Do you have a Pioneer mini-hifi (X-HM71-S, X-HM71-K or X-HM81-S, X-HM81-K) or amplifier (X-HM20, X-HM10) that suddenly stopped working? Maybe all it does when plugged in is flash a little red / blue light on the front panel and refuses to switch on?
Well I’ve now had three Pioneer X-HM71-S (Silver) and X-HM71-K (Black) systems that have failed in this way and finding out why has prompted me to tell others what happened and Pioneer’s response.
Let’s start with the good news – your Pioneer will most likely be easy to fix and does not need replacing – see end of post. (Note X-HM20, X-HM-10 may just need unplugging for 5 minutes to reset see the comments below).
The bad news is that you won’t find any clue in the instruction manual that came with your system. There’s not one mention of a flashing light or what to do if you are unlucky to have this occur. I guess most owners will simply give up and look for a new model thinking they’ve broken it. Or take it for service. Lucky for Pioneer if you choose to buy another Pioneer – I won’t and here’s why.
The Problem
The red timer light just blinks and the Pioneer won’t switch on.
The problem in my case was due to the overload protection software triggering that puts the unit into a permanent ‘fault’ condition which can’t be reset by simply powering down and up again. I tried Google for helpful suggestions of holding down multiple buttons such as stop and power when plugging in but this did not work.
Before finding out about the secret buttons I took the units to an approved Pioneer service workshop where they reset the fault code. The reason for this Pioneer inform me is that an engineer needs to check for damage before reset to ensure the device is not permanently damaged. The service workshop will likely insist the problem was caused by you having been clumsy enough to wire up the speakers incorrectly or short out the speaker wires or have a fine wire that touched the chassis. The overload protection circuit does not lie they will say and it must have happened. Will consumers buckle under the insinuation and pay the service fee ‘fine’?
Given in my case I had three units fail in two separate installations that I’d personally wired up without any trace of faulty wiring I wanted to understand why I was being wrongly accused. So I wrote to Pioneer UK.
Their reply was to condemn my speakers as being not suitable for the X-HM71. Suggestion was to use the Pioneer speakers supplied instead of my JPW or Gale Gold Monitors, not a choice I wanted given the Pioneer’s inferior quality.
Having said that I should say Pioneer now produce some far better sounding speakers than you may expect although the pair bundled with the X-HM71 were not in that category (you get a clue by their light weigh feel. Pioneer wanted to see the impedance curve of my 20 year old speakers to point the finger but of course could not find any from the manufacturer. It took me 20 minutes or so to measure the impedance of each of my speakers and send Pioneer the curves.
Pioneer’s reply was to agree the speakers were not to blame after all. It cost £30 a pop for DK AVS to reset each X-HM71 which developed the mysterious flashing red timer light after the 12 month warranty had expired. The third one failed after just a couple of months so was returned for a full refund.
So why did the protection trip? I still don’t know why and Pioneer don’t seem to know either. Here’s what they said:
The protection circuit can activate by several methods. The timer light will flash in a particular timing sequence to indicate to an engineer what area the fault is in. Some are recoverable by the end user just by pressing the power button again. Other more serious errors, that can cause permanent damage, are not recoverable by the end user. This has been done to stop the user from trying to turn the unit back on and causing more substantial
damage. The method to de-activate this protection is only available to engineers who can check the relevant circuit area for damage, and if all is ok, they can release the protection without fear of further damage.
Is that clear? No, I don’t think so.
In the old days an anti-surge fuse was fitted in the power supply that could be seen to have blown and easily replaced by ‘end users’. Trouble is that now days the electrickery has become more complex – the audio amplifiers in the Pioneer are ‘Class D’ (not quite bottom of the class) rather than the more traditional top of the Class A or A/B analogue amplifiers. Class D amplifiers essentially switch on and off at supersonic frequencies that even bats would have trouble hearing. The on / off switch duration changes – a bit like morse code dots and dashes – in time with the desired audio frequency signal. After some high frequency filtering the audio signal is fed to the speakers as in the higher class amplifiers.
So why should you care?
Well Class D amps are cheaper to manufacture and can produce more audio power efficiently so long as they keep switching. If they stop switching the output devices can fail rapidly especially if the speaker connection is short circuit or shorted to chassis. So manufactures like Pioneer have to design and fit elaborate protection to monitor the amplifiers and switch it off as soon as it thinks there’s a problem to avoid permanent damage. A simple anti-surge fuse would likely be too slow to respond to prevent damage.
But hold on a minute, why can’t the protection circuit and software be designed to trigger and reset on power cycle or recover if the fault condition goes away? A permanent fault such as a shorted speaker would immediately trigger the protection and switch off the amplifier each time. A glitch or power spike that triggers the protection once would reset next power cycle if the problem has gone away. Sounds too simple and probably is but the question remains why not at least let the end user know that a flashing light means a fault has been detected?
And the explanation for not mentioning the indicator light’s meaning:
Remember that the flashing light on these products can mean various different things, some recoverable and some not depending on the timing’s. Also most of our products will have a form of indication when a problem occurs, and these lights will mean totally different things. There is no generic indication.
And no indication to the end user (that’s you and me) what action to take. So there you are, left with a bill for repairing a product that has no fault except for the protection circuit that has decided there’s been a fault. Inherent poor design, could do better, definitely class D.
Update: Thanks to Prassel and Martin (see comments below) here’s the way to reset the fault. Suggest you double check the speaker wires are not shorting out on either left or right channels before attempting reset the lock.

X-HM71 or X-HM81 Reset Lock
Or if this does not work try pressing the “STANDBY/ON” and “STOP” buttons simultaneously on the front panel.
On the X-HM10 / X-HM20 simply unplug the unit wait 5 minutes and try again, the fault condition should clear.
17/07/2015 at 2:01 am
I am tearing out my hair- this is the second model and third time it’s happened to me! So glad to read it is a problem in the system, my friendly retailer and repairer are implying it is some way I have handled the machine. I am using the speakers that came with the set…
17/07/2015 at 8:05 am
Hi Teffany
Thanks for your post, interesting to know same thing happens with the original speakers. Since having paid to reset one unit my wife’s been using it with the original speakers and it’s been okay so far.
