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If you've owned an Icom rig has it ever had to be repaired?

Has your Icom ever failed and needed repairs?

  • Total voters
    83
I bought it used from an elderly gentleman. It's a recent serial # and in very nice shape. I like the fact it has HF/VHF in one box . Being menu driven will be a new experience for me. I will have to buy the 13 pin ACC cable to run the amp as he is unable to locate it .Can't wait to get it and start messing with it. :)
 
sorry to bring up an old thread.....but is 5 times in 31 months any type of record? for the SAME problem? and YES, the rig in question is a 746 pro......
 
Moleculo said:
I was rag chewing with some locals on 75 meters last night when the topic of "which rig should I buy" came up. Of course, several people had various recommendations.

Then an interesting comment was made by one individual that has a ton of equipment and has probably owned almost every HF rig available at one time or another. He said that he loved the way almost all of the Icoms he ever owned worked. However, he got tired of sending them all to Washington for repair, so he recently gave up on Icom and sold them all. He said, "it seems like every Icom I owned went to Washington". Then an interesting thing happened: a couple other people chimed in with, "me too".

This made me stop and think about my own experience. I currently own 3 Icom rigs. Two of them have needed repairs by Icom. One went back twice. One other Icom HT that I bought new never needed repairs, but I didn't keep it that long, either.

Let's do an informal, unscientific survery:

1. Of all of the Icom equipment you have owned, what percentage of the equipment has had to be repaired for problems that were not end-user related?

2. If you had Icom equipment repaired, how quick was the turn-around?

3. If you had Icom equipment repaired, did it deter you from buying Icom again?

4. If you have to pick just one, what is your equipment brand of preference?
Click to expand...

Answer(s):
1. The only Icom ever returned was a new IC-746Pro, for the 'notorious' loss of TX problem.
2. 2-3 Week turn around; Icom warranty repair; I only paid shipping.
3. It didn't deter me, as I presently run the same IC-746Pro, along with two (2) IC-718's, and an IC-706MKIIG
4. Still a 'dyed-in-the-wool' Icom-Guy here

If I were buying a NEW rig here today, and money were no object, I'd either get an Icom IC-7800, or 7600, or a Yaesu FT-5000 or 9000 series.

Unfortunately, because of the design of the (now discontinued) IC-746Pro, it almost seems that this thread will be unfairly biased AGAINST Icom.

I think the 'reason' so many Hams are so loyal to Icom is because of their superior receivers throughout the 80's, 90's and early part of the 21C. Nowadays however, there are MANY receivers which have proven themselves equal or superior to Icom, including Elecraft, Flex, TenTec, Yaesu, & Kenwood (among others.)

I like 'em ALL, for one reason or another :blink:
 
CTStallion said:
Answer(s):
1. The only Icom ever returned was a new IC-746Pro, for the 'notorious' loss of TX problem.
2. 2-3 Week turn around; Icom warranty repair; I only paid shipping.
3. It didn't deter me, as I presently run the same IC-746Pro, along with two (2) IC-718's, and an IC-706MKIIG
4. Still a 'dyed-in-the-wool' Icom-Guy here

If I were buying a NEW rig here today, and money were no object, I'd either get an Icom IC-7800, or 7600, or a Yaesu FT-5000 or 9000 series.

Unfortunately, because of the design of the (now discontinued) IC-746Pro, it almost seems that this thread will be unfairly biased AGAINST Icom.

I think the 'reason' so many Hams are so loyal to Icom is because of their superior receivers throughout the 80's, 90's and early part of the 21C. Nowadays however, there are MANY receivers which have proven themselves equal or superior to Icom, including Elecraft, Flex, TenTec, Yaesu, & Kenwood (among others.)

I like 'em ALL, for one reason or another :blink:
Click to expand...


