'Ailite' Dry Cabinet model GP-120 where to for repair.

[jack2964]

Had this for about 3 years only and it has worked ok. Now the touch controls to set target humidity has failed rendering the unit unserviceable.

I bought it from Big Camera in The Mall in Korat but it is out of warranty and I have lost the receipt.

Does anyone know where a competent repair shop might be found preferably around Nakhon Ratchasima or neighbouring changwats.

Failing this I'd need to buy a new one with capacity of 120 litres or thereabouts. I would prefer a brand that is more durable.

Any recommendations, advice? Thanks in advance.

 

[Aladdin]

Hello Jack

 

I have decided to buy a dry cabinet after having "consulted" Rabbit and some studies on the internet. I have found a few shops in Bangkok that carry the cabinets. But they all seems to be made in China.

 

But I found AV Camera in Bangkok and they have the Ailite and a GoodsGood brand. GoodsGood, when I saw the name I was 100% sure that I would never buy that brand. But I sent an e-mail to AV Camera and GoodsGood is Made in Korea. More than the double price. I studied the brand and it seems to be a good quality so I decided to buy a GoodsGood

 

More expensive, but I have this idea (stupid?) that I want workers to have a good salary and that the manufacturer have to clean up what the let out in the back of the factory. Me, myself want to have a good salary and I want a clean environment.

 

So Made in China is a NO GO for me with child and slave labour. And if you have ever been to China you know how the environment is, no doubt on where they drop all their shit.

 

Anyway, below is some info and I hope you find it useful. Fotofile is also selling dry cabinets, Chinese brand and I put pictures in another folder a few days ago, I think it is called HOW MUCH TIME TO YOU SPEND CLEANING YOUR CAMERA

 

I hope you make the right choice for our environment and our fellow workers! We have enough people asking where to buy cheap this and cheapest that without thinking on how is it possible to make a t-shirt for 25 Baht etc. Children walking around in chemicals, imagine it to be our own children, then we would gladly have spent a few hundred Bath extra 

 

 

http://www.avcamera.com/index.php/ailite   GP2-120 ขนาด 120 ลิตร ราคาพิเศษ 8,900 บาท

 

http://www.avcamera.com/index.php/goodsgood    GD-ION-140D ขนาด 140 ลิตร ราคาพิเศษ 21,900 บาท

 

-----------------------------------------------

Dear Aladdin,

 

 

The AILITE is made in China and the Goodsgood is made in Korea.

For AILITE, You need to come pick up at our shop. However, the 150L will be available next week.

 

 

The Goodsgood, however, has delivery service. The quality and material of this brand is much better than the China ones.

It is ready to deliver in 1-2 days after payment.

 

 

The information is on our website, which you should already checked, and it is written in Thai ...

 

 

Best regards,

A.V. CAMERA

Edited October 29, 2016 by Aladdin
Here is the link to the other folder: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/948724-how-much-time-do-you-spend-cleaning-camera/

[guzzi850m2]

I have the Ailite GP3- 50 model, so a 50 lit cabinet and are very happy with it, it doesn't use much power, the blue light is nice too and I can see what's in all 3 shelves. 

 

Also got it from AV camera.

 

I don't really care where it's made, my iPad mini is made in China, Sony RX100 mk3, hmm also China but my Fuji Xpro1 is made in Japan.

 

For me as a pretty "messy" person, the cabinet is perfect as all my photo gear is in the cabinet including a cheap action cam (likely also made, you know where). Before I got the dry cabinet my photo gear was stored here and there, ha-ha.

 

I currently lost interest (again) for taking photos so my gear is just sitting there now but at least it's sitting pretty good, okay still get the gear out for taking photos of my son now and again.

[jack2964]

Thanks for the links Aladdin. That Korean cabinet sure is expensive caparatively. I'll have to do more research if I really have to go the 'buy new' route. Meanwhile I am still hoping someone somewhere can fix my Ailite.

I also found a Taiwanese brand called Aipo which seems to have good reviews. Lazada has quite a few but the biggest worry is they sell without warranty.

I bought the Ailite simply because I didn't have any choice when I was shopping for one in Korat. Every store I visited only carried small cabinets. 

 

@Guzzi....How long have you had your unit?

[guzzi850m2]

Well I had mine for less than a year.

 

3 years uh, it might be worth trying one of those electronic repair shops. Lifespan on electronic goods is often more luck than anything else, I had a Samsung TV and a Sammy smart phone going tits up before 3 years old and the cost of repairs was not worth it, so no more Sammy for me.  

 

I looked at your unit in above link and I can see the control push bottoms are different than on mine but in both cases the push bottoms are sitting on a printed card.

 

Have you tried contacting Ailite direct for support? If they are willing to help, they might also be willing to sell you the defect part. Worth trying. 

 

Without stating anything you might just have been unlucky with your unit, the Ailite cabinets looks pretty good quality to me but the electronics might be crap, you never know.

 

You said the push bottoms don't work, is the unit running? You can hear a click (faint) when the units starts/stops and there is a red led lit in the dehumidifier unit inside the cabinet that will go out when set point is reached and it goes into stand-by mode.