I’m convinced Pioneer have a design fault with these systems and they think it’s all too easy to blame the customer. That may be the case if it happens once but having seen this re occur on different units suggests there’s a design problem. Pioneer have since replaced the X-HM71 with a newer model and I bet it uses the same overload protection but I won’t be buying one to find out!
If anyone else has this fault please post your comments.
23/11/2015 at 7:55 pm
I’ve found out something quite useful.
After replugging the stereo, I tried various button combinations as I’ve seen several posts about bigger pioneer receivers showing similar behaviour, although those had an actual error message.
Turns out pressing POWER and STOP at the same time brings you into the diag menu, which will show various subsystems and whether they have triggered the protection (strangely, for me, no subsystem showed a fault. Maybe this is a case of planned obsolescence? ). You can go through them with the FWD button. At the end, it’ll show “Clear: Yes?” which you can confirm with PLAY. This clears the fault status. You can now reboot your stereo and it’ll work again.
24/11/2015 at 1:10 pm
That’s interesting. When the blinking led first occurred I saw similar advice for a DVD player and tried many combinations holding power and stop, power and eject, etc, etc. I tried pressing the buttons while plugging in, plugged in and for over 15 seconds and never the diagnostic menu showed for me. When I asked Pioneer if it was possible for consumers to reset the fault they told me no, they designed it that way so service engineer could check the fault condition before clearing.
So maybe you have found a way they don’t want to tell customers about.
I’ll try this if it happens again, many thanks for the details.
13/02/2016 at 4:29 pm
I actually managed to find the complete service manual for this stereo system:
http://elektrotanya.com/pioneer_x-hm81_x-hm71-k_s_rrv4322.pdf/download.html
Every blink code, associated fault, service/diag menu is in there.
13/02/2016 at 9:32 pm
Thanks for sharing this Prassel very useful find. This Hungarian site http://elektrotanya.com (Electronic Farm my wife tells me) is worth bookmarking!
Yes on P21 it clearly says if the DC, POWER, or PWM protection circuit is activated the unit will lock. To unlock press both the “INPUT” and “>> / Forward” buttons or press the “STANDBY/ON” and “STOP” buttons on the front panel.
I’ve updated my post to include this advice.
It also mentions a service remote control is needed to select the service menu: Turn the unit on then select the Music Server function. Press the ESC(A85F) then +10(A81F) button on the service remote control unit. On the standard remote there’s no ESC button so I tried Back, Enter and several others but couldn’t select service mode.
13/02/2016 at 9:56 pm
I guess one could probably use an IR led and anything programmable (Arduino, anything Linux (Raspberry Pi, …) with LIRC) to send out those IR codes in the parentheses.
It’d be too much of a hassle though for what you’d get from it (some version numbers, firmware update without anything to update from (besides it can update via the internet anyway) and a factory reset)
30/09/2019 at 4:58 pm
hey Rick,
Have you find since 2016 which button is the ESC button ?
i couldn’t find it either
30/09/2019 at 8:30 pm
No but you may be able to buy a Pioneer service remote e.g GGF1391 it’s for a DVD but ESC is listed so may work.
24/01/2016 at 7:50 pm
You are a genius! In my case the red light startend to blink after a sort of interruption in the current but it didn’t switched off completely but this happened 2-3 times and this made the red light start to blink and apparently this was the cause.
Now it is working again but at the end of the diagnostic menu it was not quite clear how to go on but pressing the on button solved the problem in the end!
So thank you again
13/02/2016 at 11:31 am
Excellent – Got up this morning to see the timer light flashing and everything had been working perfectly last night before i went to bed.
I just tried pressing STANDBY/ON button and STOP (button with little square over it) and the timer light went off and it powered up. No diagnostics menu appeared but its working again.
Thanks a million – saved me a trip to the retailer and probably an argument with them !!!
31/08/2021 at 4:36 pm
Did you take how many minuts pls mise also flashing now
25/07/2016 at 7:37 pm
Thank you so much Prassel ! It was exactly that ! Many thanks.
26/01/2020 at 2:22 pm
pioneer_x-hm81
“STANDBY/ON” and “STOP” turns Timer to red. Leave it there for while and dialog menu came up itself.
03/12/2015 at 9:57 pm
Thank you very much for yout post. Your post did not helo me directly but it encouraged me to search some solutions by myself. (I am very stubborn and when an electronic device breaks down it really frustrates me)
I have a decent class D amp Pioneer XC-P01, I like its character. Imostly listen classical and jazz. Well, recently I’ve bought a 3.5 mm to 2x RCA cable to connect the system (NETWORK OUTPUT) with my computer. It was all great, it did not have any distortions that I can recognize. This evening while I was listening to my concert, I moved the computer but the 3.5 mm jack also moved and then…There you go…The red light blinking and no response at all… After I read your post and the replies, I tried to press and hold many buttons. One option did work! I turned the CD player dock on and off. And then, I press the power button and the “direct” button together, hold for 10 seconds and it worked! I am happy now but I think I will always be afraid to use the RCA-computer connection again… I wrote this post to help others. It is really unfriendly to not write about the “flashing red light” in the instruction manual. I could have spent hours and money…
19/01/2025 at 1:54 pm
I encont the same problem and i pres te power buton and the direct buton the same u just saying and it work .thanks
19/01/2025 at 5:56 pm
Good to hear your Pioneer’s working again, thank you for letting us know.
22/04/2016 at 6:16 pm
Great thanks for Your Explanation! I have a SX-P01 with this Problem – and was in despair. 🙂
Pressing “Direct” and “Power” for about 20 sec. solved it!
Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!
20/01/2018 at 1:33 pm
Thank you very much! It worked perfectly.
