Leaking Expert 120

[graemeharrison]

I'm looking at buying a used Expert 120 at a good price from a local friendly HiFi shop (as you might have seen from my previous post). The problem is that although it is working perfectly, we have just discovered that it is leaking some oil from the bottom panel screws. A search of the forum shows this to be from the thermal pad. I am reasonably handy electronically so my questions are:

1. How bad a problem is this leak long-term (I assume that as the leak continues, the temperature will rise ultimately leading to failure)?

2. Has anyone replaced this pad themselves and if so, is it easy to get the part from Devialet and is the swap easy?

3. Would this leak have caused any other damage?

Thanks for your answers everyone, and before people suggest sending it back to France for repair (I'm in USA), the cost of this would probably be prohibitive.

Cheers
Graeme

[mdconnelly]

Is there a chance it is still under warranty? Devialet’s warranties are transferable. Also, Devialet has been known to be generous with warranty work that is only slightly beyond the 5 years. If you or the dealer have not already done so, inquire with Devialet. Can’t hurt.

[graemeharrison]

Is there a chance it is still under warranty?  Devialet’s warranties are transferable.  Also, Devialet has been known to be generous with warranty work that is only slightly beyond the 5 years.  If you or the dealer have not already done so, inquire with Devialet.  Can’t hurt.

Thanks for the advice. Is there any way of finding out how old it is? Serial number database for example?

[Lilitti]

Is there a chance it is still under warranty?  Devialet’s warranties are transferable.  Also, Devialet has been known to be generous with warranty work that is only slightly beyond the 5 years.  If you or the dealer have not already done so, inquire with Devialet.  Can’t hurt.

Thanks for the advice. Is there any way of finding out how old it is? Serial number database for example?

After boot when "-40 dB" appears on the display, press the rightmost button of the remote for two seconds. 
The first line is Y/W which shows year and week of production.
As for the warranty, the standard warranty is 2 years, see here for details:
https://help.devialet.com/hc/en-us/artic...-extension

I would NOT buy the unit if it's leaking oil and I had no idea of the repair cost.

[ICUDoc]

Leaking some oil? What could possibly be the source?

[Pim]

Is there a chance it is still under warranty?  Devialet’s warranties are transferable.  Also, Devialet has been known to be generous with warranty work that is only slightly beyond the 5 years.  If you or the dealer have not already done so, inquire with Devialet.  Can’t hurt.

Thanks for the advice. Is there any way of finding out how old it is? Serial number database for example?

After boot when "-40 dB" appears on the display, press the rightmost button of the remote for two seconds. 
The first line is Y/W which shows year and week of production.
As for the warranty, the standard warranty is 2 years, see here for details:
https://help.devialet.com/hc/en-us/artic...-extension

I would NOT buy the unit if it's leaking oil and I had no idea of the repair cost.

Hmmm, the warranty used to be 5 years

[Axel]

Thanks for the advice. Is there any way of finding out how old it is? Serial number database for example?

After boot when "-40 dB" appears on the display, press the rightmost button of the remote for two seconds. 
The first line is Y/W which shows year and week of production.
As for the warranty, the standard warranty is 2 years, see here for details:
https://help.devialet.com/hc/en-us/artic...-extension

I would NOT buy the unit if it's leaking oil and I had no idea of the repair cost.

Hmmm, the warranty used to be 5 years

You are right, Pim. My D200 when new came with a five year warranty. When I bought another second hand 200 I decided to send them to Devialet for the 440 Pro upgrade and they were returned to me with a fresh five year warranty.

Reading through the link given by @Lilitti, it states that a two year guarantee is extendable to five when you register your Expert or Expert Pro.

[Axel]

Leaking some oil? What could possibly be the source?

It seems to be something to do with the breakdown of the thermal pad between the Devialet components and the outer case.

If oil is leaking from the screws in the “belly pan” of the amp, because of the position of the thermal pad, it seems that the oil must travel through the electronic components of the amp to reach the bottom. I would think that the amp needs to be returned to Devialet for a strip down and repair. I wouldn’t feel safe turning the amp on or even having it connected to a power supply for fear of damaging the amp or even worse an electric shock. Please don’t take any chances, @graemeharrison

[Damon]

The warranty for Expert and Pro Amps IS five years, as stated in the Devialet web page; it only requires that you register the unit with them. And if upgraded, typically from an Expert to a ProCI series, the five-year warranty period is reset, and starts again. In this case, you have a new unit, with a new warranty.

The Devialet amps use their casework as part of the heat dissipation mechanism. That is why the D250 amps are effectively identical to the D220 except for the case and remote. The thermal management of the D250 is more advanced.

But back to the leak of fluid from the heat sink adhesive; old timers here may remember that before the ProCI amps were produced there there was a member, user name was M something. Mammot or ? He was from New York, I think. Anyhow, he dismantled his D200 and changed the speaker binding posts and also redid the thermal pad from the internals to the casework of the D200. We were aghast at somebody going all Frankenstein on a $10,000.00 amp that was under warranty. I was, at least. Those posts are probably 2014 - 2015.

He did also say that the mods he made resulted in a significant improvement in SQ. He had criticism of Devialet for some of the OEM components, but I recall that the heat transfer stuff he did was notable, as in, a lot more area. The gooey adhesive seems to be an issue in all these things were heat is handled passively. Or in the case of the Xbox, even with fans it was a mess.

I've gone into the weeds again, but this is an interesting issue, and one that is likely relatively simple to deal with. Even if a bit messy. (Now there will probably be a big run on used D120's as we all decide to hot-rod the older amps) .

[Jean-Marie]

@Damon ,
The name you are looking for is Manoet.

You can search his threads.

Indeed he went through the extreme possible and even beyond in terms of thermal improvements and tweaking.

Jean-Marie