Members rattletrap Posted August 17, 2005 Members Share Posted August 17, 2005 Hello all, I've had a MicroKorg for about 2 years now and it has been great until lately. I use the AC adapter but I keep getting the error message "bat". It insists that I have low batteries, when I am not even using batteries! I have tried installing new batteries, along with the AC adapter, but have had no luck. Has anyone had experience with this? I have built a number of effects boxes and pedals so I am rather handy with a soldering iron... is this anything I can fix on my own. I've opened it up but can't seem to find anything wrong with it. This shouldn't be such a big deal because you just have to press the "shift" key to clear the message, but actually it keeps me from writing any of my new programs that I create. It's very frusterating! Otherwise, everything works fine. I called Korg and the guy told me that it is a problem with the internal battery but I've had the thing completely apart and I do not believe there to be an internal battery. If someone can tell me differently I'd appreciate it. Has anyone ever had this problem? Does anyone have any suggestions or do I just need to give in and take it to a repair shop? THANKS so much! Aaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members urbanscallywag Posted August 17, 2005 Members Share Posted August 17, 2005 There should be a lithium ion battery somewhere to store the presets. This is different than the batteries used to make the synth portable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rattletrap Posted August 17, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 17, 2005 Thanks for the reply! Do you have any idea where this battery is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members urbanscallywag Posted August 17, 2005 Members Share Posted August 17, 2005 Never been inside a MicroKorg, so I don't have a clue. If its a common CR2032 it will look like a thick quarter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rattletrap Posted August 17, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 17, 2005 Thats what I was looking for and haven't had any luck. Is there any other way it could be storing the presets? Thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members urbanscallywag Posted August 17, 2005 Members Share Posted August 17, 2005 I can't find anything on google. It shouldn't be that difficult. Ehem, other MicroKorg users? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rattletrap Posted August 17, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 17, 2005 Me neither. Thanks for your help though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members denormaliser Posted August 18, 2005 Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 i have a microkorg! in my expert opinion i would say that almost certainly your little battery has gone flat but in a rather lame twist i cannot tell you where you go in inside the microkorg to replace it. Dont you have the manual? Sorry im not at home or i would check mine for you. Surely you can get the manual online somewhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheStateMachine Posted August 18, 2005 Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 Although it has been quite some time since i have been inside a MicroKorg, it is possible that the battery is on the other side of the circuit board... hence it is unseen by you when the bottom is removed. Korg generally uses removable batteries; i.e. you will not need to desolder the old one, install and solder a new one. This is quite convenient. Look for a battery holder with a coin-type battery inside it. Note: you will likely loose your presets during this procedure. note also that it may be a flash ram based system which uses no batteries at all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members urbanscallywag Posted August 18, 2005 Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 The manual is online. I checked, the battery isn't mentioned. Perhaps modern Korgs use user replaceable batteries, but older ones did not. The DW6000 and DW8000 for example. For some odd reason, I remember that as long as the synth is off you won't necessarily lose the presets while changing it. It makes no sense, but I remember doing bizzare experiments with the DW's battery before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rattletrap Posted August 18, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 Thanks for all of your replies guys! I have mine completely open and I have checked both sides of the circuit board. I cannot find a battery anywhere. Take a look at the attached picture though, could this be the battery? It's a part that I didn't recognize... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rattletrap Posted August 18, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 Also, it's hardwired to the board so it doesn't really seem like it would be the battery.... There's another smaller one to the lower left of it. I am also posting pictures of the other side of the board ie. the side that you can't see when you just take the back off. I've lifted the whole board out and here are a couple pictures... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flat earth Posted August 18, 2005 Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 that is not a lithium battery, can you take some shots further away? on both sides of the MB? Could maybe then point it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rattletrap Posted August 18, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 the right side... sorry these are a bit blurry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rattletrap Posted August 18, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 left Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rattletrap Posted August 18, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 out of curiousity, do you know what that part is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flat earth Posted August 18, 2005 Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 should look something like this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rattletrap Posted August 18, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 yep I'm familiar with these kinds of batteries and I do not see one at all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flat earth Posted August 18, 2005 Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 might be worth calling Korg. Their support is very good (well UK branch is). Last time i called them, they were very helpfull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rattletrap Posted August 18, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 When I called Korg, they said that it was probably the internal battery but the guy couldn't tell me where it was. He said I should just take it to a service center but I really do not want to spend $70 an hour to get this fixed. If it really is a battery problem I think I can handle it myself. I will probably try calling again today. Thanks so much for your help!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rattletrap Posted August 18, 2005 Author Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 Well I just called Korg again and talked to someone different. He said that there is no internal battery in the MicroKorg, which is what I suspected. I guess I just have to give in and take it to a service center. Has anyone else ever had this problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sizzlemeister Posted August 18, 2005 Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 Patch RAM retention doesn't require batteries anymore. Your Microkorg is telling you the main power supply reads low, which in this case probably means something in the power circuit is failing giving a false reading to whatever senses low power. If you have a multimeter it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to start at the ac adaptor jack and work forwards. Did you try it with fresh batteries but WITHOUT using the AC adaptor? My guess is that battery power is over-rided when an adaptor is being used. If the BAT error goes away then it's either the adaptor (although you say you swapped it out - this is all in the interest of isolating the problem) or part of the circuit between the adaptor jack and where-ever it ties into the batteries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members urbanscallywag Posted August 18, 2005 Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 They use EEPROM for memory now? Wow. Amazing. Cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sizzlemeister Posted August 18, 2005 Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 Yeah, but more like the flashrom in the MPU which would be a PIC microcontroller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members urbanscallywag Posted August 18, 2005 Members Share Posted August 18, 2005 Originally posted by sizzlemeister Yeah, but more like the flashrom in the MPU which would be a PIC microcontroller. PIC. No wonder its cheap. Nothing wrong with it, but...nice cost effectiveness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.