12/05/2016 at 8:24 pm
Ciao RadioRetro, ho trovato un Pioneer X-HM70 all’eco centro con red led pulse, dopo il reset ” imput + Rw”
è risorto. Grazie infinite
Massimo
29/06/2016 at 1:08 am
I take my hm72 from service where they repaired unit after red diod flashing fault. Unit was worked 1 hour and now that same fault. stop +input buttons reactivate unit. I wondering what they made in service if that same fault happens again and maybe for first time i was bale to repair myself by buttons stop+input.
29/06/2016 at 10:13 pm
Service check the fault codes and led flash rate to determine why the protection triggered. A DC fault is a short (1/10 sec) flash every second. A Power fault is a half second on half second off equal flash while the PWM fault is 9/10 second flash and just 1/10 second off. Re-triggering of the same fault suggests a problem that needs fixing. You could try operating the unit with speakers disconnected for 1h+ and see if it’s ok. If so then connect Left or right speaker to check if one or both trigger it.
29/06/2016 at 10:58 pm
I connected both speakers after restarting and all day unit working without any fault.
01/07/2016 at 2:47 pm
I have a Pioneer XHM20 stereo and it was a flashing red light above ‘timer’. I have tried all suggestions on here but to no avail, anymore help would be appreciated. Thank you.
01/07/2016 at 7:41 pm
on main input you must press “power” + “stop” and hol about 10 seconds. after this “input” + “forward” and restart unit BUT this means so unit is faulty and after one day or few hours this fault can repeat and probably you will must leave unit in service.
03/07/2016 at 9:43 am
Unlike the XHM71/81 the Pioneer XHM20 protection circuit can’t be reset using the front panel. The service manual says: The protection circuit is activated when a failure in power or voltage is generated in the D-AMP circuit. If the protection circuit is activated, the unit will shut itself off and the TIMER indicator on the front panel will start flashing. The indicator will continue to flash until the problem is resolved. After a shutdown, to turn the unit back on, unplug the AC power cord then plug it back into the AC outlet.
Service manual for the XHM20 available free from the excellent Elekrotanya.com here.
Suggest you try disconnecting both speakers, unplugging the unit and waiting a few minutes then plugging back in without speakers connected and see if the timer led stops flashing. If it does then switch back off unplug and connect each speaker in turn and see what happens.
If the protection circuit triggers with no speakers it’s likely the D-Amp has failed and needs replacing. If it fires with one speaker then check the there’s not a fine strand of wire shorting or one connection has come away and shorting with the other at the speaker terminal.
26/07/2016 at 9:45 am
In my case problem was with power cable. When I changed it, everything is ok
06/09/2017 at 10:16 am
Hi ryan, same issue here. Did you find a fix?
Thanks
27/10/2016 at 1:00 am
We have Pioneer X-HM72 still under warranty. I connected it to the computer to play music from computer. On changing the input connection from the front of the computer to the back of the computer the Pioneer X-HM72 stopped with red flashing timer light. Just about to ring supplier but came across your solution. On doing as you suggest the problem was immediately rectified saving us a lot of time. We concluded that the power “surging” from the computer after taking the input cable out of one socket and putting it to another whilst still playing is not good for the player. At least we know it is a simple fix, and I seriously doubt that any other problem exists in the player to warrant taking it back. As you suggest – a surge protector. Thank you very much for your information.
27/10/2016 at 7:55 am
Glad it helped and was a simple fix.
I’ll contact Pioneer again and suggest they include information in the user manual instructions on how to reset.
19/11/2016 at 12:36 am
I have a problem
I have this unit above pioneer x-hm71-s
When I power on unit .
It cones on it displays CD on screen ,but it is locked and nothing works .
When I press power and stop button. The diag menu comes up ,
But I can not get in to any other menu to reset it
Can any one help thanks
P
21/11/2016 at 4:11 pm
Try to press input and forward together
26/11/2016 at 9:22 pm
Thanks
I tripped out the USB which brought on the red light .
So I pressed the so button and forward button so I could reset it
It rest and it is working again .
It is a bit of a pain to have to this
I only use the stand by button to turn it off otherwise it will no start again when it is fully switch off .
If any one has any other ideas how to fix this problem it would be a great help .
I don’t think I will be buying a pioneer again .
Also has any one got the firmware for this unit
So I can install it again in case it is faulty
Thanks
Paul
29/11/2016 at 9:53 pm
Sence I triped out the USB
And the reset it
The pioneer is working fantastic.
Before when I go it working if I switched it off . It would no come on again ,
So by tripping out the USB the unit seems to have rest it self .
So hope this might help someone .
I have switched it on and off several times sence last Saturday and it still comes on
So we will see how long this last for
Keeping my fingers crossed
It is a fantastic unit if it did not trip out for no reason .
I can not find the firmware for this unit anywhere,so if any one has it or and update I would love to find it .
Might send pioneer an e mail about it .
P
08/12/2016 at 11:25 pm
Unit failed to switch on today ,pressed on and stop button together .go up no protect .
The scrolling menu to reset unit had not come up didspite doing this several time .
Where to next .
?
18/12/2016 at 3:38 pm
I thought I’d add my experience here with a pioneer receiver as this post helped me and although a different model my unit showed similar behaviours in that it just stopped working and I think has that ‘magic’ protection circuit.
In my case I was dealing with pioneer XCHM82K.
After 15 months and little use, one day my unit just didn’t power up. I had no timer indicator flashing, in fact I don’t think it had a timer indicator. There was just nothing.
Having replaced the plug fuse and being out of manufacturers warranty it was off to the internet and found this post.
So I tried various combinations of keys, I think it was power and holding down stop for 5-10 seconds that got some response from within. There was a little “poof” and that was that.
Typical response from retailer as unit out of warrantee, referred to pioneer repairer, likely cost of £30 pound to inspect unit, facing a possible £100 repair bill, with the chance of it occurring again I have cut my losses and have just dumped it.
From what I can tell pioneer receivers aren’t up to the job and designed to fail leaving the consumer facing bills to sort out unreliable kit. Will be adding Pioneer to list of brands never to buy again.
22/12/2016 at 12:51 am
Hi John ,
My x-hm 71 is working ok again . I check all cables to make sure the only crossed at 90 degrees .
