for sale repair worth it?

[McMac]

Someone locally is selling a Stage 2 EX in need of repair. In the post they say it was improperly connected to a computer and it "fried the mother board". Wondering if anyone here has had any experience repairing something like this. I know it's hard to tell from the limited information but I had a few questions. Are the power and mower boards separate? Is it fairly easy to access either/both? What's a reasonable price for just the hardware shell as it stands?

Synataur happens to have the mainboard for sale but I definitely didn't want to splash $800 bucks on a part and then have to send it all away (I'm in PNW USA) for an unknown service bill too. I have a pretty fair bit of soldering experience so if it's just some ribbon cables and through hole I'd rather do that. Thanks Friends!

CS

[cphollis]

Someone locally is selling a Stage 2 EX in need of repair. In the post they say it was improperly connected to a computer and it "fried the mother board". Wondering if anyone here has had any experience repairing something like this. I know it's hard to tell from the limited information but I had a few questions. Are the power and mower boards separate? Is it fairly easy to access either/both? What's a reasonable price for just the hardware shell as it stands?

Synataur happens to have the mainboard for sale but I definitely didn't want to splash $800 bucks on a part and then have to send it all away (I'm in PNW USA) for an unknown service bill too. I have a pretty fair bit of soldering experience so if it's just some ribbon cables and through hole I'd rather do that. Thanks Friends!

CS

Risky territory, as you don't know what's really wrong. Unlikely that an "improper computer connection" would do any damage whatsoever.

Don't buy any parts until you can get it to a tech who can figure out if it's maybe a fuse, power supply, loose cable, etc.

[gitarrenzupfer]

I have a pretty fair bit of soldering experience so if it's just some ribbon cables and through hole I'd rather do that. Thanks Friends!

CS

I can definitely assure you that the only through-hole components are on the power board. The mainboard consists almost entirely of surface-mount components. OK Buttons an Sliders maybe.

Nord keyboards I've opened have always consisted of a mainboard (including USB, MIDI, connectors, keybed connection, etc.), a separate user interface board with the knobs and displays, and a separate power PCB.

All in all, not too complicated. Nevertheless, a more detailed description of the problem would be essential if you're even considering buying it. Especially with such an old model (I'm thinking of the limited memory and lack of features found in newer synths).

I can hardly imagine how you could fry a synth mainboard with a PC. Maybe 48V phantom power to the outputs with a faulty adapter... I don't know...

[McMac]

The mind boggles thinking about what weird connections they could have made to cause any real damage, phantom power was the first thing I thought too.
Going to reach out to the seller today for more info, maybe what it does (probably nothing) with an attempt to boot. See if they remember exactly what happened. I'm sure to fit all the guts in there just about everything is SMD so probably not a lot of user servicing is possible without just tossing a whole board.
I guess that invites questions about getting proper service in the US. Not surprisingly I've never needed it, so don't know what that process would be like especially for an out of production model.
Thanks cphollis too! It sure would be a best case scenario if it just needed a fuse or some cables wiggled. It's certainly more of a want than a need but the allure of a steep discount for some time spent is heavy.

[spradders]

Can you find out what the symptoms are? I just repaired an Electro4 which had smoke pouring out ... very simple repair involved changing a couple of capacitors. But if you're not sure and aren't 100% sure you can get replacement board then it's a risk. Maybe depends how discounted it is and if you'd be willing to wait for replacements parts to become available if needed.
My Electro4 repair video is at https://instagram.com/mikesprad

[McMac]

Update: Decided to leave it alone. Poster stated that it was something indeed plugged into the usb and even had been in touch with a repair tech of some kind. Had a link to a part exchange where you could send your old board for a refurbished one, so clearly he'd been looking into it.That option looked like more hassle but way cheaper than the part on Syntaur at $800. I appreciate how forthcoming he was. He hadn't tried turning it on so that part was a mystery too. They're asking 1100 for it which doesn't seem unreasonable if it's as straight forward as changing out one board. But between that and the parts it's a bit too much for me to put up for a "yeah it'll probably work". If anybody is less risk averse than me and in the greater Seattle area I can shoot them the post, it's still up as of this morning.

Sprader: If I knew it were as simple as swapping a couple of caps I'd have snatched this in a heart beat as I've done that before. If it turned out to be something surface mount or more diagnostics are needed tech repairs would negate any discount fast. Glad to see you could get your electro up and running without incurring that kind of cost.
That reface build is super rad! Been daydreaming of something like that since I first got my R-CP years ago!

[spradders]

That reface build is super rad! Been daydreaming of something like that since I first got my R-CP years ago!

Hehe thanks! All good fun.

Sounds like you made the right decision on your risky purchase too