Fatar SL-880 is acting strange. please help!

[warriorking]

from the first day on it had light malfunctions:

when switching it on, the zone buttons (and sometimes the red menu LEDs as well) each time lighted up in different combinations. i had to switch it on several times to get it into a properly functioning state, as the midi output wasn't recognized by my sequencer and pressing the zone buttons had no effect during these first times switching it on.

sometime i had to switch it on up to 10 times to reach the state when all functions worked correctly and the midi output was also recognized by my sequencer.

now this problem became so bad that i can't get it into properly working mode at all anymore even if repeating my switching procedure for 10 minutes.

[Chrisznix]

Hi!
I´ve got the exactly the same thing here. I think it could have something to do with the power source, perhaps there ist a loose wire in there, i´ll take a look and post it here then.

Bye !

Chrisznix

[warriorking]

greez mate,

thx lots for checkin this out! but watch out: in case u still got it under warranty as well, u might loose ur warranty by opening it up. nevertheless i would appreciate it a lot as being so far from my next distributor that i would have to send it in if not gettin the porb solved by online help which would be quite expensive. in case u really open it up also look for a cell battery that might be empty (if u see one buy a new one and replace it to see if it works then). last idea i have: do u have humide climat in ur studio? maybe it is due to that? but cant really imagine. to elimininate this cause u could use a hair dryer to dry it up completely for some time when having it opened up.
thx for supports,
Warriorking

[Chrisznix]

Hi Warriorking!

I´ve got it open right now. Well, i have to admit one thing: How on earth did Fatar ever get a name with a lousy manufacturing like that?
I´ve been a service engineer for some years, and this one is one of the worst. Let´s see what we have here:
Almost every screw was a bit loose. On the Main PCB the LED almost made a short circuit, i even would say it does...
Some solderings look like a quick correction, but they are okay.
One Wire isn´t connected to the Keyboard. I´ve seen this before. Should this be correct? I couldn´t think of any reason why.
I looked under the Keyboard section to see if there could be some kind of backup battery or so. There isn´t. You can leave this one, there are no vital parts under this one.
Then i checked the power source. It´s way too high, it should be 9V DC, but its 11,80V DC here. Wow. I hope they don´t use theser tolerances anywhere else...
I checked this with (real) 9V, the same errors.
So i tried soldering suspect parts over again. Well, nothing worked.

Anyone else, any ideas?

Good Luck and bye!

Chrisznix

[Chrisznix]

I forgot your question:

It´s not too humid in here, quite normal, it´s standing in my bedroom. I´m doing some "bedroom recording" http://www.audioforums.com/forums/smile.gif
Of course a moist room is not too good for any electronics, but this one surely´s got nothing to do with humidity.

Please check the voltage on your AC Adaptor, probably it´s too high too. Whatever, it would be interresting to know.

Bye!

Chrisznix

[warriorking]

yo chrisnix,

first of all: my power adapter is 9V/500mA so one point for fatar for this http://www.audioforums.com/forums/smile.gif

if not fatar is the most unreliable manufacturer i eva dealt with i recognize more and more now: i tried to contact their so called service/support via their homepage: they dont even have a german distributer and couldnt tell me anything how to handle the prob myself. they told me to send my SL to UK or even US to get it repaired - for the postage i would pay i could buy a new one i told them http://www.audioforums.com/forums/smile.gif really incredible how this brand got its name?! as here is the point of it all:
from another forum where i posted the prob another user told me to have the same prob and when he posted this question on forums before he found many others --> what those guys finally found out was that it s an OS problem!!! many SLs built in 2000 have this phenomen! it s a not correctly working OS. the guy didnt even want to get his SL replaced as he knew the same **** would happen to him again...
i know got the compromise solution to let my SL on, one time i had it in the working mode, for ever. no joke! this seems to be the only way to be able to use it at least http://www.audioforums.com/forums/frown.gif((. what a big ****ery! mailing fatar they didnt even tell me bout this year 2000 OS bug! i m sure they knew what i was talking about as they surely received like hundrets of mails concerning this bug.
do u know if there might be a way of updating the OS eventually? this is the last idea i got on this annyoing subject and it s really startin to drive me nuts as i spended lots of money in a new SL being delivered with a known bug! fatar sux! i am sick of mailing them so if u dont mind please give it a try and talk openly bout the bug from the beginnin to ask them directly for a way to update our OSes. here is their url: www.studiologic.net (http://www.studiologic.net)
good luck! and please keep me up!
shared pain is half pain at least, http://www.audioforums.com/forums/smile.gif
Warriorking

[Chrisznix]

Hi!
One last idea:
Some switches have an "überhubkontakt" (sorry, don´t know the word in english), which sends an additional signal (some kind of reset or such) to the processor. The one in the SL 880 looks like one, and perhaps this contact is not working. *Yawn* Once more opening this coffin and calling up the ghost...*g*
I´ll write if it worked!
Bye,
Chrisznix

[warriorking]

sorry i didnt understand this "überhubkontakt" thing but in case that it should work please tell me how to handle it! cool! thx in advance, mate!!
are u native german speaker? me 2! but i think we should stick to english due to forum rulez and for that other members can follow the topic further on...


Originally posted by Chrisznix:
Hi!
One last idea:
Some switches have an "überhubkontakt" (sorry, don´t know the word in english), which sends an additional signal (some kind of reset or such) to the processor. The one in the SL 880 looks like one, and perhaps this contact is not working. *Yawn* Once more opening this coffin and calling up the ghost...*g*
I´ll write if it worked!
Bye,
Chrisznix