Electro 2 error

[ida-nilsen]

My Nord Electro 2 is flashing EL then 3.0, then back to EL upon powering up. I can't access any sound banks. I've never downloaded or installed any software myself and am not sure where to start to try and fix this. Advice? thanks

[spixycat]

Have you check the User manual and Service Manual that are both online?

Service manual: http://www.workhousepoets.com/NE2%20Ser ... matics.pdf
User manual : http://www.clavia.se/nordelectro/Files/ ... 2_1Eng.pdf

Check the "Running the test program" in the Service manual.

Good luck

[skaaat]

I've got the same exact problem, although I updated mine to 3.4 a while ago. If you come across a fix, let me know... I'll be going through the service manual tonight for mine.

[pablomastodon]

From your description of your Nord's symptoms, it would seem that it will need to be seen by a competent service technician. Although you may get "lucky" and find that tomorrow it will work fine again, that would only mean that the fault is intermittent -- it will not have been "cured" and likely it will fail again (usually at the worst possible time if Murphy's Law applies).

Your Nord contains a power supply board which takes your wall outlet power and converts it to various smaller DC voltages for use inside the instrument. The mainboard contains circuitry which monitors those voltages for consistency and when something doesn't look right, it triggers a reboot. This is partly a protection mechanism designed to prevent damage. If, upon completion of the reboot, it again senses the same problem it again triggers a reboot. This is certainly not a software problem and no amount of reflashing OS, reloading factory backup, etc., is gonna do the trick.

The question in your case will be to isolate the cause of the reboot. It could be that the instrument will respond favorably to a good thorough cleaning of the electrical contacts. It could also be that one or more solder connections may have degraded over time and need attention. Or it could be that one or more component parts have failed entirely and needs replacement. The diagnosis is best left to the electronics tech who has it open on her or his bench.

For those DIYers out there, some people have seen positive results simply by going the contact cleaning route. Get some De-Ox-It or equivalent, disconnect internal ribbon cables, spritz both halves of connections, male and female, and then connect/disconnect them a dozen times or so to get some cleaning action on those pins and sockets. Again, there are multiple possible causes for the problem, so if simple contact cleaning does not do the trick, then your best course will be to take your Nord to a competent electronics tech for examination and service.

Longterm heat is generally an enemy to electronics, causing such things as solder joint degradation over time, but heat generation is inherent in electronics, so... It is likely that this is the result of much use over much time, and it could also be that something in your wall current supply has contributed to this, e.g. surges, etc.

Bless,

Pablo Mastodon
Nord Technical Support USA/Canada
(800) 994-4984 x3030 USA
(800) 431-2609 x3030 Canada
(813) 644-8480 (direct line)

[cracksinthekeys]

I am having the exact same problem as the above user. Can you let me know if you figured out a solution? I don't have the knowledge to give it a thorough cleaning myself, and am weary of instrument technicians who charge $50/hour for work that nobody actually witnesses them performing.

[pablomastodon]

You mean there's still someone out there charging only $50/hr? I thought $80 was bottom dollar and some shops in high rent districts (Manhattan, etc.) get $125-$140/hr.

As I wrote in the earlier post, there are multiple potential causes for the same set of symptoms. It will require the services of someone who knows what she or he is doing. If you don't have the knowledge, then you are going to need to find someone whom you can trust. Where are you located?

Pablo

[JiminWales]

Up to about 2010 there were problems with the quality of some electrolytic capacitors used in products - mainly the ones used in power supply circuits where they are under the most stress.
This explains...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague
There are visual clues you might spot with this problem. Search for "bad caps" and you'll find a lot of pictures showing the things to look for.

Jim

[mjbrands]

Those caps were mostly used in mass-produced products, where saving a few cents on the capacitors made enough of a difference in the end. I've had a MSI computer motherboard with caps like that, but that was more like 2003-2005.

Heat is the enemy of electronics; operating capacitors 10 degrees warmer than what they were designed for can already shorten their life by several years. Often they will fail without bursting like those bad ones though.

A swollen (or burst) one is definitely a problem, but a failed one might still like fine from the outside.

Anyway, Pablo does Nord tech support for Canada and the US. Since you (ida-nilsen) seem to be from Canadialand I really suggest contacting him (maybe you already did).

[cracksinthekeys]

Two years later! The same problem has resurfaced. Last time I had taken it to a technician who charged me $250 and Im still not sure what work they performed exactly. Really don't want to have to do this again. I am located in Montreal, Canada. Any advice?