Nord3 Problems?

kooljohn · Joined: Jul 06, 2007 Posts: 12 Location: DUBLIN

I've had my Clavia Nord3 now for about 6 years (almost) and it's worked fine until the past couple months it's been turning off on it's own and sometimes restarting. I'd notice because when I came back to it it was back at it's original settings and any edits were lost (unless I had saved em of course)

Now it won't turn on properly....well let me explain.

I hit the power button,the screen lights up then it starts flickering & won't turn on fully but keeps going flicking on the start up message like it's struggling to get the power it needs to turn on fully.

Would this be a fuse problem? My electrician friend says,it wouldn't even turn on if the fuse had blown.

Anyone had this problem before?

The only other prob is,if I have to get it repaired I'm in Ireland (Kildare)and I don't know of any synthesizer repair shops anywhere here Sad

blue hell · Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:10 pm Post subject:

to electro-music kooljohn.

Sounds like an issue with the power supply or the power cabling. Are you up to trying something yourself or are you looking for something like this?

[link removed due to virus warnings - Wout]

kooljohn · Joined: Jul 06, 2007 Posts: 12 Location: DUBLIN

sorry,forgot to add that the power cable going into the nord 3 is perfectly fine.

I got it tested and it checks out 100% ok.

So it's something else...

Wout Blommers · Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 12:18 am Post subject:

To me it looks like a bad power supply.
Could be a loose cable inside (flat cable between the power supply board and the synth, maybe a loose contact)
If not, try to make contact with Clavia's support or with a technician.

Wout

kooljohn · Joined: Jul 06, 2007 Posts: 12 Location: DUBLIN

thanks

Wout Blommers · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 1:34 am Post subject:

Does it work now and if so, what were the troubles?

Wout

kooljohn · Joined: Jul 06, 2007 Posts: 12 Location: DUBLIN

can you believe I haven't even got round to getting the problem sorted yet??

yes,I know I take procrastination to a whole other level Sad

But I will do it soon,one way or the other.

Infact I tried to take it apart and have a look inside but the case wasn't coming off at all even though I had removed all the screws that I could see??

Is there a special way of taking the Nord 3's casing off???

I would luv to take a look inside before I send it away to the UK to get repaired,if possible.

Wout Blommers · Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:46 am Post subject:

First of all: best wishes for the year 2000 and 8 Wink

Four at the back...
Four at the sides (leave the two with the washers) AND two at the bottom (underneath the Wheel and one underneath the third octave of the keyboard)...

Success!

Wout

Wout Blommers · Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 7:38 am Post subject:

It appears the power supply of the NL3 is very sensitive to changes in the studio or theater. When a large amount of power is switched on these problems might occur. A power stabilisator is recommended.

Although, personally I have my doubts...

Well, Clavia wrote at 28 nov 2005

kooljohn · Joined: Jul 06, 2007 Posts: 12 Location: DUBLIN

thanks for that info.

Will try my nl3 out in a friends house and see if the power dropouts/rebooting situation improves.

Wish they hadn't made such a beautiful synth with such a sensitive power supply.

Sad

Wout Blommers · Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:32 am Post subject:

I just returned from a session where a NordLead2 dropped out a lot. A cable to a 230V connecting point in another room of the building did the trick. For live use: use a good converter/stabilizer.

Wout

kooljohn · Joined: Jul 06, 2007 Posts: 12 Location: DUBLIN

when you say power stabilizer do you mean this...

http://www.dv247.com/invt/30916/

Wout Blommers · Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:59 pm Post subject:

As long as it keeps the Voltage at the same level...
(I've read the Manual and the Brochure, but it's hard to find the information there)

Wout

kvnvk · Joined: Aug 27, 2006 Posts: 105 Location: Texas

hmmm... I've noticed that my Nord Rack 3 appears to "reset" after its been on for an extended period of time. it does tend to get rather hot, so in my case I'm inclined to think it's likely an overheating issue. I did have it at a friend's house a few months ago sitting not too far from an air conditioning unit and never once during the 3 or 4 hours I had it on did it feel more than slightly warm. so, thinking of finding a small fan I can mount on my keyboard stand behind the Nord to keep it cool.

danchen · Joined: Sep 04, 2007 Posts: 8 Location: Slovenia

Hi.

Wout, you are completly right about the power supply sensitivity (NL3)
I noticed that several times at home. I left NL3 turned on for a while and I came back, it was the first preset again. Taht happened to me several times.