So I will see how it goes ,
I have been looking a yahama unit .
Maybe that’s why it started working .
I also might be throwing it out in the new year .
Your unit is the one that followed mine .
So it has the same problems.
31/12/2016 at 11:33 am
My X-HM71 is still tripping out .
If I plug it out and leave it for an hour
And plug it in again .
It starts working again .
I am looking at a Yamaha with the same features as this one
12/02/2017 at 3:48 pm
Hello,
we have the Pioneer X-HM72 and it didn’t start today: i.e. after pressing “Stand by” nothing at all happens – there was no TIMER LED flashing.
After re-connecting the power cable several times without any response I have tried the “STAND BY + STOP” and suddenly the TIMER LED started flashing (equaly, i.e. 5/10 sec red and 5/10 off) for about 10 secs. Besides that nothing happened – the display remained dark.
Pressing “INPUT + FORWARD” yielded no response at all.
When pressing “STAND BY + START” the TIMER light very weakly shies (not flashing) for a few seconds.
I didn’t find any way to activate the display. Can anyone please help with this strange case?
Any support is very much appreciated!
Best,
David
12/02/2017 at 5:12 pm
Seems likely a power supply fault – the timer flashing every half second indicates a POWER fault on the X-HM71 probably same on the X-HM72. If pressing the Standby + Stop fails to reset the fault is could still trigger the protection circuit so may need repair. Have you tried without the speaker wires connected? Does the Standby Power led flash when you switch on?
16/02/2017 at 10:39 pm
Thanks for your reply, Rick. I tried every described method, but it didn’t get me anywhere, so I decided to sent the stereo to the Pioneer repair service.
06/03/2017 at 10:29 pm
I have a HM72 with exact the same problem. I searched for a fuse to replace but i can’t find any. I read this solutions and i started to trie some buttons. No speakers are connected at the moment, when pressing Standby and Stop the light will flash, when pressing Standby and Play the ligt flashes weakly, it does flash. Further, nothing happens.
I’m curious, what is the next step? And @David, what did the Pioneer repair guy say?
31/12/2018 at 2:36 pm
I have exactly the same issue on HM72 as David. What did the engineer say please ?
01/03/2017 at 8:24 am
I thought i broke my hifi but i didn’t indeed! thanks a lot for all explanations 😉
regards,
fabrice
28/03/2017 at 11:34 am
Hello. It does not work for me. There is nothing on the screen, just the blue indicator light that blinks. sorry for my English….
29/06/2017 at 6:22 pm
Hello,
It has solved my problem. Awesome! Many thanks Rick.
Best regards
Pawel Elert
18/07/2017 at 10:37 pm
My sons P1DAB showed a blinking timer light without noticable cause after 6 months of operation.
I followed the advise to push the Power On and the Direct button for 10 seconds, this cleared the issue.
Thanks for posting all these comments, Pioneer should really be more open on this issue that makes so many people desperate.
19/07/2017 at 8:31 am
Thanks for posting your findings on a similar unit – seems Pioneer persist in a poor customer experience. Glad it helped and will help others. Don’t throw it away!
30/08/2017 at 3:06 pm
Hi, i have same trouve with an x-hm10-s.
After an mail electric shutdown, i got a showed a blinking timer light…
I’ve tried several buttons with your tips but unfortunatly nothing happens… Sitll this blinking red led…
Could you please help me to flix this ? Thanks for your help and your explanations!
30/08/2017 at 7:57 pm
Hi Tekilaz,
Try unplugging the power cable, waiting 5 minutes, then plug back in and press Standby / On. If it still blinks then try same but with both speaker cables disconnected. If that still blinks then there’s a fault and will be need servicing I’m afraid.
See earlier comment above by Ryan who had similar problem.
Pioneer X-HM10-S / X-HM20-S / X-HM10-K / X-HM20-K do not have hidden reset modes by pressing front panel buttons.
06/09/2017 at 10:14 am
Thanks for your help.
I’ve tried, but unfortunatly same issue…
I understand there is no secret button sequence to solve that but i’m pretty sure my hardware is working perfectly . .. There is obviously a fix for this, but wichone !! After deeping search in google, i have no solution 🙁
11/03/2023 at 4:15 pm
Hey Rick
Many thanks for a brilliantly researched piece of advice. I’m so impressed that not only did you solve the problem for your product, you’ve also helped find solutions for so many others with different products. I’ve had a second hand X-HM10 for about 5 years and suddenly it had the red blinking timer problem. I tried the various secret button combinations then found this comment specific to my model. Switched it off for five minutes and that sorted it! Thanks again – you’re a star!
11/03/2023 at 4:49 pm
Thank you for your kind words, makes it all worthwhile. Glad to hear you fixed your X-HM10. I’ll mention this in the main post to help others needing to search through the comments.
28/11/2017 at 1:48 pm
My five month old XC-HM51 is experiencing a fault. When I took it into the retailer, mysteriously it worked. It has worked for the three weeks since.
Today the fault is back. When it is turned on, the CD tray opens, then closes again, then opens again, then closes again, then opens again, then closes again, then opens again, then closes again. then opens again, then closes again. then opens again, then closes again. Grrrrrr.
Any ideas?
Thank you in advance.
28/11/2017 at 11:42 pm
Seems like the eject button is being held down – have you tried taking the batteries out of the remote to make sure it’s not the eject button stuck on the remote? If not you could try repeatedly pressing the eject on front panel to see if it clears. Failing that what happens if you load a CD and press play – will it stop cycling? Other reason it would open / close suggest faults in the tray position sensor switches that detect when tray is fully closed or jambs but this would need investigation.
If the unit is less than 6 months old and bought in UK the consumer goods act suggests it’s the retailer’s responsibility to prove it’s not manufacturing fault and so should replace / fix it proving you can demonstrate the fault. If it worked at the shop maybe it’s the remote?
29/11/2017 at 12:22 am
Thanks Rick.
I removed the remote buttons – no change.
I pressed the eject button continuously – no change.
