The BMU Bandits

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Re: The BMU Bandits

Unread post by Geoff.R.G »

savvypaul wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 11:06 am
CN211276 wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 10:55 am A thread from AOS has been copied to WAM raising safety concerns about the BMU. Significant that it was started by someone who had a lot of issues with Richard Dunn, to put it mildly. I suspect a unit has been tampered with.
Yep, this sort of misinformation fuelled by malicious agenda is what Richard had to put up with...and it seems that some people still have a grudge. I have managed to have a conversation with the OP at Audio Addicts (he posted the thread at several forums). You can read it, here: https://audioaddictsforum.com/thread/18 ... d-balanced
I am intrigued, the person posting knows that the transformer is rated at 1KVA but states that there is no rating on the unit. Which raises the question, how did he get the information to state that it is 1KVA?

Another post asks how any user knows how much power is being drawn, the obvious answer, not given, is to read the data plates and add the ratings together, the same information will be in the user manual/s.

Then we come to the, reported, absence of any protection circuitry in the BMU, protective devices are present in a UK version, by law the mains plug MUST contain an appropriate fuse (5A in this case I assume) if the fuse in the unit in question was not as supplied by Richard he, and thus NVA, cannot be held responsible.

It seems that too many people refuse to accept any responsibility for their own actions but are perfectly happy to blame someone else, in this case the manufacturer, without checking that they (or possibly a third party) haven't invalidated the approval by using an incorrect fuse.

Finally, many people don't understand the term "rating" as applied to electrical equipment. In this case a 1KVA rated transformer can operate at 1KVA indefinitely without harm. The rating doesn't mean that it will fail at 1KVA, nor does a 5A fuse fail at 5A, it can carry 5A indefinitely. May be we should call it "safe working load" instead then more people might understand.
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savvypaul (Tue Jul 06, 2021 2:08 pm)

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Re: The BMU Bandits

Unread post by savvypaul »

The WAM mods permitted me to reply and then locked the thread. As firebottle seems to have posted at every forum he can find, and others (hifinutt) have copied it to other forums (WAM), it has been helpful to be able to post at least one rebuttal.

This is what I posted at The WAM:

Some of you will be aware that I purchased the remaining assets of NVA, in August 2019, some months after Richard passed away.

The original OP did not contact me about this 'safety alert' prior to posting it, and the OP that copied it to here did not contact me, either. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions as to why they wouldn't want to check their facts before posting content that has an obvious potential to cause reputational damage to a small business.

The unit is before my time at NVA, and Richard certainly did things differently to the mainstream, but there is nothing unsafe about the unit. It was just designed to fail, under a particular set of circumstances, in a way that many may not like. The owner of the unit severely overload it for an extended period of time. That is why it failed.

Inconvenient? Yes.

Dangerous? No. A basic understanding of double insulated construction and the properties of 20mm acrylic sheeting would have put that idea to bed. It cannot catch fire. No current can escape.

Our latest BMU comes with the option of a thermal cut out and we speak to each potential purchaser about the calculations required to check the power consumption of the equipment that they want to use the BMU with. The BMU is rated at 1Kva. We recommend that you do not use beyond 70% of that capacity (this is for extended lifespan, not for safety reasons). If we are not satisfied that the BMU will be used appropriately, we won't sell it to you. Richard had the same conversation with me when I bought a BMU from him, 5 years ago.


There is no doubt, in my mind, that this has been a co-ordinated campaign to attempt to damage NVA. Firebottle cannot give me an answer as to why he did not contact me to check facts before posting. That is unacceptable.

UPDATE - apology received. Matter closed.
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Re: The BMU Bandits

Unread post by savvypaul »

Geoff.R.G wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 1:59 pm
savvypaul wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 11:06 am
CN211276 wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 10:55 am A thread from AOS has been copied to WAM raising safety concerns about the BMU. Significant that it was started by someone who had a lot of issues with Richard Dunn, to put it mildly. I suspect a unit has been tampered with.
Yep, this sort of misinformation fuelled by malicious agenda is what Richard had to put up with...and it seems that some people still have a grudge. I have managed to have a conversation with the OP at Audio Addicts (he posted the thread at several forums). You can read it, here: https://audioaddictsforum.com/thread/18 ... d-balanced
I am intrigued, the person posting knows that the transformer is rated at 1KVA but states that there is no rating on the unit. Which raises the question, how did he get the information to state that it is 1KVA?

Another post asks how any user knows how much power is being drawn, the obvious answer, not given, is to read the data plates and add the ratings together, the same information will be in the user manual/s.

Then we come to the, reported, absence of any protection circuitry in the BMU, protective devices are present in a UK version, by law the mains plug MUST contain an appropriate fuse (5A in this case I assume) if the fuse in the unit in question was not as supplied by Richard he, and thus NVA, cannot be held responsible.

It seems that too many people refuse to accept any responsibility for their own actions but are perfectly happy to blame someone else, in this case the manufacturer, without checking that they (or possibly a third party) haven't invalidated the approval by using an incorrect fuse.

