bad power supply?

[gregmidd10]

That's helpful, thank you for sharing your knowledge on this. I'm hoping that simply swapping the boards will work and not get more complicated.

[gregmidd10]

Just a quick update - I swapped the power supply from my 73 Compact into the HP76 today, and the board behaves the same, quick flash of lights on panel but won't power up. I moved the power supply from the 76 to my Compact 73 and it powers up fine, so I think this rules the power supply board out as the issue. My local Nord tech said if the main board is the problem, all he can do is swap it with a new one, so it's sounding like your thoughts have been correct as I suspected. All I know to do at this point is get a new main board on order. Let me know if you have any other thoughts or ideas, I appreciate the help!

[cgrafx]

Update for my NS3 Compact. I haven't had time to attempt a board level repair, but did purchase and install a replacement main board. It's a pretty fast swap as long as you have the proper Torx drivers and nut driver for the jacks. I did have to swap a jumper from the old board to identify which model of keyboard was in use (compact, 88key etc).

The new main board came flashed with the latest firmware and samples.

I do have the parts to attempt a repair on the old board and will at some point see if I can rescue that board.

[cgrafx]

Couple of things to note for those that may wish to replace the main board on your NS3

1. You'll need to have the correct Torx wrenches
- T6 for the MIDI connectors
- T20 for the case screws
- T25 for the main board screws that attach to the bottom body of the keyboard

2. you'll wan't to have a 1/2" or I believe a 12mm Nut driver to remove and install the nuts for all the 1/4" jacks.

3. There are two small washers that are installed between the audio in jack and the inside of the case when you install the main board. see the pictures for detail.

4. There is a connector attached at location J8 that is most likely connected to the aftertouch strip. On the new main board there are now two connectors J8 and J10. Since the old board used J8 I also used J8 on the new board.

5. There is a single screw on the bottom of the unit almost in the center that holds the middle of the top panel to the bottom panel. Don't forget to put that screw back in.

6. There are washer/spacers on the end-blocks that are important as the end-cap screws are really longer than they need to be. If you loose the spacers and put the screws in the front of the keyboard (where the keys are), the screw will interfere with the last key preventing it from pushing all the way down when pressed (and also making a loud clanking sound).

[gregmidd10]

Just wanted to post a quick update for this - I received my replacement main board via Syntaur, swapped it out, and my Stage 3 is back to normal. Restored from my last backup, and it seems to be good to go. This is a very unfortunate and expensive issue that from what I can tell only affects the Stage 3 model, hopefully Nord is aware and has remedied whatever the problem is in current models.

[gregmidd10]

I just saw this post - apparently we replaced our boards literally the same week! Your post is spot on - hopefully this will help others that are dealing with this.

Couple of things to note for those that may wish to replace the main board on your NS3

1. You'll need to have the correct Torx wrenches
- T6 for the MIDI connectors
- T20 for the case screws
- T25 for the main board screws that attach to the bottom body of the keyboard

2. you'll wan't to have a 1/2" or I believe a 12mm Nut driver to remove and install the nuts for all the 1/4" jacks.

3. There are two small washers that are installed between the audio in jack and the inside of the case when you install the main board. see the pictures for detail.

4. There is a connector attached at location J8 that is most likely connected to the aftertouch strip. On the new main board there are now two connectors J8 and J10. Since the old board used J8 I also used J8 on the new board.

5. There is a single screw on the bottom of the unit almost in the center that holds the middle of the top panel to the bottom panel. Don't forget to put that screw back in.

6. There are washer/spacers on the end-blocks that are important as the end-cap screws are really longer than they need to be. If you loose the spacers and put the screws in the front of the keyboard (where the keys are), the screw will interfere with the last key preventing it from pushing all the way down when pressed (and also making a loud clanking sound).

[Slide]

Wow, this thread is extremely helpful (and worrisome at the same time).

Thank you so much for documenting the process for replacing the NS3 main board with such detailed pictures and tool requirements. I am very hopeful I will never need to do anything like this for either of my NS3 boards, though with this thread as a guide, I would probably give it an attempt on my own.

The closest I ever did something like this was my old NS2 EX Compact when the LCD display died. I got a replacement and went through similar steps to disassemble and replace the display. Not quite as many steps, though it was still plenty nerve racking with some of the tiniest screws I've seen involved around the display.

May your NS3 units live a long and productive life after this fix!

[TassieMusician]

Hi All,

Thank you very much for making this thread - I have experienced the same thermal bootup issue with my NS3 and fixed it the same way (by replacing the motherboard). To increase visibility of the issue and add some more detail on how to replace the motherboard I have made a new post here: viewtopic.php?t=26065

[coiley]

Thank you cgrafx and all for pooling your common experience here. I have the NS3 (76) mainboard failure problem. I have owned for 2-3 years. I was crushed when the keyboard did not power on. I will add to the common pool of data.

I leave the keyboard powered on all the time. I NEVER shut it off. I have recently been required to be away from my home for weeks at a time, so 3 weeks ago I decided to shut it off before i left. When I came back two days ago, it would not power on. I did all the practical power-good steps, All I got was the brief flash of LEDs each time I power-cycled. Today was my first opportunity to do research. The symptoms seemed like classic general power supply issues, so I searched for "Nord Stage 3 power supply". THIS thread was the second hit. I am now convinced that the problem is not the power supply. Here's what I did after reading the thread:

I took the main-board-end (lower octave end) end-cap off the keyboard. Then I put my wife's blow-dryer on high and blew it in the open end - over the main-board. I cycled the power every 4 seconds while maintaininfg the heat. After about 90 seconds (a seeming eternity) the keyboard booted up. It's been on for hours. (And I'm not turning it off! - except to add a UPS battery backup.)

I understand that the main-board is now doomed. And, unless Nord decides to be responsibe (and smart), I'm going to have to shell out another $1500.

This is a turning point for me with Nord. I did substantial research before buying THE Nord Stage 3! I spent beyond my means to get the right thing: REAL grand piano, REAL keybed, REAL B3, REAL Leslie, REAL Mellolotron, etc. But what I got was a REAL $4000 dud; no, a $5500 dud if the replacement board is a failure too. Who knows?

Has anyone sought MANUFACTURER-EXTENDED-warranty repair support?

Is there a group for discussing this specific main-board premature failure issue?

Is this REAL problem acknowledged in bugs report?

Has anyone tried chip/board reflow?

Is it definitely DSP? and not low-pitch post-power-supply main-board-local MOSFETish final power conditioning?

Do I seriously have to consider investing the $1.5k repair cost, instead, in a reliable brand?

Now I know what the Nord Stage 4 is; it's the Nord Stage 3 bug-fix.

Uuugh... I was so happy.

[nocturnaut]

I was able to do a board level repair, to my knowledge I'm the first one so I did a write up here: https://www.reddit.com/r/nordkeyboards/ ... mainboard/
In my case, it was NOT a DSP chip, it was the main MCU. It was a thermal failure within the chip package; reflow did not help and I had to replace the chip.
I left mine powered on almost all the time too and it looks to have failed due to poor thermal contact with the heatsink. You can see the heatsink pad solder ended up as 4 distinct blobs instead of one nice one which makes me think it was not flowed properly during manufacturing - it needed a loooot of heat to get it reflowed. Draw your own conclusions regarding their lack of commentary on this issue.