Damaged pin on Compact Flash Reader for Elektron Octatrack MKII

Elektron Gear Octatrack
#1

Hi guys, recently bought a 2nd hand Octatrack that arrived today which was like brand new. All was well when I booted up the system, cards were reading fine, I then regrettably decided to removed the CF card from the reader and re inserted, then I found the system was stuck in Demo Mode and card were no longer reading. Ive had a look inside the CF reader and noticed a pin had been bent and out of place. Clearly this had to be my wrong doing as things were working fine until I started to mess around with the cards, but I did not force the card in and was trying to be careful (obviously not careful enough). Ive seen a few posts on this problem that seems to be a common issue but was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to fix this problem or if anyone has any experience with getting it repaired by Elektron or someone else? Im in the UK so Im not sure what to do next.

Im really gutted and hoping this can be fixed. Any suggestions would be massively appreciated. Many thanks. Ive attached a picture below

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#2

Such a bummer. But they can be fixed! But heres a recent thread discussing same issue.

I have repaired cf pins on some work equipment. It is challenging. And i didnt do a great job. A much more patient colleague is very skilled at it.

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Does the compact flash slot problem persist on MkII?
#3

The CF pins on Mk2 are more exposed than on Mk1- it would take more steps on Mk1 - may be much harder

anyway - good news is that you will get great visibility if you open it up

use a magnifying glass and get a female pin (if possible) it would slip around the pin like a thin barrel - these are longer than the pin and if you can seat it on the pin would allow you to better control straightening - straighten it in one action - do not wiggle back and forth to get good alignment - maybe get a needle with a decent size eye and use/bend that to get the pin into a better position to do the final alignment (either use something like the female pin header or end of a propelling pencil (sans led) or anything super narrow of that form)

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here’s my OT with the card in - you would have decent access, but don’t do any of this if not confident and do your own risk assessment - ensure the card holes are clear and take time with CF cards in future

good luck if you try this (at your own risk)

Screenshot 2021-05-18 17.04.34
Screenshot 2021-05-18 17.04.34957×632 104 KB

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#4

As below. Take it to a camera shop if you cant do it yourself. It really is a simple job. Most are reopen for business now.

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#5

Thank you very much for your reply. Im going to see if any camera shops can help me out! Much appreciated

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#6

Hey thanks man for the detailed reply and appreciate you letting me know all this. I think Im going to leave this to someone who knows what they’re doing as Im not feeling too confident. Going to try some camera shops as suggested. Thanks for your help

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#7

Think Im going to try the camera shop thing out as Im not feeling too confident in my abilities. Many thanks for the suggestion!!

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#8

I tried bending mine back into place a while ago and its rejected every cf card that I have had since and also sends a corrupt partition message or its not detecting a card at all or saying its full.

#9

A great reminder to put in a 64gb card and then never touch it again

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#10

From the pic it actually looks like 11 pins are bent?

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Might be worth just replacing the whole CF assembly.

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#11

Hi guys. Sorry for not updating sooner. Went to local computer / camera shop and somehow they managed to get the pins straight again. God knows how. But it works again. I purchased a 64gb card and I’m never taking it out, dont want to risk anything.

So the good news is its definitely fixable. But I would leave it in the hands of a professional. Good luck!

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#12

Agreed!!