If I load a cd, it just keeps cycling in…out…in…out etc etc.
No reply from the shop to my email today…hey ho.
01/01/2018 at 12:18 pm
Love it
Sort a problem
Thank you
Really good website:)
01/01/2018 at 2:20 pm
Hi Rick,
I’ve had the same timer light flash problem for over a year but just keep hitting the Power / Stop buttons to reset it and it has worked. However, lately it keeps happening a lot more and I started to look into it a bit more. It only happens when both pioneer speakers are attached. When I disconnect either one of the speakers it works fine. It also works fine with a different set of speakers that I borrowed to test it on with both connected. I also changed speaker cables and it still happens, again only with both Pioneer speakers attached.
I have gone into the Diagnostic Menu and the reset is showing up as a Power Protect fault.
Any ideas ???
01/01/2018 at 3:01 pm
Manual says the protection circuit is activated when short-circuiting is detected at the regulator output. It would trigger if any of the power supplies (B+_27V, B-_27V, AMP_+5V, AMP_-5V, MICOM_3V9, A_+12V, A_-12V, CD_3.3V) are shorted after switch on. So maybe the actual fault has nothing to do with the Pioneer speakers. Were the different speakers you tried 4 ohm the same as the Pioneer? Many hifi speakers are 6 or 8 ohm which would draw less peak current and not trigger the protection. Suggests fault happens when both channels driven into low impedance speakers so could be the main class D amplifier that’s pulling down one of the power supplies. You say it’s been triggering for a while – has the led flashing always the same half second blink? A one second blink indicates an amp fault. Does it only trigger when playing at some volume? Can’t think of a simple fix – there are some diagnostic test in the service manual that could help pinpoint the problem.
01/01/2018 at 7:45 pm
Hi Rick Thanks for replying so quickly.
The other speakers were 8 ohm.
I’m not sure what it was flashing like before now. i never bothered to look at the flashing sequence in detail previously.
When it triggers, it can at low volume but only when both speakers are attached. Weirdly, sometimes it won’t trigger at all with both attached, might work for several hours and then just trip out. My wife told be today she plugged in a kettle nearby and it tripped out….I’m beginning to think an unstable circuit in that area of the house ??
01/01/2018 at 8:56 pm
Could be interference on the kitchen ring – may be worth trying an anti-surge mains lead and checking the blue / brown mains cable is wired correctly in the plug with brown to live. Polarity should not matter but could behave differently with interference. Do you have anything else connected to the Pioneer?
I had a problem with an X-HM71-S in our kitchen when I fitted new 12v power supplies for the led under cabinet lighting – the supplies stopped the FM radio working completely. The 12v supplies were metal cased with short power leads but kicked out nasty high-frequency spikes. Wifi was okay so switched to internet radio however it’s a pain the Pioneer won’t auto reconnect to previous favourite station when switched on.
03/01/2018 at 2:44 pm
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
11/03/2018 at 1:10 pm
Hello,
Thank you for this topic that was very useful today.
Indeed, I was entitled to a stop unexpectedly with the red led of my X-HM71 and I was not far from the throwing in the trash, but which works with the described manipulation.
Like you, I think I’m not ready to buy a device of this brand.
11/03/2018 at 6:19 pm
Thanks Sylvian for letting us know, glad it helped and works again.
30/04/2018 at 2:19 am
Hello. My X-HM71 display does not show any info when set on CD or on Tuner, no more track and frequency display. But it does show track info on USB and shows Network radio and setting info too. It’s quite annoying. Is it software or hardware related? Thank you.
30/04/2018 at 8:12 am
Hi Mike – I’ve not seen your display fault, maybe someone else has? It’s unlikely to be hardware if the display works on some input modes. You could try factory reset or if that fails firmware update.
27/05/2018 at 6:06 pm
Thank you VERY much for this post. My pioneer xc-hm81 stopped working a few days ago, except for the blinking light and I had alreay called an electrician and was searning online for new receivers. I googled Pioneer flashing light wont turn on and found your site at the top of the search. Your trick with the Input and Forward worked instantly!
Much appreciation all the way from Israel…
27/05/2018 at 8:32 pm
Many thanks for your comment Rob, glad it helped.
06/06/2018 at 7:55 am
Thank you sooooo much. Your post stopped me having a very grumpy husband on a bank holiday. And he now owes me big time for fixing it!
06/06/2018 at 8:05 am
Good to know it’s fixed, thanks for letting us know. Our Pioneer is still running years after the initial hiccups so hopefully your will too.
13/10/2018 at 7:22 pm
Hi Rick,
Amazing post helpful for many frustrated users. You are great! Yet one more: There is no mention on X-HM30. Same problem, no solution with front buttons. Any ideas? Thanks
13/10/2018 at 8:47 pm
Hi Xavier – I’ve not seen the X-HM30 it may be similar to the X-HM20 (see comments). Try searching for the service the manual to see if there’s a troubleshooting guide. I had a quick look and found details for cancelling the timer using the remote control buttons eg – 1 Turn the power on and press and hold down the CLOCK/ TIMER button. 2 Within 30 seconds, press the or button to select “Once” or “Daily”, and press the ENTER button. 3 Within 30 seconds, press the or button to select “Timer Off”, and press the ENTER button. Timer will be cancelled (the setting will not be cancelled). Hope this helps.
20/11/2018 at 10:03 am
My Roberts Record R radio is about 3 years old but not heavily used. Unfortunately the sound from the loudspeaker is very poor and not improved by adjusting any sound controls. Specifically the sound is “wobbly” and vibrates and worsens with higher volume.
I suspect a defective loudspeaker. If so can it be easily replace and is there a higher spec/quality speaker available.
Any help much appreciated.
Jem Coulson
20/11/2018 at 9:14 pm
I’ve not had a Roberts Record R but see from the manual it’s a DAB / FM model so tricky to diagnose without some more details. Has the radio’s sound always been poor? Does it sound the same via headphones? Does it sound poor on batteries and mains power? Has the radio been dropped? Has the radio been left in sunshine or in a hot conservatory / greenhouse? Does the radio rattle if you shake it?
