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A Warning for Owners of Furman IT Refernence 20i

A Warning to anyone who owns a Furman IT Reference 20i for power filtering-
Do Not Leave the unit unattended while powered on. A few weeks ago, I smelled the very acrid smell of melting plastic and circuit board coming from my stereo. Long story short, my Furman IT Reference was the source and one of the circuit boards that was designed to prevent ‘current inrush’ self destructed. 
Thankfully, I was close by and was able to quickly unplug the unit or there was a very serious chance of fire! Since then I have tried, without any success, to have the unit repaired, but have gotten nowhere with Furman (now part of Nortek). I have tried sending in multiple requests for service. I’ve tried calling, only to end up in ‘press 1 for, press 2, purgatory..‘. When I have managed to get someone on the line, they referred me to their ‘dealer network’ for repairs. I contacted one of the dealers and they told me that only Furman is allowed to perform their own repairs. Call back Nortek and they won’t sell parts and they only use their dealers for repairs. Lather, Rinse, repeat. For $5k I’d expected better. The only good news is that I’m a very experienced service person for research instrumentation and I was able to identify the electrical component that failed (Ametek Thermistor SL22). Furman undersized the thermistor in their inrush circuit and thereby started the board to self destruct. The part is very cheap and I’m hoping I can still salvage the circuit board. But BEWARE! Had I not been nearby, it could have been much much worse!!!

mbachemist
emailists
923 posts
 

Thanks for the response.  I do have to say I really like Garth Powell’s designs.  In my main system I use the Niagara 7000, and like that it stores energy for transients.  I also have an modest home theater system plugged into it and it really made it sound quite sweet.

when putting together a small system away from home I tried the Audioquest power center 3, since I read it was very similar to Niagara 1000/1200.  I ended up preferring the sound of the used 15 year old  Furman reference 15, which I read is the same as the 15i, which just has upgraded cosmetics.  

 

goose
696 posts
 

I had a reference 15 for years and never had a problem with it.  It was left on all the time.

 

mbachemist OP
3 posts
 

I recommend not leaving your stereo equipment plugged in and turned on and unattended for any length of time. I take it even further and unplug my stereo when I’m not home. Not for reasons of safety, but it’s more that I’ve known owners who lost their entire system due to a nearby lightening strike during a thunderstorm. As for Furman, I had hoped that they’d stand behind their product. 

erik_squires
16,121 posts
 

I just called the customer service number:  800-472-5555

Here's the scoop:

  • Furman does not do service on power conditioners.
  • Units that are in warranty get replaced.
  • Units out of warranty get discount purchases on a brand new unit IF you have your receipts.
  • They recommend EBC for repairs.

Based on their web page the Merit and Elite units get a 3 year warranty, Reference, Classic and Prestige 5 years.

erik_squires
16,121 posts
 

I do want to say a few things:

1 - I’ve had my Elite 15i for like 20 years. Never ever had a problem with it.

2 - The part in question seems correct for the load, maybe the built-in transformer however makes it undersized?

3 - The metal housing makes a fire very unlikely.

4 - The person who answered the phone at Furman was very helpful and straightforward about how things work now, if you got into a voice-mail merry go round with them I sure did not. I mean, I didn’t get the answers I wanted but it was all pretty straightforward.

 

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