it was then a not an inconsiderable £329.

Can we get these repaired? , I have seen a post from last year on a public website from a guy who identifies as MoltonSolder. I am thinking he is based in London (from reading the blog) Is anyone aware of this dude ?

I had an Ultimo first in 2014 (£290) and changed to the duo2 in 2016, I am loathed to pay big money for a VU Reciever if its life is expected to be over in such a short time.

Would I be better cutting my losses and just go for a new receiver with a much lower price (Our Sponsor has 4K GigaBlue receivers at a good price)

I Really like the VU range but it was a lot of cash to a bloke earning a modest wage ..

What do you guys suggest?

Cheers Eric

[ronand]

Can it be fixed? - it depends whats wrong and my crystal ball doesn't work any more. 5 years for any modern electrical device is probably the expected life anyway. I would rate most new laptops at 3 years. Vu receivers are overpriced and overrated (I've had 2 - my uno died and I got rid of the solo2) and you will get a new receiver cheaper than getting one repaired in most cases unless its something simple like a failing capacitor. And the new receiver will most likely be faster than what you have. I wouldn't worry about being loyal to a brand - I haven't looked back - I just get a box that suits my needs without costing an arm and a leg. My humble zgemma h7s is better specced than the duo2 and costs a fraction of what you paid.

[eeza]

Cheers buddy, i should have said its the well-documented power issue. Ill have a look at that receiver :)

[ronand]

I actually found molten solders article. It seems that it wasnt just the power supply but some caps on the motherboard. You could take it to an electrical repair shop but it will probably cost a few hundred quid to repair. Those smd caps on the motherboard are a pain in the a**e to swap out. The PSU caps are easy enough to do. Personally I wouldn't bother with it and just get a new one. Its only worthwhile if you can do the job yourself.

[bellejt]

my knowledge says that duo2 never had a power problem.The simple duo had one.

[ronand]

the article is here:


moltensolder.wordpress.com/2015/11/09/vu-duo2-faulty/

Vu have used so many faulty caps in their boxes I have no idea where they got their reputation for quality from.

[eeza]

I agree, the power issue has plagued VU from the earliest E2 receivers.. I think I am off to get another make, I am not going to buy another VU device. I would say that my receiver has maybe 15% of the hours on it that a normal one in typical use would have as I spend so much time away from home so it's more than a little disappointing.

[Stanman]

My mate has repaired two of my duo with caps issues on mobo and PSU, it's really easy to take parts out and you could get TV repairer to fix it, soldering won't take more then 30 minutes for a competent person if you just give him the PCB.

Sent from my Mi MIX 3 5G using Tapatalk

[jassie]

quite a detailed read that, anyone here had a job done, my duo2 decided not to wake up today after opening it up to check on the hard drive, thinking of getting repair done especially if replacing the components will actualy improve the performance

[007.4]

If you are unable to swop a few caps yourself, if I was you, I'd be putting the £99 towards a much more modern 4K box with a lot more "grunt" and features.
The Duo2 is well past it now. There are better boxes available for a fraction of the price.

[adm]

quite a detailed read that, anyone here had a job done, my duo2 decided not to wake up today after opening it up to check on the hard drive, thinking of getting repair done especially if replacing the components will actualy improve the performance

Very unlikely to improve the performance with respect to it being new. It's the same with the claim that the internal temperature dropped by 15C. Terminally failing components may make the power supply more noisy and this interference may degrade the signal to noise of an input signal. The writer of that article possibly didn't check that replacing one or two faulty capacitors would have achieved the same fix. He is lucky working on multi layer printed circuit boards (PCB) that more damage wasn't done to the PCB.

Yes capacitors rated at 105C working temperature are a better quality than those rated at 85C. Also capacitors from the traditional well known brands are possibly have a honest specification sheet. In general its usually in switched mode power supplies where lesser capacitors fail. Heat also shortens the life of an electrolytic capacitor so placing your box in a position where there is a free flow of cooling air is a lot better than stacking it above or below other equipment that is also generating heat.