Machinedrum MK2 UW+ was dead...then it came back to life

Hi everyone,

I’ve recently purchased a Machinedrum MK2 UW+ and the first two days were amazing, was really enjoying this machine and suddenly it crashed. Alright, let’s restart it. Okay, it plays back again…then * cue weirdly glitchy sound * it crashes again, let’s take a deep breath and restart. Okay, another crash and this time it was gone. Tried turning it off, unplugging from wall, another wall outlet, another power conditioner…nada.

It was dead as far as I knew.

So I tried to go through the early startup menu, and it keep freezing even before I was able to press a button. Tried a few more times, was able to do a factory reset a few times…and eventually it went through, the machine started to initialize/unpack factory content and boom, it’s alive again!

Cosmetically speaking the machine is perfect, I haven’t opened it up so I can’t go beyond that, but the previous owner did a great job on keeping it intact and as far as I can tell he has taken really good care of it. No loose encoders, buttons are tight, everything seems to be in excellent condition.

My question is: has anyone else had such experience? Any machines that were apparently dead, only to resurrect in glorious fashion after a few wiggles? Given its age I plan to send it to a tech for a routine check and battery replacement, but would taking too much of a chance/leap of faith to keep this machine?

I own other Elektron gear (A4, Rytm, Digitakt) and I’m not usually scared by some occasional lock-up…as long as it can be solved by a reboot/reset of course.

Would love to hear from you all. Thanks in advance!

it could be the power supply. i would consider sending in a support ticket through the elektron website.

https://www.elektron.se/support/

It’s…

2 Likes

Ha, sorry but you got me a bit lost in translation on that one - what does that mean?

I tried Google’ing it and some pictures of the MM/MD and other disassembled gear came up.

Thanks for that tip, but after so many years would they have anything for me that hasn’t been covered here or in other forums?

Sending the machine over to repair is not viable for me as I live in a distant and highly messed up country, so that’s why I didn’t even consider reaching out to them.

They could let you know for sure what the problem is, and direct you how to fix it. If it is the power supply, which can fail, that is a quick and easy replacement. Some machinedrums are even still under warranty. Despite how wonderful this forum is, it’s composed of the elektron user base. Official word is always the best path when attempting to fix your machine. Elektron support is super helpful.

From you description, which you could send to support, it does sound like a power supply issue.

3 Likes

Thanks mate, I’ll reach out to them.

Not being an expert but this is what I would do (apart from contacting the support):

  1. I would open the machine and check if all the connectors are firmly fitted (sometimes it can happen that they can get loose especially during careless transportation);
  2. if the above is checked I would check the power supply.
    The problem is that schematics are not publicly available. My first guess would be that a capacitor somewhere in the power section is down. Sorry for not being very helpful.
1 Like

Register the device via Elektron website under your name. They can then instruct you if it still is under warranty.

3 Likes

Thanks! It’s a second hand unit so I’ll ask the previous owner for the SN.

I don’t have it in front of me but shouldn’t the SN be on the back - bottom of the device?

You might have to contact previous owner to deregister the device if he/she did that. You will know once you register it (system tells you if registered in another person’s name)

1 Like

There’s no SN on this machine - or at least not on the one that I got.

Just checked mine, sticker on the bottom with SN and date of manufacture.

1 Like

I don’t know, it’s written on my MK2UW+.
Magical word a la Mary Poppins?

2 Likes

I had somewhat similar issues with a connector that had come loose during shipping (the device was not well packed). I tried to repair it myself but I would not recommend if you are not experienced with electronics repair, there are enough fiddly screws etc.

If it’s a mark 2 device Elektron will still repair them. You’ll need to ship to Sweden which can be a bit costly. You could alternatively find somewhere local, for me the peace of mind was worth the extra.

1 Like

Previous owner never got the stick there or ripped it off for some reason? I’ll ask him anyway.