Roland Ax Edge power fault

[Nano]

Guys for anyone looking... I faced the same issue today at home and it was driving me nuts. I can't say that I have a specific answer to the problem but I will share what I did which somehow resolved the issue for the time being.
I tried a factory reset a few times and didn't do anything. So my next best guess was that there was some sort of internal battery that could be replaced, so I unscrewed every screw on the back and opened up the keyboard to see if I could see something. I gently tapped the board and the metal components around the AC port, nothing seemed out of place or burnt or anything so I was ready to give up and just replace everything the way it was before I lose any screws but before that I decided to just plug it in with the mother board exposed and voila... problem went away on its own. It certainly seems like some sort of hardware failure that should be looked into by the engineers of this thing because it seems that we're not alone on this, quite a few people experiencing this problem. I would ask the victims of this if they started experiencing this right away or if it's started happening over time. From what I can tell from this thread it's an "over time" issue which probably means there is a faulty component in there (maybe a capacitor or something), but now I'm talking way out of my league. I'm not an electrical engineer... just a computer engineer with a music hobby. Hope this helps somebody figure it out, and I'll certainly keep an eye on this issue because I'm pretty sure it'll happen again... s$#t just doesn't fix itself like that. Something's wrong with it.

 

[happyrat1]

Likely causes...

Mechanical stress on a connector or weak solder joint...

OR

Thermal issue relieved by opening housing.

I'd be looking over all those solder joints with a magnifying glass if I were you.

A cracked or cold solder joint can easily cause an intermittent fault.

This may be as simple a fix as remelting a solder connection.

Merry Xmas!!!

Gary

 

[Zippytunes]

I have been very frustrated with the same AX EDGE power issue. The supplied power supply was not working. Fresh rechargeable nimh batteries that 100% charged showed 10% right away, and the unit would shut down (low battery). I saw a post where someone opened the unit, re-seated some of the connectors and "voila" (their words) it worked. So I thought WTH, let's try.

I took out the 1,242 screws. Opened it up. Re-seated some connectors, hooked up the main power supply and . . . I'll be damned . . . "VOILA". It worked. That was 24 hours ago. Power supply works. And the batteries have been at 100% for 24 hours. I've powered the unit up 5 or so times. Each time for about 15 min. Still at 100%

Just sharing. It's worth a try. And yes . . . I have one screw missing. Of course.

 

[Zippytunes]

Guys for anyone looking... I faced the same issue today at home and it was driving me nuts. I can't say that I have a specific answer to the problem but I will share what I did which somehow resolved the issue for the time being.
I tried a factory reset a few times and didn't do anything. So my next best guess was that there was some sort of internal battery that could be replaced, so I unscrewed every screw on the back and opened up the keyboard to see if I could see something. I gently tapped the board and the metal components around the AC port, nothing seemed out of place or burnt or anything so I was ready to give up and just replace everything the way it was before I lose any screws but before that I decided to just plug it in with the mother board exposed and voila... problem went away on its own. It certainly seems like some sort of hardware failure that should be looked into by the engineers of this thing because it seems that we're not alone on this, quite a few people experiencing this problem. I would ask the victims of this if they started experiencing this right away or if it's started happening over time. From what I can tell from this thread it's an "over time" issue which probably means there is a faulty component in there (maybe a capacitor or something), but now I'm talking way out of my league. I'm not an electrical engineer... just a computer engineer with a music hobby. Hope this helps somebody figure it out, and I'll certainly keep an eye on this issue because I'm pretty sure it'll happen again... s$#t just doesn't fix itself like that. Something's wrong with it.

I did what NANO did . . . worked. Seriously.

 

[Nano]

I have been very frustrated with the same AX EDGE power issue. The supplied power supply was not working. Fresh rechargeable nimh batteries that 100% charged showed 10% right away, and the unit would shut down (low battery). I saw a post where someone opened the unit, re-seated some of the connectors and "voila" (their words) it worked. So I thought WTH, let's try.

I took out the 1,242 screws. Opened it up. Re-seated some connectors, hooked up the main power supply and . . . I'll be damned . . . "VOILA". It worked. That was 24 hours ago. Power supply works. And the batteries have been at 100% for 24 hours. I've powered the unit up 5 or so times. Each time for about 15 min. Still at 100%

Just sharing. It's worth a try. And yes . . . I have one screw missing. Of course.

Hello. I'm the one who posted that "fix".
I've been living with that issue for a while now, maybe a couple years. I tried fixing it under warranty but unfortunately the turnover time of sending the unit to Roland and getting it back is ridiculously long (people complain that it could be up to 6 months!), so I just live with it. I do have a new issue that's really driving me crazy and if someone could chime in on this I'd really appreciate it.
The pedal! Oh God the pedal... it just gets stuck, meaning that I'm playing and all of the sudden I have to tap it 3 or 4 times for it to turn off. It's so annoying and obviously affects my performance.
I initiially thought it was the pedal itself but it's not. I tried 4 different pedals, I even bought a new one. It's the keytar for sure. Maybe some soldering or something. If someone has any idea please help.

Thanks

 

[Hotkeys]

My tech changed the jack board it took over 3 months to get it from Roland

Thanks for the answer. So changing the jack board fixed the problem? I'm having the exact problem.