It could be the loudspeaker but unlikely to fail in such a short time unless subject to impact / heat or it’s been faulty from new. Flat batteries can cause such a sound but guess you have tried it on mains power so that’s not the issue. There could be debris touching the cone that has become caught inside the case that’s causing the vibration – I’ve seen this happen when portable radios are dropped and pieces of plastic or metal detach inside. The speaker magnet attacks steel fixings or pieces of ferrite material. Shaking the radio and listing for rattles can be a clue. If it sounds poor on headphones it’s most likely the audio amplifier and not the speaker.
The manual says it uses a 3 inch / 75cm speaker so may be similar to the one used by Roberts in the R250 – see this post for details – https://storycase.co.uk/radio/radio/roberts-r250-speaker-upgrade/ There may not be enough space to fit a better quality speaker which are deeper and have larger magnets.
May be worth posting your question on the Roberts sound faults post here – https://storycase.co.uk/radio/radio/roberts-r250-no-sound-faults/ in case other Roberts owners have the same issue.
28/09/2020 at 7:43 am
Rick
Thank you for your extensive reply and my apologies for taking nearly 2 years to reply to you! I am embarrassed to say I completely forgot I asked the question!
The problem turned out to be the thin, unreinforced plastic battery cover at the back of the radio which vibrated annoyingly even though it was properly clicked in place. I now just leave the cover open and all is well!
Otherwise a great radio.
Thanks again
Jeremy
28/09/2020 at 10:23 am
Good to hear you located the problem and never too late to know!
30/12/2018 at 8:15 am
Ho uno Stereo Receiver SXP01DAB di Pioneer. Succede che la spia del timer blinda e non si accende niente. Che fare?
30/12/2018 at 3:23 pm
Hi Roberto – Have you tried Factory Reset see page 27 – https://www.pioneer-audiovisual.eu/sites/default/files/manuals/XC-P01-K_manual_ENpdf.pdf
03/04/2019 at 12:21 pm
Hello, Rick. Thanks for this information but… I tried Factory Reset in Pioneer X-HM70 model and does not resolve…. Network and USB function show message “Loading….” and does not respond.
I appreciate if you have any suggestions for this issue.
Thank you and best regards.
03/04/2019 at 12:46 pm
Take a look in the technical manual http://elektrotanya.com/pioneer_x-hm81_x-hm71-k_s_rrv4322.pdf/download.html to see what they suggest for the message you get. I’ve not had this issue before. Maybe someone else has?
03/04/2019 at 1:08 pm
Just a thought – have you tried switching off and disconnecting power lead waiting a minute and then trying again? Sometimes this will clear a reset fault – like taking the battery out to do a hard reset.
23/06/2019 at 4:25 pm
I have a Pioneer hm70dab with flashing timer light. I pressed Input and the ffwd button simultaneously and hey presto, the power came back on. We had a power cut and after that the timer button flashed once about every second.
23/06/2019 at 7:08 pm
Glad it helped. Voltage spikes during power cuts can cause the overload protection circuitry to trip and so it requires a reset.
08/09/2019 at 8:23 am
Hi All,
just to let u know i have a X-HM71K and also as many of you the timeer light was on and no other function were working. the Input and FFW button worked a treat everything good again.. Thanks
So to my next problem i also have a X-HM76D which just this morning did not come on only the blue power light was showing as on, i pulled the power cable for moment and re-plugged it the unit booted up but it now has on the screen unlock how do i unlock and what is the code anyone got any ideas….?
Cheers Karl
21/09/2019 at 3:38 pm
Hi Karl, thanks for your comments, good to know. You could try a factor reset on the X-HM76D – see trouble shooting in the user guide.
Let us know how you get on. Good luck, Rick
26/01/2020 at 11:10 am
Hi
Have a Pioneer HM82, went to turn on totally dead. The timer light flashes if I press the power and stop button but nothing else happens.
I have disconnected the speakers and still no life!!
This is about 4yrs old and hardly used really not impressed with Pioneer any help most welcome
Wayne
26/01/2020 at 11:17 am
Just tried again and a flash in the back of the unit so think its terminal will not buy another pioneer again……
26/01/2020 at 1:51 pm
Sorry to hear another Pioneer microsystem failure. A flash from inside could be a blown fuse or other component and suggests major failure. In the UK goods should last at least 6 years and you have right to complain if not. But after 30 days / 6 months I think onus is on customer to prove there was a manufacturing / design defect which of course is near impossible to do without spending far more than the unit’s worth.
Given the throwaway culture has to change if we are to help save the planet from waste I’m hopeful manufactures will become more responsible or they will have to pay tax on recycling their products if they fail before 6 years are up!
11/05/2020 at 1:54 pm
Muchas gracias por tu explicación. En medio de la cuarentena que estamos viviendo, si no hubiera encontrado tu post, creo que hubiera lanzado el equipo por la ventana. 🙂
12/05/2020 at 7:03 am
Happy it helped Carlos thank you for the comment.
27/07/2020 at 5:57 am
Thank You, this solves my problem when my unit HTD-88/XV-DV88 won’t turn-on after I cleaned the insides.
Mark from philippines
06/09/2020 at 3:10 pm
This saved my day and my money. I have been facing this problem recently and stumbled into this thread. And guess, pressing the Input and Forward button at the same time helped and I can continue to enjoy listening to my X-HM71 in the kitchen. BTW, PIONEERs speakers are crap. I scrapped them right away and replaced them by a very nice pair of small footprint CANTON Plus GX3. Perfect match and best sound in a small kitchen.
Greetings from Germany
16/09/2020 at 4:00 pm
Nice one ! The forward and standby button reset worked . Thanks
16/09/2020 at 4:42 pm
Happy to hear it’s working, one less for the recycling centre and better for the environment!
Thanks for the feedback.
01/11/2020 at 4:15 pm
Hello Rick,
thanks a lot for this page and explanations, it’s the only helpful one I could find regarding this issue… It saved an (expensive) trip to the repair shop.
