Repair a Rel Britannia B-3?

Rel has a U.S. service location in Berkley California. Dave, is the man to talk too. I was able to purchase a New 10" driver for my REL B2 and it is awesome! Only took about a week to get too.

Wow, there goes my search for a B-series.

Hello Jerry:

I have the same model with the same problem. My local dealer (Bellingham, WA) sent the amp board to Rel in California and after considerable time the response is that the the board traces are bad with no reliable repair. No replacement boards are available. Were your efforts to contact Rel in UK productive?
Thanks for you anticipated response.

Regards, Mike

I can relate.
I broke a cartridge connection lead and asked the maker if he would rewire the tonearm.
"Sorry buddy, you're on your own".
Made me feel all warm-and-fuzzy...

The three fuses are all replaced. It is the amplifier Board that has a short in it or something that is flowing out the fuses. The Rel contact in California claims they don't have parts and can't replace the Board. I just sent an email to the Rel website contact in the UK, and I will let you all know what they say. Thanks for all your responses. It is a bit shocking that a unit 7 years old is not supported. --Jerry

I had an amp issue with my Rel Strata 3 a year ago. An email to Rel through their website was returned with information directing me to my local Rel dealer/rep. I contacted them and they picked up the sub, probably removed the amp and sent it to Rel, and had it back to me in 3 weeks. I was only charged a reasonable amount for a service pickup and nothing additional when I picked it up at their storefront after the repairs were completed. I was pleasantly surprised with the response, service and cost.

Stadium and Strata are 2 completely different subs than the Britainia series, not even close. And, If your dealer orders the part you DONT have to send your REL anywhere. Maybe You might have to bring the sub to a local REL dealer for repair IF your lucky to have one near you.

About 8 months ago My Rel B3 seemed to have died. Blue LED was off. Turned the power off and back on - nothing. Then I did an old computer trick. I pulled the power cord out - flipped the power switch on and off several times - plugged it back in and its been working ever since.

Good luck

Having repaired two REL subs myself, a Stadium lll and a Strata lll, I'm fairly certain the B3 has a very similar amplifier PCB judging from the B3 description in the operators manual. There are three(3) fuses that need to be checked on your B3. The first fuse is the one on the rear panel in the IEC connector, the other two are only accessible by removing the rear panel operator interface/amp assembly from the enclosure. These two will be located on the amplifier PCB and are for each PS rail right after the mains transformer.

Check these fuses and while you have the interface/amp assembly removed, checked for any burnt or discolored components on the amplifier PCB as this is where most failures occur. If you find no obvious component failure(s)or suspected failure(s) but you find an open fuse, replace the fuse with the same value/rating then replace the interface/amp assembly and reapply power. If she lights up, you're good to go.

Let us know what you find and we can go from there if you want. BTW, REL holds their designs and component values as proprietary and will not give out any info nor will the dealers. They will insist you send the unit in to them for repairs/troubleshooting.

Well , your DEALER in Ohio should be able to help you get parts. Why are they selling RELS they cant service? This is a really bad problem that has been going on for sometime now. My brother waited for 6 mons to get a replacement driver for a REL B1. Good luck trying to get help here in the U.S. Call the UK Direct. The Britiania series is very good ...all the new Rel subs are smaller and lighter...if that tells you anything. The B3 does not have the voice coil of the B2 or B1 so for that reason you should consider moving on to a JL Audio sub, this would be my recommendation.

Check the fuse...