Broken keyboard

I didn't think this would be what one of my first posts on these forums would be, but I think I broke my Xboard 49. I bought it used just so I could use it to become acquainted with how MIDI works etc.

Well, I broke it. I think what I did was I plugged it into a power source that was too high of voltage. The Xboard says it takes a 6 volt input, and I plugged it into an 18 volt output. I did not think to check to see if they were the same voltage, I just thought since they were the same size plug it would be the same voltage. But anyway, I plugged it in, turned the Xboard on, the lights were on for a split second then turned off again, and I could almost immediately smell smoke. So I think I blew a fuse or something? Is there anything I can do to fix it?

Also, I have had it for a week or so and have powered it from my computer with the USB cable just fine, so I know it worked before I blew it up. :|

Thanks for any help offered.

sounds like you probably fried it. maybe open her up and have a look for any black/burned or melted components? If you smelled smoke, then that is not a good sign.

Hmmm. It was an adventure just getting the whole thing apart so I could get a good look at the components. Accidentally detached some things that were glued to the frame (the parts glued to other components remained intact, which I was happy about). So now I can get a close up look at all the boards and everything, but I don't really know what I'm looking for, or a good egg from a bad one.

I would start by looking at the power supply area (where the power cord goes in). Does it have a seperate PCB for the PSU or is it all integrated? Look at the capacitors, are any burned, exploded, or bulging? They should be basically perfect cylinders. Look for any discoloration of the PCB. Most likely your problem will be within the PSU. Hope this helps a little, it's hard to describe this stuff over text only =) I tried finding a PCB layout or something for the controller, but can't find anything...

Thanks for the knowledge. I'll look it over and see if I can find the things you talked about.

I'll have a report on your desk in the morning. ;p

If there's a fuse in there you should hopefully be okay, but 18 is a lot of juice to put into those things. Also "affordable" pieces of gear like that are rarely built to "be serviced" so fuses are rare, and being able to fix them is even more rare. In fact a lot of them break ifyou just take them apart. If you can find a fuse, check the rating, go to radio shack and buy a pack of them, replace, turn on with correct power supply and if it doesn't work, then sadly it is likely fried. :(

Took some pics:

From left to right: the on/off switch, the 6 volt power jack, the USB jack, the MIDI jack, and (out of image) the pedal jack.

I believe the small cylinder in the middle of the picture is what I would replace?

edit: Sorry that picture is enormous. I don't recommend opening it in the browser...

Nah, that small cylinder is only the power jack, I doubt it would be damaged as it only transfers power. How does the chip I circled look? It's hard to tell from the pic, but it looks like it might be burned. Is the PCB discolored around it? Flip it over and have a look at the back side of the PCB for discoloration too.

Yes. That one and the similar one to the left of it both look different than the various other similar ones around them. And by different I mean worse.

There's the backside. Looks pretty alright to me?

ya, it doesn't look like it got hot enough to discolor the PCB, but if that chip looks burned it probably is... sorry man, but this board is probably cached.

Yeah, it's hard to tell from the pic. There's obviously no quick blow fuse, i'm sure there is at least one fuse on the board but it's a small solder type and those don't usually show anything when they trip.

My best advice is, call around locally to electronics repair shops, find one that works on keyboards, ask if you can come in and just have them plug it in with the correct power supply and at least see if it will power on. If it doesn't see if they can fix it. If they can it shouldn't be too bad, prolly just one hour labor (generally $60/hr) and parts (likely no more than $5-20).

Oh and the discolored thing you pointed out could be what the problems, but it looks more just like solder mess to me that has likely been there since being made. Just an opinion though, ask a repair shop :)

I plugged it into my computer with the USB cord and it doesn't turn on for that. I probably, as you said, need to just suck it up and go to a repair shop.

Thanks for the help everyone.

i have one of these too, not a bad midi controller in my limited experience

  On 12/18/2009 at 10:06 PM, tysen said:

I plugged it into my computer with the USB cord and it doesn't turn on for that. I probably, as you said, need to just suck it up and go to a repair shop.

 

Thanks for the help everyone.

Yeah that's not a good sign :( And the repair shop may tell you it's cheaper to buy a new one than it is to get it fixed. Let's hope that's not the case though.

Make sure the shop deals with instruments and isn't just a generic electrical repair. There's tons of electronic repair stores here, but there's really only one that deals with keyboards, synths, general electronic music equipment.

Will do. It's not too big of a loss. A few of the buttons were missing (still functional, but no covers) and the Control software suuuuucked. So I can use this one as a guinea pig as I delve into electronics and maybe one day I'll put it to good use for something.

Im not sure if this'll help as my knowlage is pretty limited. But I should think in the actually plug theres a fuse that probably melted, if you open up the plug you might find it.

this is sometimes true, but he said it didn't power up from usb either...

  On 12/20/2009 at 4:20 AM, Brandi_B said:

this is sometimes true, but he said it didn't power up from usb either...

Oh, I must have misread I thought he said it did power up over usb. Which is why I though so.

Thanks for the idea anyway. :]