Battery Low

My MD MkII showed me the ‘Low Battery’ warning message, so I opened it up in line with @ach’s photo guide earlier in this topic. It had the soldered-in battery. After contacting Elektron support, who were very helpful with advice, I chickened out of replacing the battery and its clip myself and opted to send it to Elektron’s US workshop. They gave me copious instructions for the return, which made the process run smoothly.

When the repair was done they charged me for 30 minutes of labour to replace the battery and clip, plus $6 for the parts.

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Following the steps here, one of my screws got stripped.
Does anyone know what to do for this situation? Also where to get more of these screws?

Did you get it removed? If not, you need a screw extractor, but need to be very careful with it mostly to avoid coming off the screw and badly damaging the faceplate. I would tape everything off as best as you can around the area of the damaged screw.

For replacement, I would try emailing Elektron first and they might be kind enough to mail one out to you. If that’s not possible, then you’ll need to look at your local hardware stores or Amazon and Ebay for Torx screws. I believe they are T10 size heads, but not sure about the length. You’ll just have to measure one you’ve pulled out. You’ll have to buy a bulk pack, but you can replace all of them to match.

If you’re not comfortable with any of this, then there’s always sending it back to Elektron or any reputable synth repair shop. Hope that helps and good luck.

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I think I’m gonna go through Elektron on this. I damaged the screw pretty bad.
I think they’re on holiday right now so wont be able to be in touch until next Tues-Wed.

Will keep this thread updated.

4/15 Update: They got back to me as soon as the holiday was over. Told me to ship my MD to the Los Angeles workshop. They’re going to replace the battery, fix the stripped screw, and change out the sticky knobs.

4/21 Update: Elektron Los Angeles got back and sent me a quote asking if I wanted to proceed. Getting it fixed! Probably would get it back next week. They have been super fast and kind.

5/1 Update: Maybe because of the Covid-19 situation, the process suddenly became a bit slow but today I received the MD in great condition - all issues fixed!

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I just replaced the battery recently and got the low bat warning again. I only use the MD once a month. Should I plug it in weekly to charge the battery up ?

I don’t know what battery you installed, but I rather doubt that plugging it in more often will boost the battery. A battery should last for many years in the MD.

If you haven’t already, open up the MD to see whether the battery has become detached and/or try another battery.

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Thanks I will. I just installed it 2 months ago.

thanks from 4 years later :metal:

Did my MK1 battery during lockdown.
It was a little difficult to get the machine apart to get at the battery. You basically have to take the whole thing apart.
I suggest using your phone to take photos as you go.
Always do that when I’m working on complicated gear.
Also keep track of screws and bolts by noting where they go in a little notebook.

When I desoldered the old battery, it exploded. So my advice is to use a small aligator clip or similar to heatsink the device as you are desoldering.
I wasn’t injured, but probably had some nasty chemicals introduced to my body.
The board has a standard coin cell holder footprint, so I bought one of those from Mouser along with a few coin cells.
Wish I had the photos I took with me, because I noticed a lot of headers for expansion on the mainboard. Can you UW and +drive MK1 models? Well, if you can that is probably not available anymore. Can only hope some clever engineer person does a 3rd party solution.
While I was in there I looked up the encoders on Digikey and Mouser and they were still buyable. So that’s good.

Does anyone know where I can purchase the clip-type battery terminal for the MD?

I have an MK1 with the soldered-in battery. It’s not showing any signs of battery issues, yet.

In the near future though, I may need to swap the battery, so I’m curious to know if anyone knows what it’s part number is or have a direct link on where to buy.

MK1’s are obsolete, so Elektron won’t install a new one.

Thanks!

Mouser. I can’t tell you which one though. You’d have to open up the MD and see what mounting pattern is.

https://www.mouser.com/c/power/battery-holders-clips-contacts/coin-cell-battery-holders/?q=2450

Calaverasgrande above stated that they got one from Mouser, so maybe they’ll respond with the exact part # or you can PM them.

Edit: I had the wrong battery type. I believe it’s CR2450 3V battery and not CR2032

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hi, if it can be useful I made a tutorial on how to change drums in machinedrum
Stefano :slightly_smiling_face:

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Hello! I have the same problem - battery low on the first startup after 1.5m in a box and MD hangs on the second startup. My MD is UW+ MK2 2012 (not the last batch) and it worked fine until i moved to another city and left it in a box for 1 year. When i turned it i got BATTERY LOW and hangings. Everything looked good after installing new battery , but after 1.5 months in turned off state it hangs again . Any way to fix it without sending to Elektron?

The battery might not be secured. Why not open up the MD quickly to check?

I’ve already replaced it manually. It’s pressed tight with a clip. Fastening may have a bad contact, i’ll check.

Can I ask does changing the battery wipe the memory of stored data?

It’s very likely that it will.

If your MD has a +Drive, you could store the contents of memory in a Snapshot while changing the battery.

If your MD does not have a +Drive, you could store the contents of memory on a computer via MIDI while changing the battery.

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Battery backed memory on non +Drive is storage of kits and patches, I think PeterHanes is correct and I wouldn’t risk it without backup. Especially given that you’ll be soldering to remove and replace…

Machinedrums are single use only unfortunately. Nothing good lasts forever. I have 6 dead ones in a box somewhere.

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Perfect Thank you.
It is not a plus drive and was struggling to get C6 working.
I had it open yesterday trying to diagnose a headphone problem. Luckily I resisted the urge to change the battery.
I will try again.

Just a quick one can you transfer data between machinedrums?