MD hell...please help

Elektron Gear Machinedrum
#1

Hello everyone,

I’m writing in hopes of receiving some advice on what I should do with my MD. About five years ago, I bought a Machinedrum MKI UW secondhand. The device has worked fine until recently.

Beginning a couple months ago, I started having an issue that I think many people who on the MKI have experienced. At first, the unit would freeze unexpectedly. Then, I started getting stuck at a black screen when I turned the device on. Sometimes, the device would instead freeze on the startup screen. The startup screen would be flickering and sometimes look sort of glitchy. Anyway, I couldn’t get past the startup screen. I ran test mode and everything seemed to be working.

I contacted Elektron support about this issue (I created a support ticket on their site). Unfortunately, Elektron does not repair MKI models anymore. They suggested a take the unit to a local technician. I did (someone who specializes in instrument repair), but the guy wasn’t familiar with Elektron and couldn’t fix it. I explained this to Elektron, and they told me that the problem was probably that the wires needed to be replaced. Apparently, the connectors between the wires and the circuit boards on MKI models often malfunction, and this can be fixed by soldering wires directly to the boards.

Anyway, I shared my correspondence with Elektron with my local technician. He soldered the wires to the boards, fixed the device, and charged me $65 for the repairs. This was about two weeks ago. The unit has been working well since…until today! I was creating some sounds on the unit when I restarted expectedly. Now I once again can’t get past the startup screen. It looks like the original problem has come back.

I’m at a total loss as to what I should do. On one hand, it would be a shame to sell this wonderful instrument. Also, I’d only get like $100-200 for it broken. At the same time, I can’t afford to keep sinking money into this unit if there isn’t a chance that anyone can fix it. I wish Elektron would repair the device. I’d be happy to pay the shipping costs if I could be confident they could fix the unit.

Anybody have any ideas? I’m in the United States. Does anyone know of technicians with knowledge of these instruments in the US? Is it possible to convince Elektron to repair their older MDs?

Thanks everyone for your input!

1 Like
#2

Sorry to hear about your troubles.
Wires, eh? Hum…the things that go wrong on the earlier Elektron machines (SFX-6/60, MD) are usually the PSU or CPU.
At least that was my experience with my Monomachine SFX-6. The PSU went bad and fried the CPU. Yes, I had the freezing problem.

Elektron won’t fix it for you, but I’m pretty sure they will sell you replacement boards. The thing is, which board (interface, CPU, output?) is at fault?

I have the names of two techs that used to work on Elektron gear: Ed Miller (google, “Ed MIller synth repair”) and Don Hassler. The latest contact information I have for the latter gentleman is:

1-770-845-9617
Don Hassler/Elektron USA Service
Address line 1:# 270
Address line 2: 375 Rockbridge RD. NW Suite 172
Lilburn, GA 30047

Hope this helps.

3 Likes
#3

i have a MM and a MnM both in the MK1 versions. sometimes they freeze on the startup/welcome screen, but after a reboot they work fine again. fortunetly the freezings are very rare. i hope it will stay like that. display flickering could be a indicator for a broken PSU

#4

This happened to my MnM.
I opened it up, sprayed the soldering connections for the wires, flexed the wires a little (just by moving the boards around), changed the battery and it’s been as good as new.

Use something like DEOXIT (NOT WD-40!!).
Worth the $10 before spending a lot more to send off the machine.

Since you’ve already soldered the wires, maybe a new battery is in order? It’s super easy to change (on the MK II MnM anyways).

1 Like
#5

I have the same problem years ago and in my case the faulty part was the power supply have a short in the plug. the technician didn´t detect the problem.

check if you move a little bit the cable when the unit shut down. if start again, carefully move the cable in the plug area to check if its there your problem.

another sugestion is to change or try another MD MKI power supply Elektron didnt sell for MKI but i can repair my psu and works perfect. no issues hope this works

Best Rod

#6

Thanks everyone for your input.

glitched, I’m hoping that the CPU isn’t toast. I’m still able to use the device for brief stretches of time; it just resets unexpectedly and sometimes won’t start. When your MnM CPU was messed up were you able to use the device at all?

I’ve heard there was a guy in Georgia who worked on these machines. Thanks for sharing his contact info. I’m actually in North Carolina, so shipping my device to him wouldn’t be too expensive. I’ll let you and others know if I have any luck.

A couple of you (MDMnM and elektrobot7) pointed out that the issue could be the PSU. It does seem to be the case that many MKI models have PSU issues. In my case, I think this isn’t the problem. I actually have two PSUs (neither of them are the original PSU that came with the device but both have the proper specs) for the device, both of them seem to work.

biologik, thanks for the DEOXIT recommendation. I’ll definitely look into this.

Update since I write yesterday - I reopened my MD to inspect that wires. Turns out the technician had only soldered some of the wires to the boards. A few of the connectors remain. I believe he probably didn’t bother to solder these because the device had started working again after he soldered a couple wires. I pressed the remaining connectors into the board, and sure enough my MD is working again…for now.

I expect my MD to break again soon, and that the only way to remedy this problem completely will be to solder all of the wires. However, I’m afraid of burning more money if this doesn’t fix the unit, at least for a reasonable amount of time.

1 Like
#7

Hi seems more clear now! good luck again with the MD

#8

So, yeah, it was perfectly playable for a random amount of time, then BAM! A freeze.
A few times, a reboot from a crash resulted in a factory-reset; everything gone!

I wouldn’t advise spraying it with anything. That’s a temporary fix, at best, and it doesn’t seem to apply to your situation.

Perhaps, the next time you open her up, can you take some pics?
Seems strange that the guy that fixed your MD didn’t solder every wire. Certainly, there could be non-connected lines, but why wouldn’t you solder them for stability/strength?