 

[Nano]

I have an update on this issue. No, I never took it to Roland as the turnaround time was insufferable. But I later learned that the original roland adapter that came with the keyboard was faulty. I replaced with a generic one that I bought in amazon and have not seen the issue since. Please note that this happened probably two months ago. Not sure if I'm out the woods yet, but I certainly can't see the issue any longer.
The original adapter went to the trash.

Cheers.

 

[Hotkeys]

I have been very frustrated with the same AX EDGE power issue. The supplied power supply was not working. Fresh rechargeable nimh batteries that 100% charged showed 10% right away, and the unit would shut down (low battery). I saw a post where someone opened the unit, re-seated some of the connectors and "voila" (their words) it worked. So I thought WTH, let's try.

I took out the 1,242 screws. Opened it up. Re-seated some connectors, hooked up the main power supply and . . . I'll be damned . . . "VOILA". It worked. That was 24 hours ago. Power supply works. And the batteries have been at 100% for 24 hours. I've powered the unit up 5 or so times. Each time for about 15 min. Still at 100%

Just sharing. It's worth a try. And yes . . . I have one screw missing. Of course.

 

[Hotkeys]

This is the best suggestion so far. I have a great authorized shop nearby. The tech explained that part of the jack board regulates the voltage and that could be causing the problem since it was giving trouble with the batteries or the power supply as well. Tomorrow I will take the unit to him and let you know what was his finding. I really doubt it is a software problem or a battery or power supply problem. In more inclined to think this is just a result of poor engineering or bad quality production. I will keep you updated.

 

[Nano]

This is the best suggestion so far. I have a great authorized shop nearby. The tech explained that part of the jack board regulates the voltage and that could be causing the problem since it was giving trouble with the batteries or the power supply as well. Tomorrow I will take the unit to him and let you know what was his finding. I really doubt it is a software problem or a battery or power supply problem. In more inclined to think this is just a result of poor engineering or bad quality production. I will keep you updated.

Agreed and thank u

 

[Hotkeys]

Here

Agreed and thank u

HERE IS THE FIX. I hope this help all of you. I have a certified Roland tech nearby which I consider my friend. he is kind enough to explain in detail all the process and will pass this to all of you. My tech did not change the power board. A close inspection revealed a problem with the internal contacts of the power jack. It is a special power jack, not very common. It has a small switch inside to go from batteries to wall power. In other words, When you insert the power adapter tip, there is an actual mechanical internal switch inside the power jack that opens a contact so the battery power is bypassed and the AX runs only with external power supply. When you disconnect the power supply tip then the batteries power enters again to work. the problem comes up when the tiny switch contacts becomes dirty. This is simply a design flaw of the power jack. In my case, all the power jack soldered points at the board were resoldered to eliminate the possibility of a bad contact at any older point. Most important, contact cleaner was used to clean the micro switch contacts. Spray a heavy shot of contact cleaner and insert de power tip several times and repeat as many times is necessary until the switch contacts are clean and working again. This sound very simple but sometimes the simple things are the most overlooked. I hope this helps all the frustrated guitar(ahem keytar!!)players out there. Hopefully Roland takes notes of this so they can improve their design. Have a great days people!

 

[Hotkeys]

Guys for anyone looking... I faced the same issue today at home and it was driving me nuts. I can't say that I have a specific answer to the problem but I will share what I did which somehow resolved the issue for the time being.
I tried a factory reset a few times and didn't do anything. So my next best guess was that there was some sort of internal battery that could be replaced, so I unscrewed every screw on the back and opened up the keyboard to see if I could see something. I gently tapped the board and the metal components around the AC port, nothing seemed out of place or burnt or anything so I was ready to give up and just replace everything the way it was before I lose any screws but before that I decided to just plug it in with the mother board exposed and voila... problem went away on its own. It certainly seems like some sort of hardware failure that should be looked into by the engineers of this thing because it seems that we're not alone on this, quite a few people experiencing this problem. I would ask the victims of this if they started experiencing this right away or if it's started happening over time. From what I can tell from this thread it's an "over time" issue which probably means there is a faulty component in there (maybe a capacitor or something), but now I'm talking way out of my league. I'm not an electrical engineer... just a computer engineer with a music hobby. Hope this helps somebody figure it out, and I'll certainly keep an eye on this issue because I'm pretty sure it'll happen again... s$#t just doesn't fix itself like that. Something's wrong with it.

Intermittent problem. A little late but HERE IS THE FIX. I hope this help all of you. I have a certified Roland tech nearby which I consider my friend. he is kind enough to explain in detail all the process and will pass this to all of you. My tech did not change the power board. A close inspection revealed a problem with the internal contacts of the power jack. It is a special power jack, not very common. It has a small switch inside to go from batteries to wall power. In other words, When you insert the power adapter tip, there is an actual mechanical internal switch inside the power jack that opens a contact so the battery power is bypassed and the AX runs only with external power supply. When you disconnect the power supply tip then the batteries power enters again to work. the problem comes up when the tiny switch contacts becomes dirty. This is simply a design flaw of the power jack. In my case, all the power jack soldered points at the board were resoldered to eliminate the possibility of a bad contact at any older point. Most important, contact cleaner was used to clean the micro switch contacts. Spray a heavy shot of contact cleaner and insert de power tip several times and repeat as many times is necessary until the switch contacts are clean and working again. This sound very simple but sometimes the simple things are the most overlooked. I hope this helps all the frustrated guitar(ahem keytar!!)players out there. Hopefully Roland takes notes of this so they can improve their design. Have a great days people!