Finally, many people don't understand the term "rating" as applied to electrical equipment. In this case a 1KVA rated transformer can operate at 1KVA indefinitely without harm. The rating doesn't mean that it will fail at 1KVA, nor does a 5A fuse fail at 5A, it can carry 5A indefinitely. May be we should call it "safe working load" instead then more people might understand.
The user drastically exceeded the power rating, for an extended period of time - this is what firebottle has now admitted. The unit reacted as it was designed to.
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Re: The BMU Bandits

Unread post by Geoff.R.G »

savvypaul wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 2:11 pm
Geoff.R.G wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 1:59 pm
savvypaul wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 11:06 am

Yep, this sort of misinformation fuelled by malicious agenda is what Richard had to put up with...and it seems that some people still have a grudge. I have managed to have a conversation with the OP at Audio Addicts (he posted the thread at several forums). You can read it, here: https://audioaddictsforum.com/thread/18 ... d-balanced
I am intrigued, the person posting knows that the transformer is rated at 1KVA but states that there is no rating on the unit. Which raises the question, how did he get the information to state that it is 1KVA?

Another post asks how any user knows how much power is being drawn, the obvious answer, not given, is to read the data plates and add the ratings together, the same information will be in the user manual/s.

Then we come to the, reported, absence of any protection circuitry in the BMU, protective devices are present in a UK version, by law the mains plug MUST contain an appropriate fuse (5A in this case I assume) if the fuse in the unit in question was not as supplied by Richard he, and thus NVA, cannot be held responsible.

It seems that too many people refuse to accept any responsibility for their own actions but are perfectly happy to blame someone else, in this case the manufacturer, without checking that they (or possibly a third party) haven't invalidated the approval by using an incorrect fuse.

Finally, many people don't understand the term "rating" as applied to electrical equipment. In this case a 1KVA rated transformer can operate at 1KVA indefinitely without harm. The rating doesn't mean that it will fail at 1KVA, nor does a 5A fuse fail at 5A, it can carry 5A indefinitely. May be we should call it "safe working load" instead then more people might understand.
The user drastically exceeded the power rating, for an extended period of time - this is what firebottle has now admitted.
Then the user has only him/her self to blame.

Overloading a product is not something the manufacturer can prevent, except by fitting an appropriately rated fuse, which means that the user in question deliberately took steps to circumvent the design feature. I would suggest that the post, in several forums, is a deliberate attempt to defame Richard and NVA, DQ would know more about that.

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Re: The BMU Bandits

Unread post by karatestu »

I had my soldering iron plugged in to my BMU a while back. I thought it might make my joints purer and better. Did a real good job. Since I started plugging the iron straight in to the wall I swear my joints have got worse. It seems a bit dull compared to the shiny detailed joints that the BMU assisted iron produced.
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Re: The BMU Bandits

Unread post by CycleCoach »

karatestu wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 8:09 pm I had my soldering iron plugged in to my BMU a while back. I thought it might make my joints purer and better. Did a real good job. Since I started plugging the iron straight in to the wall I swear my joints have got worse. It seems a bit dull compared to the shiny detailed joints that the BMU assisted iron produced.
I use my BMU with the washing machine, and I swear my y-fronts come out spotless every time.

And with less distortion. :grin:
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karatestu (Tue Jul 06, 2021 8:42 pm)
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Re: The BMU Bandits

Unread post by Geoff.R.G »

karatestu wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 8:09 pm I had my soldering iron plugged in to my BMU a while back. I thought it might make my joints purer and better. Did a real good job. Since I started plugging the iron straight in to the wall I swear my joints have got worse. It seems a bit dull compared to the shiny detailed joints that the BMU assisted iron produced.
Stu, if you can spout that kind of hot air you don't need a soldering iron, just breathe on the joint :grin:
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karatestu (Tue Jul 06, 2021 8:42 pm)

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Re: The BMU Bandits

Unread post by savvypaul »

Geoff.R.G wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 8:24 pm
karatestu wrote: Tue Jul 06, 2021 8:09 pm I had my soldering iron plugged in to my BMU a while back. I thought it might make my joints purer and better. Did a real good job. Since I started plugging the iron straight in to the wall I swear my joints have got worse. It seems a bit dull compared to the shiny detailed joints that the BMU assisted iron produced.
Stu, if you can spout that kind of hot air you don't need a soldering iron, just breathe on the joint :grin:
To late to breathe on the joint...he already smoked it.
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Geoff.R.G (Wed Jul 07, 2021 6:30 am) • karatestu (Wed Jul 07, 2021 5:00 pm)
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Re: The BMU Bandits

Unread post by savvypaul »

I have now received an apology from Alan (firebottle).

I have removed all reference to NVA on the AoS posting.

I would like to apologise for causing you distress in this matter, with hindsight I should have given thought to that.


Alan has accepted that Richard's design did not constitute a fire hazard. Additionally, the thread at Audio Addicts has been deleted.

I have removed any posts here that are no longer relevant in light of the above.
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CycleCoach (Wed Jul 07, 2021 11:56 am) • CN211276 (Wed Jul 07, 2021 12:05 pm) • slinger (Wed Jul 07, 2021 12:35 pm) • NSNO2021 (Wed Jul 07, 2021 12:57 pm) • antonio66 (Wed Jul 07, 2021 10:58 pm)
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Re: The BMU Bandits

Unread post by NSNO2021 »

Well done and it's good to see the guy was decent enough to see sense, apologise and remove his posts. Just a pity he didn't stop and think first 🙄
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