just bought a used Eclipse 55040, and there are some problems with it.

Story behind it first:

The guy that I bought it off of, never used it. He bought it off another guy, planning to build a SQ system but other things got in the way so he had to sell off the whole system. I trust the guy and he's been really good about the whole matter, even refunded some of the money from our deal.

Now the guy that had it first claimed that he just got it back from being serviced by Eclipse, the second guy was inclinded to believe him, and so am I (or I was...). When I got it in my hands it was still very cleanly plastic wrapped, as one would imagine it to be after being serviced.

Now that I have the story out of the way, lets get onto the problems...

The first thing I noticed is the condition of the face, it has tons upon tons of fine scratches on it. Leaving it with a very dull appearance and the actual display comes out slightly blurred and hazy. Will a plastic scratch remover readily available from Canadian Tire harm the face or will it help? Any chance I can order just the clear front plastic piece from eclipse (there is also a slight chip from the plastic by the NOB control, not really noticeable, and the gold toned Eclipse sign looks like a dog was chewing on it)?

Next we have the "NOB" volume control. I guess the contacts are a little dirty on it, as when rolling it forward, sometimes the volume will dip a bit then go up, or go up then dip a bit, or a mix anywhere in the middle, doesn't matter how fast I move it. Any suggestions for this?

Finally we have the biggest actual functional problem with the deck. Now I haven't fully gone through this problem, so all of these symptoms are simply preliminary. When using the cd player for say more than half an hour, it will start to cut out for a split second and produce static. I figured at first it was simply a problem with the install, but I can't replicate the problem while using the radio at all and everything else seems fine. I tried different cd's, both burned and original, and the problem continued. I know it's not a problem with the actual cd, for when you turn the cd player off for a couple minutes then turn it back on, it won't do it.

The first two problems I can pretty much live with and not lose sleep over, but that last one has me a bit worried. If it was actually serviced (how I can verify that I'm not quite sure), do I have any recourse with Eclipse?

oh and the funny thing is that just three weeks before buying this unit, I sold an absolutely mint 5504 that was pretty much brand new because of money problems. Man, am I kicking myself now... :rolleyes:

thanks for any help guys, it's very much appreciated

this probably isn't of any help but.It seems to me that when i read reviews on that deck (5504) there seemed to be many reliability issues with it. from everything you mentioned to it skipping all of the tme and such. I would take this matter up with the eclipse. I don't know what to reccomend about the cosmetics, maybe Dukk or Ty are around here somewhere [img]graemlins/dunno.gif[/img]

as I understand it, the first versions of the 5504 had the skipping problems, the later versions had no such problem. The first 5504 that I had, exhibited no such problem, played any cd absolutely beautifully. The 55040 that I have now is a slightly updated version, only real difference being a slightly more tinted screen and different lighting. The thing though is that the cd isn't really skipping. The car can be parked and it will still exhibit the problem.

ok, i would still call or e-mail eclipse, they might have a suggestion [img]smile.gif[/img]

sent them an e-mail yesterday, not holding my breath for a reply though

oh ya, i know how it is, i e-mailed the kicker techs 2 months ago and nothing :rolleyes: I think i would have to call them instead of e-mail. Can't blame em though i'd imagine they get a load of e-mail, but it would be nice to see a reply [img]smile.gif[/img]

Hey
If you are keeping the face use Novus #1 scratch remover, I use it on all my plastics even my pinball machines!
The "nob" uses a photo interrupt system to sense the direction and amount of turning, they can get dirty sometimes although it sounds like eclipse "over" designed it and made it too sensitive. Batch production runs are funny like that though, there should be something that says what day they were produced on, stay away from Mon and Fri.
As for the main issue Team Obsession is right call eclipse, I've emailled them a couple of times with no response. It could be as simple as a cold solder joint from a bad wave solder?
And companies wonder why customers complain to them about poor service, even an automated email would be nice - my2C.
J

I already tried the 800 number on their site, but it doesn't seem to be accessible from Canada. Anyone have a line for them?

As for the Novus scratch remover, where can I find it?

thanks

just bumping this back up

still need help, anyone? anyone???

Hey Edgar, it's Hubert. I thought you said the other one was in "like new condition"? Crap, that sucks man, hope you get it worked out. Now that you mention it, I've noticed a while back that the volume would also dip a bit on mine when trying to turn the "nob" really fast. It's only happened to me like maybe twice that I can recall in the 6 months that I've used it. Did I mention that mine is functionally flawless & has barely any visible scratches on the display ;) . Sorry, couldn't resist. You are right BTW, the 5504 had some skipping issues but the 55040 had that fixed. I haven't had any issues with mine, even with a fairly aggressive suspension on my car. Lemme know if your friend, or yourself, still want my deck & changer. If still no luck, then the Alpine 9813 will be for sale. Good luck man! [img]graemlins/beer.gif[/img]