Share your knowledge on these two classic MPCs
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By Wal Martian Wed Mar 16, 2016 9:37 pm
Hey guys I've mostly used the 2K until recently this year I got my first 3K with internal zip and OS 3.11. She worked great at first, until recently I opened her up to install a new backlight. When I opened the case I noticed there is a metal spacer stand with felt on top next to the zip drive which was bent all the way down. I bent it back into position, installed the light and closed it up. Since that I noticed alot of lag with the basic operation of the unit (scrolling to add tracks, rec+play start, arrow keys etc.) all had a half second lag which was not there before. I assumed this was because the metal piece was too tall and adding pressure to the top plate and maybe causing the problem. I opened it back up and bent the metal thing back down, but it's still lagging. I have video of me using it before the backlight install and I just tap the rec+play start and the metronome clicks instantly. Now there is lag as if the play all tact switch and all my arrow keys are failing, it's very frustrating. Anyone ran into this issue before?
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By Lampdog Wed Mar 16, 2016 9:53 pm
Are you able to place the old backlight in again and see if there is lag?
If no, then it could be the specs of the new backlight don't jive well with the machine.
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By Wal Martian Wed Mar 16, 2016 10:01 pm
I cut out the old wire and the new one was a kit that just fits on top of the old one. I could desolder the new one and see if that changes anything. It was a joy to use before now I feel like I'm jamming the keys and pressing stuff twice to get it to work.
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By Lampdog Wed Mar 16, 2016 10:15 pm
Aww man, I was hoping you didn't destroy or semi destroy anything in the process. If you
possibly can, do that and see if everything returns to normal. If it does then it may well be that backlight.
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By richie Thu Mar 17, 2016 4:09 am
Can't you just disconnect the backlight sheet from the inverter and see if it's still lagging out?

It shouldn't require actual desoldering. Hell, you could even slide out the sheet while you're at it.
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By Wal Martian Thu Mar 17, 2016 2:49 pm
I opened it up last night and did some cable management, made sure all the ribbon cables were secure and there were no snags. I removed the bent over metal bracket completely and it was actually pushing on one of the ribbon cables. I cleaned and reseated the RAM and sprayed deoxit in a few tact switches. I left the new backlight in for now but I think I damaged it in the process because there are two dark spots on the screen. Closed it up and it seems to be back to normal. There is a slight lag when scrolling between MIDI outputs A, B, C and D but I think that is normal. Play start is a bit gummy so that tact might be starting to fail. I don't want to open it up any more than I have to, I might upgrade to the LED lit screen and a card reader in the future.
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By Lampdog Thu Mar 17, 2016 3:21 pm
Dark spots might be where something at some point put pressure on the screen.
Sorry to hear that man.
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By Wal Martian Thu Mar 17, 2016 4:00 pm
I opened the screen again just to remove some dust that was in there, it may have been the magnetic tip of my screwdriver that made the two dark spots. They're really small and don't affect the function of the machine so it's okay for now. Just waiting for the repro LED screens to come down in price.
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By davehate Sun Jun 12, 2016 6:31 am
Dude, bypass all the inverter bs and get a lcd screen ,so much nicer on the eyes and no headaches with backlight and inverter.

I have a stock (perfect condition) 3000 screen available if anyone's interested.
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By Wal Martian Fri Jun 24, 2016 3:09 pm
Alright so I have solved 90% of the issues with my MPC3000. Here's what happened:

The first time I opened it up, I bent that little angled metal stand with the felt on top back into position, this was a mistake. :oops: After installing, the brand new backlight was intermittent so I opened it back up for the second time. What happened was the metal stand off thing which is a factory part from Akai got hooked on the small brownish circuit board under the pad sensor enclosure. The lid got kinda stuck while opening, but I forced it like an idiot and didn't think anything of it. :hmmm: That is when the lag started and when the back light would cut in and out when I moved the MIDI out cables, and here's why:
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As you can see I cracked the circuit board while opening the lid! :WTF: The crack ran over about 8 traces, but they were still connected for a while. I was still able to make beats and use the MPC but there was still the odd lag when jumping around with the arrow buttons and turning the data encoder. Fast forward a few weeks I get my new Vailixi 3.5 Eproms and I install them. After I closed it back up my right sample input stopped working and none of my pads worked. This is why:
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The crack formed a small chip which was now lifted and two of the traces were disconnected. I didn't see the crack because it was on the side facing the case. I was able to bend the board and push the small chip back down into place, but the crack was still an issue. Since these circuit boards are no longer produced, I had to fix the one I have by stopping the crack from progressing and soldering in new wires to bypass the broken traces. The first step was to drill a a hole at the end of the crack like you do a cracked cymbal or windshield.
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You can see two small holes I drilled with a dremel at the tip of the crack. The hope is this will stop the crack from progressing from bashing the pads too hard or while the MPC gets moved.
Next step was to solder in wires to bypass or jump the 8 cracked traces. Pretty fine soldering job, so I got a friend to help me.
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I booted her up and the lag is gone :-D the right sample input works, pad selection works in the mixer screen, and the blacklight lights. The difference in the responsiveness is staggering, I'm surprised I was still able to make a few beats with the board cracked like that. The only issue now is my pads are not triggering assigned sounds. I can play samples with the soft keys. or my midi keyboards. I can use step edit to sequence sounds but hitting the pad in the main screen or sound assign screen does not play. Going to keep working on it, I can still do everything I need to with my MIDI keyboard for now.
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By SEMS Tue Jun 28, 2016 8:52 am
Ah man what a ordeal. Glad you're on the road to getting it fixed though. I thought about getting a fixer-upper myself but I don't have the time to sort out things like this, so I wound up paying a little premium. But keep at it bro, pretty soon you'll have her back in top condition ;)
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By Wal Martian Tue Jun 28, 2016 3:53 pm
All these problems caused by the little metal stand I bent back into place. I spoke with Forat and he said he's seen this exact thing, more than once. This photo shows the stand off and where it hooks on to the circuit board. Hopefully this thread helps someone avoid damaging their 3K. Sometimes with 20+ year old gear you pay to learn a lesson, luckily I got this one for a pretty good price.
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