1.same here. but 5 times? and they GUARANTEED that the issue was resolved. we'll see what 'guarantee' means tomorrow.
2.less then 2 weeks every time thus far. once i dropped off & picked up 3 days later, the shop in MI had it back in less then 10 days.
3. i have not bought another new icom since the 746pro in 2008, but have owned 551d, 706mk2g, 735, 736, 745, 751a, 765, multiples of some, in all, a total of 14 icoms. a 735 & 2-706's were abused (by me) beyond comprehension. rain, salt water, snow, dust, dirt, mud, rover, field day, camping, boating, carry-on luggage, checked luggage, dropped, HIGH swr, no antenna, wrong antenna, you name it, 3 of my icoms suffered unthinkable abuse and never skipped a beat. i have never ever had to repair any of the other icoms i've ever owned (he knocks wood heavily), except for this 746pro.
4.i am trying, too. really, i am. again, waiting with baited breath upon icom's response to THEIR guarantee that they fixed my radio for good last time.

i'd really like to try the ic9100-if the price was right. i've owned older kenwoods & yaesu's, but always preferred icom's sound-receive and transmit. i can't see myself owning a ts2000.
 
I've had a bunch of Icom rigs, including ALL of the 706 series. The first one had to be repaired once. The last two, I still have: one in the house, one mobile. They have performed flawlessly. One now needs to go in for some cleaning and adjustment. I can't see down in the small things to do it! This is after yeoman service of over 10 years! I have NO complaints with Icom. My gosh, some people expect things to last forever!:drool:

About the only things that do that are my Chevrolets! ;):laugh: j/k


CWM
 
no i didn't really expect it to last forever-well, yeah, maybe i actually did. but come on. 5 times for the same thing??? in 2 years??? it is most obviously a design flaw of that particular model. as i stated, i have abused several other icoms mercilessly without so much as hiccupping. the 746pro has been babied like a preemie, and it just insists on taking road trips for repair. icom fixed it out of warranty for free......round trip shipping was over $150 insured. they refuse to discuss replacement of any type or any other kind of compensation. they could not care one bit less if i was to ever buy another icom. my mere hundreds of dollars are nothing to them.
 
I have an Icom-735 I bought used 2 years ago at a hamfest and I have not had any issues, it operates great! I bought it used and I dont know if the previous owner had any problems.
 
IC-775DSP

Bought an IC-775DSP when they first came out and had to ship it back to Washington after the first month for no TX output. They replaced the finals and sent it back in two weeks. Zero cost. I had not caused the problem as it was working one minute and then not. It has performed flawlessly until last year with the rotary encoder got rough. I replace that myself and it is still my daily driver. I also use an IC-821 I bought two years ago used and its on about 10 hours a day as I monitor and use two repeaters I own and operate. No problems here. I use a IC-2800H in my mobil along with a 706 MKII. Never an issue and had them as new. And I still use an IC-4GAT HT now and then, what a brick! So I guess one back to the mfg failure and one that I fixed myself is not too bad in all the years I've run Icom gear. :D

I have four other rigs that are Yaesu. Two 8100's and two VX-5's. Also had a pair of VX-150's that I disposed of. The two 8100's used for monitoring only. The TX is intermittent at best and the display will go out and crazy at times. One VX-5 is great and the other is a parts rig. :sad:
 
I have an Icom IC-230 mobile ( made in 1973), and an Icom IC-2A handheld ( made in 1983 , But I think it had its back cover replaced because it has a tone pad like the a IC-2GT)

I haven't had these long just got them actually but there still here and working fine.


T23
 
No Problems with my line-up!

My shack and mobile rigs;
1 IC-V82
1 92AD
2 2200H
2 2820H
1 718
1 746 (not the pro)

I wont list the other rigs I have because the topic is ICOM. I have worked them all to death and they have never let me down. I do however realize at some point in time, I will need to send a rig in for repairs. I can hand deliver my rigs to ICOM, being only about a 45 minute dirve from my QTH. I have never worried about the service I would get. They have a great track record. I do agree with an earlier post, all brands of radios can have a problem. Sometimes it's do to a bad design or just a cold solder joint. And sometimes it's do to abuse by the hand of the owner of the rig ie; bad feedline, missmatched antenna, a meter that is reading wrong etc.

Just my two cents :) 73

PS. Sorry, I can't help myself. I have to say it! My new favorite rig in the shack is my Kenwood TS-520SE
 
ICOM 718

My ICOM 718 has been back as the power gradually dropped from 100 watts (around) to 50 watts on all bands when using CW. They said they replaced a couple of diodes as it did seem better when it was returned. However after just one week it started to lose power again. I am not going to bother sending it back, nor will I get another ICOM.:mad:
Jon G4FUT
 

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