I moved my NL3 to our rehersal place and the issue was gone.
At this point I did not know what the problem was.

After a few months, at a gig, when we had our sound check, I noticed the NL3 shutting off and on all over again. I told our stage manager about it in he said that something is wrong and adviced to check the voltage on the stage.
The voltage that came to my synths should have been around 230V. Stage manager checked it and it was around 215V or even less.
The problem was that too much stuff ( PA, FOH, lights, heating) was plugged on to one single phase of electricity (I hope I said it right).

The stage crew fixed that and after that ther was no problem with the NL3.

dxmat · Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:45 pm Post subject:

The famous NL3 HARDWARE bug... little gift from Clavia!

Many NL3s have this problem.... so Clavia discontinued this synth.

Use a power stabilizer.

Good luck!

kooljohn · Joined: Jul 06, 2007 Posts: 12 Location: DUBLIN

Wout Blommers · Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:01 am Post subject:

No, this was not the reason...
Some parts became less available and to make a new production run it was a draw back due to selling figures...

Wout

kooljohn · Joined: Jul 06, 2007 Posts: 12 Location: DUBLIN

I don't want to sound like an idiot but I'm still not 100% sure on this power conditioner/stabilizer issue.

I've looked a few up on www.thomann.de and www.dv247.com but the power outlet/sockets for those I found were all 'kettle' plugs not the figure 8 ones on the nord.

How would I connect a nord 3 to one of those???

Or am I looking for the wrong thing?

I have no experience with power conditioner/stabilizers so am a complete newbie and would love a more knowledgeable description on what it is I'm looking for and how it all connects and works.

Confused

Thanks for your help on this.

kooljohn · Joined: Jul 06, 2007 Posts: 12 Location: DUBLIN

ok,

this has been wrecking my head for a while....but it looks like I may have found a 'mains conditioner' that will rectify the Nord3 voltage/spikes problem.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=46830&C=Maplin&U=SearchTop&T=mains%20conditioner&doy=27m2

that's selling for 40 quid sterling from Maplins (who also have stores here in Ireland) and in the next week or 2 I'll order 2 of those and use them to power everything in my studio and (fingers crossed) it should work fine.

Can't wait to have my Nord3 back and working properly,it's been too long.

Now all I need fixed is the pitch bend on my original Nord Lead Sad

rodrigo · Joined: Aug 24, 2008 Posts: 4 Location: Monterrey, Mexico

kooljohn-

Did you ever get the power conditioner? Did it fix the problem for the Nord 3?

I'm having the same problem, and this has rendered my synth completely unreliable. I've been gigging a lot, and the NL3 shuts down at least once during the show.

At my home studio, using a monster power conditioner I still have the same problem, only it's gotten worse lately. Sometines it won't power up and then it works for a few seconds. I'm assuming it needs repair, I don't think it has become more sensitive over time.

Has anyone sent in the NL3 for repair under the same circumstances? How did it go?

thanks,

rodrigo

My nearest authorized service center is across the border, and I'm afraid

kooljohn · Joined: Jul 06, 2007 Posts: 12 Location: DUBLIN

well,the mains conditioner didn't work & now it seems I'll have to bite the bullet & get it repaired.

I'll probably have to send it over to the uk to 'hand in hand' or whoever's closest to me (Ireland) but that's a whole other set of probs what with cost-packaging & potential loss/damage????

Sad

so looks like it won't be until early 2009 before I'll get my beloved nord 3 back as I don't have the money for a repair job at the mo.

Crying or Very sad

rodrigo · Joined: Aug 24, 2008 Posts: 4 Location: Monterrey, Mexico

I sent my Nord Lead 3 to an authorized repair center in Dallas, TX. After 6 months of waiting for parts, they succesfully repaired the main board, but this revealed a failure in the front panel.

They tried to source parts to fix the front panel, but were unsuccesful. Now they say it needs a replacement, which will account to almost $ 900 USD. The tech guy says the problem was due to the manufacturing technique on my unit, and he doesn't guarantee it won't happen again with a new part, because chances are, they used the same manufacturing process on it.

Has anybody had any experience replacing parts (mainboard or front panel)? I don't want to invest that much money on my keyboard and have the same problem show up 3 years down the road.

I appreciate any help. Best regards,

Rodrigo Montfort

Oli

darman · Joined: Apr 27, 2009 Posts: 7 Location: Slovenia

Hello everyone! I have exactly the same problems, it turns off and on while Im gigging and I really hate that. DID ANYONE find a solution for this problem?!? Please, share it with others. Thanks