Have an x-hm-70 s with the original speakers.
Didn’t have any problem with it for many years. Hope it will work again properly for many years to come. 🙂
Cheers from Switzerland
Chris
01/11/2020 at 10:05 pm
Hi Chris, so good to know the post helped and your Pioneer is still working. Expensive repairs often means the devices end up being scrapped and replaced. Should last many years – they are generally well made and just suffer from poor overload protection design at consumer’s expense. Regards
Rick
31/12/2020 at 6:20 am
Whooot THX for The Help.
I Fixed my X-HM81 with Hittin Power and Play Button at same Time,whe i use Power and Stop it Show me Blue and Red Led lightning.
31/12/2020 at 8:59 am
Thank you for sharing, good to know it works again! Happy New Year.
13/03/2021 at 5:36 am
I try to reset factory my HM 50 but, it is not work. Can you help me?
13/03/2021 at 9:47 am
Hi Tinhnb, Did “Clear all” show on factory reset and does the led still blink? Try factory reset again – remove mains plug for 1 minute, then press and hold the STANDBY/ON button AND then connect the power plug again. Keep the STANDBY/ON button pressed while you plug it back in and release button after 2 seconds – the “Clear all” should show. Next, press STANDBY/ON button and wait a few seconds to see if it starts normally. If this does not work try press Stop or Play button after “Clear all”. see https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1101235/Pioneer-X-Hm50-K.html?page=24#manual
If this still does not work the service manual is available here https://elektrotanya.com/pioneer_x-hm10_x-hm20_sm.pdf/download.html#dl
Hope this helps, let us know.
07/07/2021 at 3:42 pm
Great. Fixed the problem within seconds!
06/09/2021 at 9:03 pm
I had the infamous red light blink on my pioneer sx-po1dab receiver. I had connected my phone via a 3.5mm to two rca lead to the network input. Knocked the connection and up came the red light on the timer. Pressed loads of combinations on the remote to no avail. Eventually I tried holding down the power and the direct buttons at the same time on the front panel and that reset it. I hope it helps someone else!
13/04/2022 at 9:31 am
Good morning from Spain. I have a pioneer x-hm71 and it doesn’t pick up the network. I configure everything correctly, but in the information menu, in setup it gives me my home network but in network connection I am disconnected.
Could you help me?
thank you
13/04/2022 at 7:46 pm
Hello Alejandro, have you tried connecting the X-HM71 using a LAN cable to your router? This will allow you to check the network connects and finds a DNS. Check the DHCP is on in the network settings. See pages 24-25 in the user manual.
17/04/2022 at 11:37 pm
Hello Rick, I’ve read through the previous posts trying to rectify our X-HM71. When turning on, the NET STANDBY/POWER Blue light flashes on & off in half second cycles. No screen lit or anything else working.
We tried the STANDBY/ON & STOP buttons together. Which bought the NET STANDBY/POWER, CHARGE & TIMER lights on permanently without flashing. Nothing operates at this time.
We tried the INPUT & FF buttons together which also resulted in just the NET STANDBY/POWER light flashing at 1/2 sec Hz. Again nothing else operates.
We run the factory Pioneer speakers.
We have disconnected power from the wall outlet and waited to try clear any faults. No change.
We have disconnected speakers and run through the same diagnostic procedures. No change.
Any help would be ace! Thanks, Paul.
18/04/2022 at 6:34 pm
Pressing Power and STOP buttons should cancel operation lock and enter Protect Check mode. But the 0.5 second (500mS) flash indicated a POWER fault and that requires a special clear key which probably needs the service remote.
Do you remember which mode the Pioneer was in before it failed – if it was network mode the service manual suggests it may take time to enter :- If any of the Music Server, Internet Radio, or Favorites functions is selected before this unit is started in Protect Check mode, the selected function screen will be displayed until network connection is established (it may take up to dozens of seconds), then the Protect Check Mode screen will be displayed. So try waiting a few minutes after pressing POWER and STOP.
24/10/2022 at 7:45 am
Hello
I bought HM71 on eBay few days ago. All functions work well except AM/FM Tuner. Looks like it can tune but no sound, no RDS data etc. Any idea how to fix/repair it? There were no errors by pressing Standby + Stop.
Thanks
24/10/2022 at 12:29 pm
Hi Eugene,
Have you tried plugging in an FM aerial – a 1m length of wire connected to the inner socket should give some signal. AM needs an aerial too – was it supplied with the square black set top aerial with two wires to connect? There’s no built in aerial in the X-HM71 so the radio output will be muted especially with interference from other devices nearby.
If there’s still no sound from the radio with an aerial you could disconnect the speakers and try a factory reset using the menu Network -> Setup -> Factory Reset option. Or connect the network and use Internet Radio!
24/10/2022 at 2:21 pm
Of course I used both antenna. No result with or without it. (((
Thanks anyway
27/10/2022 at 1:25 pm
It’s possible the Pioneer was ‘dropped’ during shipping – happens with some eBay items – you could disconnect the unit and open it up to check none of the ribbon cables / connectors have become detached from the PCBs. If you look for the service manual – links in comments thread you could check the radio section connects through.
15/12/2022 at 4:48 pm
Hey Rick, I have the X-HM10 model, there is a red-blinking light on the botton left, I tried what you said about the buttons but It didn’t fix it, do you know anything about how to fix the same thing on X-HM10?
15/12/2022 at 7:30 pm
Hi, have a look through the comments above about the X-HM10 and try the suggestions – the X-HM10 series does not have the same hidden reset combination as the X-HM71. Hopefully, unplugging waiting at least 10 minutes and reconnecting power will fix it.
16/12/2022 at 11:35 am
nah, we had it off for even a week and it didn’t recover
03/01/2023 at 6:33 pm
Hallo Rik,
ook hier sinds een paar dagen het probleem dat mijn pioneer systeem (x-hm30v-s) niet meer aan gaat en alleen een rood knipperend lampje geeft.
Ik heb heel internet afgespeurd naar een oplossing maar helaas niets gevonden. Volgens BCC zou de beveiliging in werking zijn getreden, maar ze wisten niet hoe deze te verwijderen.
