MX & SX chip Fuse Repair - DIY

novaTRON · Post by **novaTRON** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:42 am

welcome to novaTRON's DIY online manual for replacing the fuse on an EMX-1 or ESX-1!!!

step one, take the MX/SX apart, exposing this:

step two, find the fuse location:
in the image we see the main board of an EMX-1 (THIS ALL APPLIES TO the ESX-1 as well)
there are 8 capacitors that are all same size- silver with a blue outer ring and a slash, drawn in pen.
something like this-
.. O
.OOOO
.. OOO

now then,
there is a single, smaller capacitor that is below these 8 larger ones

.. O
.OOOO
.. OOO
......o <ok...right there!
now, to the left of and directly next to this smaller one, is where the fuse lives

looky there, it says 'fuse1' right on the circut board.
final step: install fuse . use a 1.5A chip fuse (surface mount)

or bypass the fuse altogether!
in the image displayed you can see 2 gobs of solder where a wire was installed, to bypass where a fuse once lived. yes- no fuse in my MX!
it's been like that for over 3 years used (and abused) everyday, traveled on many flights (not carry on) played in the the direct sun many times and just generally put to the test.
but, you may not want to risk that, if not just put in a 1.5er

novaTRON · Post by **novaTRON** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:43 am

this will also be the same on an ESX

novaTRON · Post by **novaTRON** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 4:53 am

korg originally installed .75A fuses in these units, then later,
once discovered that they were blowning out to easily started
installing 1.5A fuses.

you can have your's upgraded and korg will pay for the repair.

(only speaking for the usa)

for more info look here
http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/ ... hp?t=19931

novaTRON · Post by **novaTRON** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 2:50 am

Anyone here ever use this info???

Ruso · Post by **Ruso** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 8:21 pm

yes sir, I had to replace a fuse on my EMX. I was circuit bending it and accidentally pressed a screwdriver on the main cpu which made the fuse go out. It's fine and dandy now.

stevenclements · Post by **stevenclements** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:16 pm

Nova thanks for the post, it's very helpful.

I rotated your photo for you

novaTRON · Post by **novaTRON** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:17 pm

stevenclements wrote:

Nova thanks for the post, it's very helpful.

I rotated your photo for you

YA...and you added an arrow, you old dog. you're welcome.
i just noticed the rotate photo option in photobucket. hello? i didn't notice if they had an add arrow option ; )
yep, i think this guide is really starting to shape up.

so did you get yours fixed yet?

shadowbunny · Post by **shadowbunny** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 5:22 pm

Luckily I haven't had to do this but it's good to have the info around. Thanks a bunch

Ton Maison · Post by **Ton Maison** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 6:08 pm

M8, you absolutely saved my arse! I am doing this repair [clandestine] from a hospital bed [no O2 present in the room, at least I hope so.] Thanks for the tech support!

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zurikiser · Post by **zurikiser** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 6:12 pm

I didnt get how to bypass the fuse. What you do?

Ruso · Post by **Ruso** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 9:20 pm

replace it with a wire.

zurikiser · Post by **zurikiser** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:24 pm

Ok..that didnt help much. I probably shouldnt go DIY on this one. Can you be more specific?

Ruso · Post by **Ruso** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:36 am

you have to find the fuse that is located in that picture.... then you have to either unsolder it and solder a new one on.... or you have to solder a wire from one terminal to the other.

The fuse has one terminal on each side, soldering a wire to connect them will effectively bypass it.

This assumes you know how to handle a soldering iron with high precision, know how to strip and lead a tiny wire (about 1/4 inch long) neatly, and solder it to the two terminals. The fuse is tiny, it's maybe like 1/8 inch by 1/16th of an inch.

Also to get to the fuse requires some dexterity because there are several wires connecting the io board to the main board and also the ribbon which you have to disconnect carefully. Also it's very easy to damage those wires.

You should also keep note that if you open the io board(what the buttons and knobs are on) you absolutely can't touch the clean metallic shiny areas because those are contacts and getting oil on them from your skin will cause them to get damaged and less responsive. If you get for example soldering compound on them(the stuff that lets the tin/lead adhere to the metal easier) they will no longer work until you open it up again and clean it with rubbing alcohol.

It's a relatively simple procedure if you know what you're doing, however if you have never soldered before, or if you're good at taking lots of little parts apart but not putting them back together, I suggest you do not attempt this

If you want the fuse to be at least a tiny bit functional, you can bypass it with a single strand(a single metal hair) from a wire. It should be enough to make it work again, but if it burns out keep adding single strands until it holds without burning. This way you have a functioning fuse still in case something goes wrong.

Here's a silly diagram The purple arrow shows where the fuse is relative to other components, and the red arrow shows where to put a wire.
http://audio-ruso.com/Untitled-3.jpg

zurikiser · Post by **zurikiser** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 7:37 pm

Thanks for the help Ruso

plosive · Post by **plosive** » Sun May 23, 2010 3:04 pm

Thanks for the help novaTron