[jack2964]

I first noticed the fault when the humidity display showed 80+% when I have set it to about 45%. Thinking the frequent power drop outs might have corrupted the setting I reset it to 45%. Then I noticed the fan no longer ran and I thought replacing the fan might fix it. Took me quite a bit of hunting around and finally had to purchase same part number fan from Aliexpress at nearly 600baht. Got the fan, fitted it and fan now runs but the humidity setting still keeps randomly resetting itself to above 80%+ so it is now useless.  My guess is the dead fan caused the electronics to fail too.

 

I might try and contact Ailite in Thailand but I guess it won't be easy as I can barely speak Thai but hopefully they can point me to a repairer.

 

Oh...got a request ...if you have a moment could you feel behind your unit to see if the fan sucks or blows when in operation. I have installed mine to blow as in I can feel the air blowing onto my palm at the unit's back. 

 

Thanks Guzzi!

[guzzi850m2]

Mine don't have a fan, I just checked. Your unit's cabinet is much bigger than mine, hence the fan, I guess.

 

Frequent power drop outs are no good for any electronics but it's not so severe in my neck of the woods, only my desktop PC + monitor have a UPS, not the dry cabinet. 

 

Sounds like the non working fan caused the "frying" of your dehumidifier unit but still a bit of a mystery why it failed, as a small fan will normally start & stop many many times without issues and a 600baht one in particular should be very high quality. I will assume that it's about same size as a PC cabinet fan?

 

Well good luck getting the dry cabinet sorted out.

 

 

 

 

[sn66nt]

I have had a GP-90 for years. Very pleased with it.

It failed within it's first year and I took it to their offices. They were very helpful, the boss spoke English and he explained that there was a little yellow sponge attached to the back which I had discarded as packaging but was in fact an essential piece of kit!

Their offices are near Suvarnabhumi.

Incidentally, the fan exhausts the cabinet.

[jack2964]

Guzzi...Said fan is a tiny 60X60X10mm and only a handful of suppliers on Aliexpress thus allowing them to charge a premium. I searched at IT places in Korat but none of them had what I want.

 

sn66nt...Thanks for your input.  I don't remember any 'yellow sponge' at the unit's back and since it worked for about 3 years mine probably didn't come with that.

Thanks too for info about fan orientation.

 

Off topic....I am considering getting rid of my Canon EF500/F4L USM (Mk1) so I don't need a large cabinet plus I find at my age lugging this monster around on a tripod isn't quite fun anymore. Before I post it on Bahtsold if anyone is keen please drop me a PM.

 

 

 

[Arkady]

My Goodsgood dry cabinet from AV Camera just stopped working after 4-5 years.  I checked the fuse and it was completely burned out.  Changed it and it still doesn't work, suggesting that the fuse put in by the factory didn't protect the drying unit from a traditional Thai surge in current. I couldn't see the ampage of the fuse but these units use only 3 watts, so need the lowest power fuse which is 3 amps.  AV Camera can  give you the number of their dealer who can provide a new drying unit for B6,000 but won't try to repair it. 

 

Another company in Bangkok's China Town also sells dry cabinets under the Wonderful brand and will do repairs to all brands.  You can send them your drying unit by post or visit them and they will see, if they can repair it. You have to unscrew it and disconnect all the leads.  They are APS Advanced Photo Supply Ltd Part, MSC Bdg, Charoen Krung Soi 25.  I haven't tried them, as I decided in the end to upgrade to a larger cabinet instead but they sounded really helpful on the phone and willing to try and fix the drying unit, rather just change it.  (I expect the other dealer may be able to repair the broken ones they get back and sell them other customers for B6,000.)

[jack2964]

Thanks for the contact Arkady ,  I sent my unit back to Big Camera (same shop I bought from) in The Mall Korat and they confirmed the fault and have now sent it to somewhere in BKK. They said it can take up to 6 months for the unit to be fixed so I am still waiting to hear from them. Meanwhile I've packed my gear in a large plastic box with several bags of silica gel.

 

[FracturedRabbit]

One of my two dry boxes died this week. Have order a replacement from Lazada which should be here in  a few days. Not sure 6 months wait, a load of hassle and the cost of repair is worth it; your gear won't be happy in bags of silica gel, they will dry the air too much which can also encourage mould.

[jack2964]

I feel this is truly newsworthy:
So I got my cabinet back and was prepared to pay a ransom but was pleasantly surprised when told it is free of charge!
I had to ask again to be sure the shop guy wasn't pulling my leg. 
Anyway he told me they replaced a circuit board and Ailite has decided not to charge for it and deemed it customer service and support.
I however gave the guy in Big Camera a small tip for organising the repair.
Two thumbs up for Ailite!
 

[ASHIS]

I  am looking for the power supply and Display unit replacements for  AILITE GP-90  model .  Not able to find any servicing center locally .  Any one  knows about any AILITE serivice center in Singapore or  Thailand whom I can contact to procure them may please post the info here  -  appreciate any help in this regard . 

Edited July 8, 2017 by ASHIS

[FracturedRabbit]

1 hour ago, ASHIS said:

I  am looking for the power supply and Display unit replacements for  AILITE GP-90  model .  Not able to find any servicing center locally .  Any one  knows about any AILITE serivice center in Singapore or  Thailand whom I can contact to procure them may please post the info here  -  appreciate any help in this regard . 

Based on this thread, why not try taking it to your nearest Big Camera and asking them?