I bought an Octatrack MKII from a friend a year ago. Since purchase, I’ve gone through three CR-2450 batterys. Usually if I don’t power it on for 3+ weeks, I’ll get the low battery warning.
I tested my most recent low battery with a multimeter and found it was indeed almost drained.
I didn’t see any corrosion on the holster, but I cleaned it with contact cleaner anyway.
Anyone have advice on this issue? Don’t see too many posts on it.
I’m wondering if theres some sort of power leak draining the CR 2450. It’s a pain to have to be changing it so often.
Ya this is my concern. I know these batteries are supposed to last several years. Is there any way you can recommend testing how something could add load to the battery?
Thanks! I’ll reach out to them if the contact cleaner didn’t resolve this issue on a new battery. Mainly curious if anyone else encountered similar issues. Cheers
I’ve never done it, but I’d think that you’d first want to confirm the issue, so you would need to know the nominal value for how much the battery should be putting out by getting a baseline measurement from a good (octatrack) unit, and then measure the actual amount the battery in your OT mkII is being drained to verify between the two that yours is abnormal.
I’d think you might need to then try a few things like testing for the conditions of the drain i.e. is it constant when the device is both on or off? Is it only under heavy load when powered on? is it only under heavy load when off? Is it only seeing the excess drainage when plugged into the wall, like if the charger is unplugged does the drain persist?
As for causes of the drain condition your guess is as good as mine but I would wager that it’s a physical issue rather than a software issue, however I’m not an expert so I can’t confirm that and I would think the next logical step if you don’t have a good technician to take it to, is probably to check the warranty status (3 years warranty from the date printed on the sticker on the bottom listed in week and year) and then to contact elektron via their website.
You could also run a self-diagnostic by holding down the func key while the power is off and then power on the device, release the func button and when the startup menu comes up, choose the option for error test.
After you run the error test, you can confirm whether or not an error code is registering with the machine, but in my opinion it’s unlikely to manifest as a software error, although if the battery is low I’m not sure if the OT diagnostic will tell you that. It’s possible that there’s a component of that in the firmware, but I would imagine if the battery was just changed and is not currently stating low battery that there won’t be any errors or messages.
More than likely something like the solder on a surface mount resistor or a diode started to lift, like something which is only supposed to allow power to go in one direction, or only allow a certain amount to get though is not completely doing it’s job, but I’d have no idea where to begin with an OT so it’s better to talk to elektron or at least an electronics tech who can put hands on it.
It might be worth checking the new batteries if they are all from the same pack. I have had problems with a box of CR2025s which must have been faulty or very old since their life in any of my Apple Tags has been measured in weeks and not months. A newly bought, different brand of battery has eliminated the issue.
Wow thank you for all of this. Error Diagnostic does indeed read battery fail everything else OK. I’ll be sure to check with a new battery. I’m definitely too much of a novice to be able to troubleshoot for diodes/power.
This is a good thought too, I ordered a higher capacity CR2025 from DigiKey. Fingers crossed.
Let us know the result. Color me curious, especially now that I know the error diagnostic gives you a battery report as well.
Good luck with it.
You can also (just as a precaution) carefully disconnect and reseat the flat cables (on both ends) that connect the top and bottom PCB boards. Make sure they don’t show any corrosion and then make sure they seat snugly in the receivers.
Might be a bit of a placebo, but on various Elektron devices it’s been known to help. Maybe the connectors get a bit oxydized or something, I don’t know. Might be worth a try though, just do it carefully by tugging on the end clips and not just yanking on the cable itself.
Also if you still have any batteries in the old pack, you could check the unused battery output with your multimeter to see if it’s putting out less than it should be. Even if it’s not dead in the package, it might give you a bit or corroborating evidence if it’s low output right out of the pack.
