Digitakt hardware repair (pics inside)

Elektron Gear Digitakt
1

Hey Elektronauts,

I recently repaired a Digitakt that was out of warranty and would not power on.

The VIN rail was shorted to GND in the analog power supply, the culprit was a faulty/cracked filter cap just before the flyback converter (LT3575):

IMG_0246
IMG_0246.jpeg1575Ă—2100 603 KB

I also removed the protection diode (D5) near the input as i suspected it was faulty as well:

IMG_0245
IMG_0245.jpg1575Ă—2100 655 KB

The machine now powers back on and works fine, albeit with less filtering on the analog power supply and a missing protection diode:

IMG_0370
IMG_0370.jpg4032Ă—3024 2.47 MB

Any Elektronauts know the values of the parts so i can try to replace them, or are in possession of a Service Manual that can help me out? Would love to get this puppy back to 100% original!

Cheers and keep on rockin’!
nudge

5 Likes
3

How can a DT be out of warranty already? 3y, iirc.

Good repair though. SMDs are pita to get in place :sweat_smile:

4 Likes
4

Good advice @Jukka, will contact support and ask.
@Augenadler, lol no idea, the owner said it was out of warranty, shrugs :man_shrugging:

1 Like
5

Good work, probably caused by incorrect PSU?

Definitely contact support to check what the parts are.

It also looks like one of the inductors/chokes has been damaged? The one that is discoloured in the second pic.

Cap is probably either 1uf or more likely 100nf, D5 is probably a 5v Zener but best to confirm with support.

6

So i got in contact with Elektron support and they were super helpful, they even looped in one of their hardware engineers! Hats off :slight_smile: Parts are ordered and the fix should be straightforward.

The diode is a schottky diode (for reverse bias protection), and the cap value is 22uF. I tested the diode out of circuit and it was actually within spec. The inductor is fine also, not sure that the discolouration was but it wasn’t there when i looked again.

Thanks again for your advices!

4 Likes
7

oof, the cap was probably faulty from the source…

Ceramic caps like that have had a bit of a worldwide shortage the past few years; I bet it’s caused some scavenging and sourcing of sub-par components (e.g. ones that have been mishandled and cracked). (mind you, could be at any stage of the sourcing chain, not Elektron’s fault)

Could be worse; the Elektron power supplies are fairly low power. These caps often fail short, which can be dramatic across a 300+ watt power supply.