ICOM factory repair or local dealer service?

LakeMan2 · May 25, 2016

Well, from my other thread it looks like I have five F60s with a blown PA (max power at Hi <0.5W). I am going to talk to a local authorized dealer service center about repair, but I am wondering if I should just go straight to ICOM and look into them doing it? I would not be too worried about it except I went with the F60 because I need a waterproof radio. They will get wet and possibly submerged. I am worried about them getting sealed up well after a repair. I am wondering if ICOM is more likely to be able to repair them right than a local dealer service.

Any experiences with ICOM factory repair vs dealer service for something like this?

mmckenna · May 25, 2016

I know from the local Kenwood dealer that bench time is about $85/hr. I'm sure Icom is the same or really close. Considering swapping out a PA takes some skill and time, plus some realignment (usually), you'd be looking at an hour (or more) plus parts.

A quick search of e-Bay shows that it might be cheaper or maybe the same price to just replace it.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to get a quote, but they'll probably tell you that the price for repair isn't firm due to them not knowing the extent of damage.

Local Icom dealers should have bench techs who can work on these radios and maintain their integrity. Make sure you talk to an authorized Icom dealer/shop, not just some guy that sells Icom's. There is a difference.

LakeMan2 · May 25, 2016

Thanks for the input. I am considering repair because the units are in excellent physical condition with little signs of wear. Also e-bay (and my stupidity for not checking power levels right away) is what got me in this situation to begin with. I don't know how many units I would have to buy, test, and deal with returning to seller before I got five that actually were not defective. Between these units and a defective duplexer from ebay I have gotten more defective radio items from e-bay then good ones....

mmckenna · May 26, 2016

Got it, yeah e-Bay can be a gamble.

Probably worth it to get them fixed then. Finding a good local shop may take some work. Sending them straight to Icom might be a good way to do this. Probably cost a bit more, but you'll get it done right.

N4KVE · May 26, 2016

About 10 years ago, Icom was so busy with repairs, that they outsourced people to do repairs for them. A local guy had a radio that was not working properly, & he went to the local guy to see what could be done. In the end, he decided to send the radio thousands of miles west to have the radio repaired by Icom. Well at the time Icom was so busy, they sent the radio to the same guy who originally looked at it. He repaired the radio, & sent it directly to the customer. Boy was he surprised when he saw the return address on the box. So you might send the radio to Icom, but they might not fix it. My friend has since retired.I'd look up Matt, at SAR Technical Services in Michigan. He's the best, & I would send a radio to him before Icom. Check out his feedback on E-Ham.net. He repaired a few radios for me. None better.

LakeMan2 · May 26, 2016

MOONBOOTS said:
About 10 years ago, Icom was so busy with repairs, that they outsourced people to do repairs for them. A local guy had a radio that was not working properly, & he went to the local guy to see what could be done. In the end, he decided to send the radio thousands of miles west to have the radio repaired by Icom. Well at the time Icom was so busy, they sent the radio to the same guy who originally looked at it. He repaired the radio, & sent it directly to the customer. Boy was he surprised when he saw the return address on the box. So you might send the radio to Icom, but they might not fix it. My friend has since retired.I'd look up Matt, at SAR Technical Services in Michigan. He's the best, & I would send a radio to him before Icom. Check out his feedback on E-Ham.net. He repaired a few radios for me. None better.

Thanks! I checked out SAR Technical Services on eHam.net, looks good. I will check it out.

ElroyJetson · May 26, 2016

I worked at an Icom factory authorized service shop for over seven years.

We got a lot of referrals from Icom. And we sent some radios to them for more extensive repairs
when it was necessary to do so.

In general, it would appear to me that while WE did component level repairs on radios most of the time, Icom's service department is more likely to take the easy way out and just swap out the whole board.

We actually fixed many radios that Icom turned down as being unrepairable.

We found that some models of Icom radios have a BIG problem with certain circuit traces inside the multi-layer PC boards failing, and eventually we saw this problem so often in some models that we
routinely installed the required jumpers across the board to keep the radio working even if the problem
had not yet cropped up.

We were not impressed by Icom's response to this issue, which was to pretend they never heard of it.
Which, to me, is the wrong answer.

LakeMan2 · Jun 2, 2016

MOONBOOTS said:
About 10 years ago, Icom was so busy with repairs, that they outsourced people to do repairs for them. A local guy had a radio that was not working properly, & he went to the local guy to see what could be done. In the end, he decided to send the radio thousands of miles west to have the radio repaired by Icom. Well at the time Icom was so busy, they sent the radio to the same guy who originally looked at it. He repaired the radio, & sent it directly to the customer. Boy was he surprised when he saw the return address on the box. So you might send the radio to Icom, but they might not fix it. My friend has since retired.I'd look up Matt, at SAR Technical Services in Michigan. He's the best, & I would send a radio to him before Icom. Check out his feedback on E-Ham.net. He repaired a few radios for me. None better.

I contacted SAR Technical Services and unfortunately he does not service Land Mobile Products. So using him for the F60's is not an option.

jeepsandradios · Jun 2, 2016

Send it direct to ICOM. Depending on your location another good shop in NY is Depot Repair Service | United Radio

prcguy · Jun 4, 2016

This is not a recent experience with Icom repair, but one I've heard from others over the years. I bought a used/broken Icom IC-275H cheap, which is a 100W 2m all mode radio that had some transmitter problems and it also looked like the PA fan had melted and stopped turning.

The original owner had sent it to Icom in WA for repair and was told it was uneconomical to repair. This was an expensive radio new, somewhere around $1500 or more and Icom could not fix it?

I took a chance buying it broken (it was real cheap) and a friend that worked at a local marine radio store figured out the problem in no time, it had bad T-R switching diode. He replaced the part for a few $$ and I can't remember if he replaced the fan or I did it at a later time, but the radio is still working fine after about 20yrs after my friends repair.

The bottom line of my story is Icom factory service in WA could not figure out how to fix the relatively simple problem and condemned a very expensive radio. How many more times has this happened where a radio was an easy fix but the person at Icom apparently didn't have enough smarts to figure out what was wrong? How many people were forced to buy a new radio due to incompetence on Icom's part?
prcguy

LakeMan2 · Jun 5, 2016

I ended up taking one of the radios to a local Authorized Dealer Service Center that was listed on Icom's site. They replaced the PA and aligned, for a reasonable cost I think (~ 30min labor plus the PA cost). Since I think it was reasonable, good turnaround, and I can support a local business, I am getting the others done there too.

ICOM factory repair or local dealer service?

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