MD won't start up - tricky situation

Elektron Gear Machinedrum
#1

Hello, this is my first post here. I’m in a really difficult situation with a MD MKII UW+ I bought a week ago.

In short, it doesn’t start up. It hangs on the Elektron logo (or sometimes a blank screen), with garbled text on the screen. And it’s done this from the very first time I started it up.

I’m able to access the MD MENU by holding FUNCTION on startup, but exiting doesn’t work. Factory / Empty Reset also doesn’t work. And I don’t want to try an OS install yet for fear of messing it up further.

I have seen it turn on successfully once - but I wasn’t doing anything differently.

Here is a quick video I made showing the issue: https://youtu.be/mDvB5D7Tsy8

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So, I contacted the seller, thinking that I should be able to return it considering it’s DOA, but he tells me it was fine when he had it. The photo on the eBay listing also showed it was working. I also have reason to believe he owns a lot of gear, and judging by the fantastic condition this machine is in, he takes great care of it.

I start to realise there’s no way to prove I didn’t do something to it while I had it, but then again there’s no way to prove he didn’t do something to it before I collected it.

In any case, he recommended contacting Elektron, so I sent off a ticket earlier this week describing the issue. I mentioned in my ticket that I would prefer to not send this in for repair if at all possible, because there’s no clear blame it could get messy when it comes to who pays for that.

I haven’t heard back from Elektron yet, and in the meantime I’ve seen some stories about them taking a very long time to get back, especially in the holiday season. It made me question whether I should really be dealing with this, as from my perspective I just sunk £1k+ into a machine, collected it directly, carefully walked back with it (no bumps or anything like that), set it down and it doesn’t work. And now I could be facing a lengthy time waiting for support. Not to mention that if I don’t send it off for repair, I would need to perform fixes myself - and I probably couldn’t return it anymore at that point. But at the same time I totally understand his perspective of having sold something in great condition and hearing it’s DOA - it must seem really suspicious.

I would try some of the fixes I’ve seen on this forum - like changing the battery, or resitting the internal power connections - but again if I do that then I may be eliminating the chance of returning it, especially from eBay’s perpsective, and especially if I mess something up.

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So needless to say I think I need some input… Perhaps I’m not thinking this through right. I don’t have much experience buying / selling used gear and it’s stressing me out.

I really really should have asked to see it working before I took it home, but since this was eBay and not craigslist / Gumtree, I just thought that if there’s something wrong with it I at least have protections. I’ll be doing that for everything I collect from now on.

Sorry to panic post. What do you guys think? That is, about the MD issue, how it could have happened, and any advice about what the best action is going forward…

Thank you

#2

Dependind of your level in repairing/opening electronics things, You could try to ppened it and plug and unplug all the cables, i definitely remember it help some people in the past (contact corrosion or bad plug)

3 Likes
#3

I had the stuck on electron logo with my machinedrum due to a broken power supply…

1 Like
#4

I have been in a very similar situation with a MD. Long story short, it was a private sale, sent badly packaged, and it was broken on arrival. Seller wasn’t willing to refund at all, I didn’t have a leg to stand on really due it being a private sale, but they managed to get shipping insurance to pay out in the end and refunded me. Wouldn’t go with a private sale again for high value stuff due to that experience.

My advice would be:

  1. Document everything and see if you can claim a refund through eBay before doing anything else - I realise that feels kind of sucky to do this when you do not suspect the guy of dishonesty, but really that’s what the protection is there for. If it’s a simple fix, then the seller can get that fixed himself. If something more serious is wrong, then it’s fair to assume that it might have been going wrong before he sold it, even if it wasn’t showing symptoms so he wasn’t aware, so I don’t think you don’t need to feel too bad. However, I am not sure if eBay/Paypal cover you for goods collected rather than delivered, so this might not work out.

  2. If this is not possible, it may be a simple job of reseating the cable, this is quite a common issue I believe. However, if you are not experienced in repairing stuff, I would advise getting a professional to do it. The MD is reasonably complicated inside, and you could easily make it worse. If you know someone local, you could first get them to take a look for simple fixes before shipping it back to Elektron.

  3. If not, Elektron should be able to help you as it’s a Mk2 model (they do not service mk1 any more I believe). You’ll need to pay for the shipping back to Sweden in addition to parts and labour.

Good luck, I know what a horrible situation it is, but you should stand up for your rights as a buyer here and try to take advantage of the protection the platform you bought through gives. Hope it works out!

1 Like
#5

I fixed my monomachine like this, it’s basically just to get rid of the oxide. It’s definitely worth trying if you’re comfortable with opening it, @jnek0000

3 Likes
#6
  1. Document everything and see if you can claim a refund through eBay before doing anything else - I realise that feels kind of sucky to do this when you do not suspect the guy of dishonesty, but really that’s what the protection is there for. If it’s a simple fix, then the seller can get that fixed himself. If something more serious is wrong, then it’s fair to assume that it might have been going wrong before he sold it, even if it wasn’t showing symptoms so he wasn’t aware, so I don’t think you don’t need to feel too bad.

I really appreciate this advice. I’m very reluctant to try and fix it myself as I know doing that might void this entire option.

I’ll give it some more thought, but I’m leaning toward opening a case on eBay. It feels bad because I’m almost certain the seller isn’t at fault, but neither am I, and I’m just the buyer. :frowning:

As I’m just writing this, I got a reply from Elektron with the suggestion to re-sit the internal connections, and an invitation to send it to them. So at least that’s an official suggestion I can forward on.

I suppose if it’s a small fix he wants to try then he can do that and I’ll take it back, or I’d be fine with a full return. Unfortunately as a music student I just don’t have the time or resources to be handling it…

1 Like
#7

Just echoing what @andreash said. Have a look here for details:

5 Likes
#8

Exactly, I know it feels bad to do so, but if you are certain you have been 100% careful with it then it can’t really be your fault, so unfortunately it falls on the seller to deal with that. That is why you pay the eBay premium. For sellers, it is one of the risks of selling gear on eBay. One learning from my experience was to take photos/videos of everything working before posting if I do ever sell anything, in case of this scenario, though I believe eBay rarely side with the seller anyway.

I guess you might want to explain to the seller why you are going to open a case, so as to create as little bad feeling as possible.

1 Like
#9

BTW from the eBay UK site

Items collected in person are still covered by eBay Money Back Guarantee if paid for with PayPal, however eBay Money Back Guarantee does not cover cash on collection transactions, or transactions where the item was not collected by the buyer.

So you should be covered if you paid Paypal

1 Like
#10

Hey,

Exactly same problem

#11

This is exactly the issue I describe in this thread. I would try the DeOxit approach I outline there.

#12

i would definitely try reseating all the internal cables since the problem seems to have developed during shipping. changing the battery might be worth a shot too.