Power outage while the Nord keyboard is on

[Elijah Hultz]

Hey, I was wondering to anyone this has happened to, what happens when the power goes out or you accidentally unplug the Nord keyboard while it's on? I don't actually own a Nord keyboard yet, but I'm planning on getting one soon and I was wondering if that's something that can damage a Nord keyboard.

[Hlaalu]

Hi, it can't damage it because by powering it off via the switch you're doing exactly the same thing: cutting the power off. It's just a mechanical switch. Perhaps the only circumstance in which it could cause some problem is when it's writing something to the memory, like when you are loading a sample or updating the firmware. In this case a power outage (or manually switching it off, which is the same thing) would definitely mean you'll have to reload whatever sample you were loading, and it might "brick" the keyboard if you were flashing the firmware. In this latter case the Nord firmware updater might not be able to tell the keyboard is even connected, thus making it impossible for you to reflash it. But it's a remote possibility, and I haven't heard this happen to anybody.

That said, I personally still use a double conversion UPS all the time (which I assume it's what you were thinking when you asked this question), but not for power outages, but rather because the main voltage in my house is very erratic (and I mean very... +/- 40 volts or more fluctuating in a matter of a minute).

[Tasten-Bert]

Yep, nothing dangerous happens. To me it happens from time to time that the sound crew is faster than the band after a gig has finished and switches off the main supply. No problem if my nord was still on. At least during the past 11 years.
Cheers from Germany

[analogika]

Nothing. The Nord will start off right where it was when the power went out.

Takes a few seconds to boot, though.

[DanielD71]

I always use UPS in case of an outage.

[MarkJames]

Nothing. The Nord will start off right where it was when the power went out.

Takes a few seconds to boot, though.

It’s a huge benefit over some of the keyboards that seem to need 45-60 seconds to boot.

[docbop]

As everyone has said power off isn't a problem unless during a firmware update and that is for Nord and anything similar. What is more important is Clean power while using the electronic things like your Nord to catch spikes, dips, line noise. Power dips can be more damaging than power spikes. That's why many use a power conditioner or a UPS to deliver clean steady power to electronic devices.

[hughes]

“… Power dips can be more damaging than power spikes. ….

Why?

[docbop]

“… Power dips can be more damaging than power spikes. ….

Why?

Because the various components are expecting certain voltages. Those voltages get generated by transformers who basically work on X voltage comes in and it is stepped down to Y voltage that goes out. When the power dips the ratio of power in and power out changes and the components start working in unknown ways that can potentially cause damage throughout the whole device because it keep trying to work. In a massive power surge typically the first component or two get blown up and the device shuts down.

[Hlaalu]

That's why many use a power conditioner or a UPS to deliver clean steady power to electronic devices.

I think it's worth specifying that, other than power conditioners, only double conversion UPSs do the job here. Line interactive UPSs and "normal" ones won't, since they kick in only after a power outage.