Vanuit hier begrijp ik dat het ongeveer hetzelfde zou zijn als met de hm20. En er dus geen reset mogelijk is vanaf de voorzijde van het systeem.
Weet je of er dan wel een andere oplossing is die ik zelf in werking kan zetten, of wordt het toch naar een dealer of een ander apparaat kopen (is waarschijnlijk goedkoper naar laten repareren)
04/01/2023 at 10:48 am
Hi Gon
Your question:
The user manual https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1112199/Pioneer-X-Hm30v-S.html?page=43#manual suggests factory reset if the protection triggers and can’t be cancelled by unplugging the unit. You may need to use the remote control to select LINE input as below:
1. Press the STANDBY/ON button to turn the power on.
2. Press the LINE button on the remote control or INPUT button repeatedly on the main unit to select LINE IN function.
3. In LINE IN function, press the REWIND button on the main unit and press and hold the STOP button until “RESET” appears.
If this still fails it needs a Pioneer repair shop – I suspect they use a “service remote” with additional buttons to force reset. It’s another example of Pioneer making it difficult for customers to fix without cost and many will give up and throw the unit away. Of course the unit could have a power amp or power supply fault that needs fixing and that fault is causing the protection circuit to trigger. Either way it will need technical service I fear.
16/01/2023 at 9:14 am
thanks for your comment. However, I can’t get to “line in”. It just stays on the red light.
Maybe I’ll try to contact Pioneer. And otherwise it will indeed be a new device, but certainly not a pioneer!
07/08/2023 at 11:44 am
Hey guys if havfe a Pioneer Xc-hm86d, I started an Firmware upgrade and since then I am stuck in an infinite Upgrade loop and I cant dont anything. Tried all buttons etc. but it always comes to the uprage process which loops for hours and days. even unpluggin it for hours wont change the situation, any suggestions?
07/10/2023 at 3:33 pm
Brilliant. Thanks. I got the flashing red light earlier this week. Contacted two specialists who told me that was pretty much it and the system probably couldn’t be repaired. Did a Google search and found this page. Read it, tried the solution and it worked. You’ve made my weekend!
07/10/2023 at 5:51 pm
So glad it helped – good to have the feedback, made my weekend too!
18/08/2024 at 5:12 am
Thanks guys, problem happened today for me. I was thinking why, it’s not moved in 3 years can’t be speakers.
So I looked on the net found this site, nothing ventured nothing gained. And it worked, thanks for everyone putting their bit into the article. Saved me money.
18/08/2024 at 7:21 am
Thank you for the feedback Alastair, good to know it’s working again. This is one of Radio Retro’s most frequently visited pages so useful to hear whenever it has helped save money and avoid throwing away repairable items!
28/09/2024 at 12:55 pm
THANKS MAN THOUGHT IT WAS A GONNER
10/01/2025 at 12:21 am
Any ideas what’s wrong with my X-HM51? It turns on, but feels like there is some kind of delay- you press a source button to select a different source, but nothing happens at the moment, after about 7-10sec. source changes. Same with the CD tray- it doesn’t open at the moment you press the open/close button, but opens in about 20secs. Also when CD or USB is playing, the display doesn’t show any information (i mean track number, time or name) only the name of source- CD or USB is displayed. Makes me think it might be something with the firmware, but i couldn’t find any fw update downloads on the internet, so can’t check. Tried resetting with the combination of two buttons- no luck. Any ideas?
10/01/2025 at 9:08 am
I’ve not seen a X-HM51 but the service manual on Manualslib does not mention a multi button reset. It does mention a service mode – Press “STANDBY/ON” key and “STOP” key on main unit at the same time and hold this condition for 5 seconds – in the DC detect control. This allows you to clear the DC detect history but not what this actually means.
There are other service mode operations in the manual such as check and update firmware. The service manual is a bit of a joke, there’s no index and poor language translation which suggests Pioneer don’t really want their products serviced. All the diagnostic checks just say replace a PCB which I suspect are no longer available.
The fault you describe seems as though the main controller processor is running slowly eg the clock frequency is lower than normal – not really a firmware issue although a reset may help clear a fault condition assuming a firmware update resets main memory. All I can suggest is to check if you can access service mode (be patient if it’s running slow) and see what you can find. Failing that opening up the unit (unpowered!) and checking all the ribbon connectors have not worked loose. Hope this helps.
10/01/2025 at 9:40 am
One more thought – slow response can also be due to excessive processor interrupts. These occur when a button has stuck on the remote or a switch latched on the CD drawer mechanism or cabling issues as suggested above. Check your remote is not wedged in the sofa or the cat’s been playing with the CD tray!
11/01/2025 at 1:04 am
Hi, Rick,
thanks for prompt thoughts on my patient:) I’ve already tried looking for lose connections or suspicious components inside- everything looks good. Thought maybe the whole cd assembly has something wrong and just tried to disconnect and remove it, but that didn’t do anything, everything worked slow as before. Remote was without batteries when i was working on the unit, so that also can’t be the issue.. Could there be a problem similar to bigger receivers’ like VSX-921 problems, where they had known issue with a Texas Instruments chip going crazy and sending wrong data to components? Or maybe there is let’s say one shot transistor or other component and the main cpu gets too much or not enough voltage at some point?
11/01/2025 at 8:34 am
Okay so first check the cpu clock frequency to see if it’s running at the right speed. There should be a frequency marked on the crystal to compare with. If that’s okay or the clock is a multiple that’s not the problem. ps I sometimes include a ‘strange’ comment to see if it later appears in an AI result! You may also want to try querying GPT for specific faults to see what it suggests – quid pro quo!
Did you check the cpu supply voltages as suggested in the service manual or look to see if there’s spikes on the supply rails with a scope? Decoupling capacitors are another possibility but the fault you describe seems like either a slow cpu or excessive interrupts slowing the main loops down. Without a schematic it’s difficult to suggest anything more specific but if I think of something I’ll let you know.