Boss BR-900 fails to power-up - repair or replace (recommendations please)

Powerslave · March 2018

Hi

My Boss BR-900CD - one of my longest-serving pieces of gear - appears to have finally given up on me after near-daily use for 10 years

It has been nailed to its perch for some time now, I suspect. Running on mains using the original Boss adapter, it had to be power-cycled several times before it would operate fully (LCD would flicker, CD would try to spin up, and then it would prompt me to "Power Down" - repeat a few times, and you'd be good to go).

Now, it doesn't flicker at all - no power, no output, nothing.

So, the dilemma - try and get it repaired, or buy a replacement?

I rarely use it for recording these days, but it's nice to have the option. However, any recording is limited to putting down something to play over at home only (a chord sequence for soloing, etc).

For the most part, it's main use is for the built-in drum patterns which I use to practice songs to (building the tempo for new songs I'm covering, etc). Even then, I only use two patterns - one for straight 4's, one for a swung pattern (at varying tempos).

I don't particularly want to fork-out several hundred quid for a full replacement when I'm only using it for two drum patterns, so any recommendations on a low-cost alternative (I have a digital click-click metronome for the meantime, but I can't cope with that on a long-term basis)?

Or, has anyone had similar experience with a BR-900 and care to offer a potential fix? I can imagine that only one small part may have failed but having someone diagnose and replace that may prove relatively expensive (and, sadly, it's not work which I'd undertake myself). I work with folk who could probably undertake the fix for me, but they might not want to spend a few hours on a diagnosis.

Thanks in advance!

Powerslave · March 2018

Just by way of update . . .

Never tried on batteries (6xAA) and thought I would . . .

Powers up!

So, potentially a dicky adapter - or (seems more likely to me) - a faulty component or two around the mains input part of the circuit (which ties-in with one video I came across on YT where a guy was soldering a replacement component and cites Internet chit-chat that it was a component that commonly fails).

Don't think I'd want to live on batteries full-time, but maybe makes a repair option more viable.

Anyone had similar with a Boss BR-900?

Ta!

Keefy · March 2018

If the thought of opening up the gadget and fault-finding tiny components is too daunting, you could always solder an in-line power connector to the first and last battery terminals.

Powerslave · March 2018

@Keefy - thanks, will look into that.

Ironically, I do work with guys who are more than capable of dealing with this box of components. However, I'd like to be able to give them something to go on (narrowing down possible fault, common failings) as I don't think any of them would want to devote the time to starting from scratch.

At least I know that the unit itself does "work" and that I'm not necessarily throwing money away pursuing a fix.

Funkfingers · March 2018

Powerslave said:
Anyone had similar with a Boss BR-900?

No but there are numerous Roland/BOSS hi-tech products that rely on the AA cells to sustain a memory of patch data and settings [delete as appropriate]. Your machine could have been shutting itself down as a failsafe tactic to avoid loosing stored parameters.

Arguably, the LCD should have shown a message explaining that it was doing exactly that.

Powerslave · March 2018

The unit has never had batteries installed until today, but I guess it's possible that their is an internal battery maintaining an area of volatile memory.

Funkfingers · March 2018

Volatile data could be stored per Project. The obvious place to save that would be on the removable media.

Powerslave said:

near-daily use for 10 years

Er, how old is your removable media storage card?

Powerslave · March 2018

Funkfingers said:

Volatile data could be stored per Project. The obvious place to save that would be on the removable media.

Powerslave said:

near-daily use for 10 years

Er, how old is your removable media storage card?

The original is still knocking about, but I bought a few and they have been in rotation (so, <= 10 years).

That is, of course, something to look into but my gut instinct suggests something in and around the "power in" stage of the circuit.

Always wise to keep an open-mind, though.

Powerslave · March 2018

Should anyone find themselves in a similar position, it turned out to be the power supply - the original Boss unit PSC-230E had failed.

It's not entirely obvious, but the "official" replacement unit is Roland's PSB1U Power Adapter + Fig.8 Lead (also packaged as PSB-230) available from, for example, Strings Direct.

Covers a multitude of (legacy) Boss and Roland gear.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

Boss BR-900 fails to power-up - repair or replace (recommendations please)

Comments