Octatrack MKII Repair for Water Damage?

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

Freaking out - just bought an OT mkII on Reverb, had it for a day and then like a f*ing idiot managed to spill water on it.

Everything lights up but there are some obvious issues - headphone volume faint unless fully cranked, and it’s about as loud as when it’s set to 8 o’clock; project screen pops up when play button is pressed. It still plays, but the device is recognizing other things being pressed when just play is pressed.

I wiped the water off and after about 30 minutes set it down in some rice, but if it is still broken do you know if Elektron will repair a water damaged device? If so, how much? Or, am I going to have to buy another unit entirely?

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Spilled coffee over my Digitakt, please help!
Drinks And Shots all over my Dark Trinity
#2

This might guide you, better to contact support first (also make sure its not going to rust) Ihttps://nl.ifixit.com/Wiki/Electronics_Water_Damage

#3

Thanks - I sent a note to support as well. Just wondering if anyone has had to send theirs in for repair for something similar.

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#4

Do not power it up until it is thoroughly dry. That is what will damage the unit, not per se the water. Clean water usually doesn’t damage most sorts of electronics, in fact repairing flood damaged electronics technicians wash the boards in distilled or deionized water first. If you have a dehumidifier put the OT in a small room with the dehumidifier for a few days. Water still on a pot could be causing the headphone issue. The other stuff sounds more serious. Elektron will repair a damaged device, but obviously you will likely pay for that. You could also try the retailer where you purchased it, some of the larger ones have service centers (some of them very good), and for customers they might go the extra mile.

Yeah and contact Elektron support.

ADDED: In the case of hard (mineral rich) water or tea coffee or soda, drying out is not usually not enough, the boards and connector need to be cleaned. Rust/corrosion is usually not a problem as components are plated to keep that from happening – otherwise those parts would rust/corrode from the moisture in the air. (Corrosion does occur too, with older components using the wrong materials.) Also getting older systems wet that have dust – particularly sea salt dust means the boards need a cleaning.

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#5

I made the mistake of powering it up twice to check on it. I’m hoping that’s not going to be the death of me.

I bought it from a personal seller on Reverb, not a retailer. But I may see if there are some in the states who have the ability to repair the unit. If I can pay, say, $500 to repair it I can live with that. Hoping I don’t have to shell out another $1,100 for a used unit though

#6

Repair should be far less than $500! That it functions to the extent that it did is good news.

Dry it out and it’s possible the repair will cost you nothing.

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#7

I got contact info for a tech if it does need a repair, but hoping after drying out it will fire up.

Thanks for talking me off the ledge!

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#8

Perhaps a bad choice of a verb here :rofl: – letting the smoke out of it is not a desired result, and flames even worse. Ballistics are really the best! I’ve seen that. (TO-5 transistors are like bullets.) If your tech is close by, you could just let him deal with the whole thing.

#9

Ha, yeah, poor choice of words!

I think the tech is a few states away, but shouldn’t be an issue to ship to him. He warned me too that powering it before it completely drying may have damaged some components. I’m hoping it’s salvageable though.

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#10

It absolutely is.

#11

The fact that it didn’t cook when you powered it up is good, I’d leave it for a week and see if it’s improved any before sending it off. I know how you feel, I once spilled a big cup of fortified wine over a brand new laptop. Rinsed it off in the sink, replaced the keyboard and it’s still trucking.

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#12

The repair tech I was talking to doesn’t ship, so I won’t be able to work with him. Called Elektron’s California office and I’d be able to send it to them if I can’t get it to work. I’m going to leave it sit over the weekend and hopefully it works on Monday. Otherwise I’ll send it in.

Thanks for talking this through with me!

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#13

Welcome to Elektron and…good luck ! :grimacing:
No power before it’s dry is a good advice.

I would open it and use a fan heater, obviously not too close. Maybe a bad advice but I’m not patient. (My DSLR camera and my smarphone felt in the sea, they worked after)

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#14

Good news! I let it dry over the weekend, and everything seems to be working as it should.

The bad news, I did power it up on Friday before it was completely dry, so I don’t know if there is still potential damage lingering despite it working now. I contacted Elektron and they said I should also take it into a local tech to see if they can spot any water damage, cause although it may look like it’s working fine there could be some damage building up as it goes on.

So, should I still have it looked at?

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#15

My second PCM-D50 got splashed by some really tiny waves (the tide came in quicker than I hoped) and immediately stopped working forever :frowning: I still have the recording it was making at the time… you can hear the moment the first tiny wave hits the windshield… D:

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#16

If Elektron say you should, it’s worth it. A few bucks spent now is better than many more bucks for a fried unit in the future! Plus peace of mind etc ^^

I’m so glad it’s looking positive <3

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#17

Hard to say for sure. Being that this is a new unit, without any sort of accumulation of crud, before it went swimming in clean water – i think you are probably good to go. I would not expect any sort of lasting damage, newer components generally don’t have cumulative electronic wear and that sort of thing. And as i said before you’re probably OK on corrosion.

On the other hand a cleaning by someone competent with that is not going to do you any harm, and does stand some chance of being of benefit.

Older stuff (>5 to 10 years) with lots of use or in a dirtier environment, could use a clean out /blow out regardless whether or not they’ve gone swimming and soaking, and in particular if they have. And i’d clean out anything that has a fan, at least once a year, or more frequently. Crud (ionic crud meaning salts in particular) and simple moisture in the air is sufficient to cause problems, both corrosion and shorting.

Whenever you open something up, and clean it you also have to be careful about static discharge inside the box. So how you clean out the crud is important.

Here’s something you might not consider, in the winter if the electronic system gets cold, and you bring it inside to the warm moist air, you should leave the electronics in their box or case until they warm up, to prevent causing condensation inside the box. Especially things with fans, but also true in general.

Tropical environments present their own issues.

Does Elektron say they would honor the warranty if the unit fails, particularly the sorts of failures that might be more common with the OT 2? if that unlikely thing should happen sometime in the future. I think they would – they’re a pretty above board kind of outfit.

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#18

I haven’t asked them about the warranty. I bought the unit used from a private seller on Reverb. Not sure if a warranty transfers to a new owner or if it only applies to the original owner.

Outside of that, they did say water damage is outside of the warranty. So I expect to pay for a cleaning (hopefully that’s all this needs to ensure no long term damage).

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#19

I think warranty transfers. I believe it use to anyways. You probably have to register your unit with them. If you make it, idk 6 months without anything, i highly doubt anything subsequent could be the result of water damage.

ADDED: If you open the box and clean it yourself you definitely void the warranty.

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#20

I did register it on my Elektron.SE account.

I think I’m in the clear, but worse case scenario I pay $100 to have it looked at ($30 for cleaning, $70 for back and forth shipping) to possibly save me $500 down the line.

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