i3 gift and I'm kinda stuck. FIXED (new problem though)

silmaril · Post by **silmaril** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 3:33 am

Hi everyone,

I was given an i3 a couple of years ago and because it didn't have a power cord, it sat in my closet til today.

It appears to be in good shape and the reason I'm here asking for help is that it was (I guess) originally purchased for the EU market but I'm in the USA. I looked around for the appropriate power conversion cords but I didn't trust what I was finding.

Can anyone help me find a power cord that will convert the USA 120vAC to the European AC240V, 50/60Hz, 11 watt? That will be first. I guess there is also a disk for the i3 and I also wonder about midi software and well, the age of the unit. The serial number starts in the 300's. I'm guessing it's between 5 and 7 years old, but could be older.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to getting this thing running!

Mike
USA

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 8:58 am

I don't think the i3 internal power supply is auto-switchable so you will need a step-up power transformer which will provide the correct power for the i3.
A good electrical supplies store should be able to provide you with the correct safe solution.

Cheers

Pete

Giner · Post by **Giner** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 3:53 pm

Nice gift! As regards the age, the i3 was a forerunner to the i30 which appeared c.1998. Don't let that be any impediment, though. You'll get a lot of fun mileage out of that board.

silmaril · Post by **silmaril** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 5:12 pm

karmathanever wrote:I don't think the i3 internal power supply is auto-switchable so you will need a step-up power transformer which will provide the correct power for the i3.
A good electrical supplies store should be able to provide you with the correct safe solution.

Thanks Pete. That's a good idea. Plug configuration seemed to be an issue too and Radio Shack's stock wasn't deep enough.

Giner wrote:Nice gift! As regards the age, the i3 was a forerunner to the i30 which appeared c.1998. Don't let that be any impediment, though. You'll get a lot of fun mileage out of that board.

I agree Giner. Without power, it even makes a great "brick"

Anybody have any idea what the i3 would have sold for new? It's a keeper though... my son has now started recording and I'm looking forward to seeing what this baby can do!

Thanks again,

Mike

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 12:58 am

Hi Mike

i3 sold here in Australia for around AUD$2,500 in 1988!!!
It was expensive but completely revolutionised the arranger market.

I still use my i3 styles on my PA3X - i3 had the best styles....

Cheers

Pete

silmaril · Post by **silmaril** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 1:32 am

karmathanever wrote:i3 sold here in Australia for around AUD$2,500 in 1988!!!

Hi Pete,

I'm not sure what the Aussie/Dollar exchange was in 88 but they couldn't have been that far apart.

I had heard the i3 came out in 98, but did they really come out 10 years earlier in fact?

What I have to this point is:

1) No sound from the 3.5 floppy either when the unit is turned or when a disk is inserted into the drive (I used a stethoscope)

2) Still nothing on the display when I turn it on. There's a faint backlight, so I suspect the computer is involved somehow.

Possible the battery is dead?

Thanks all,

Mike

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 2:49 am

Hi Mike

Not sure about the battery question.
It definitely did not come out in 1988!!!
It was released in 1995 actually - that is when I bought mine - see:-
http://www.korgpa.com/en/support/arrangers-history.html

I do hope you get it sorted - let me know - I have several additional styles I can send you.

About 3 weeks ago my band was doubling with a duo. The duo was very good - just female singer and keyboards.
They had a great sound with very good speakers/mixers etc...
During a break I checked out their gear and he was playing every sound and backing and MIDI through his Korg i3.
The sound quality was fantastic - had forgotten how brilliant that keyboard was.

I performed with mine quite a lot and was very happy with it.

I have my fingers crossed for you. I hope your problem is not power related.
Have you ever seen/heard it working??? I am guessing from your first post that you haven't.

Cheers

Pete

silmaril · Post by **silmaril** » Tue Apr 16, 2013 3:39 am

karmathanever wrote:I do hope you get it sorted - let me know - I have several additional styles I can send you.

I have my fingers crossed for you. I hope your problem is not power related.
Have you ever seen/heard it working??? I am guessing from your first post that you haven't.

Hi Pete,

Nope, never seen or heard it work. :/

Well, I pulled the battery out today. I'll get a new one tomorrow and see if I hopefully didn't bung something up taking it apart. The drive belt on the floppy is fine (there is no belt, it's a worm drive off an electric motor) but I still don't know if it works. One thing at a time (I do hope the battery will be a good fix - I'll absolutely let you know).

I actually downloaded some files that might enable me to reboot the i3 but I'll wait on that til the battery is done.

Cheers to you too

Mike

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 3:32 pm

Hey Mike

Howz it going with the i3?

Are you up & running yet?

Cheers

Pete

silmaril · Post by **silmaril** » Wed Apr 17, 2013 5:54 pm

karmathanever wrote:Are you up & running yet?

It blinked at me, I swear

but no sound.

1. Got a 120vAC > 240vAC step up power converter.
Got power - no display, no sound.

2. Opened the case and replaced the battery. Discovered the "contrast" knob on the back. Also discovered 3.5 floppy drive is motor driven, so no belt issue.
Got power and display, but display is dim and striped and has the error msg: "battery power low" and still no sound.

3. Replaced battery, "battery low" msg still there. Replaced fuse.
Display FAR brighter and "battery low" error is gone. Still no sound.

4. Purchased an external 3.5 floppy drive and loaded "preload" files onto a diskette which the i3's internal system was "miraculously" able to format. Tried "loading all data" - drive works for 20-30 seconds and stops. Display indicates "America" file but stops there. Still no sound.

5. Holding ARR/PLAY+EDIT STYLE while powering up gives "NO CARD" error.

I want my little monster to say "Da da..."

Mike

AdrianGin · Post by **AdrianGin** » Tue Jun 11, 2013 10:38 am

Seems like a simply 'base to ground' fix.

Just ground the Base of these NPN's and you'll have a working Korg I3! Inside look that that 'big' green cap which no other looks like in the middle of the board.

You'll see that it's connected to a pad via a 105 (1Mohm) resistor. One end of the resistor is -12V the other end is the base output. ground the base output, NOT the -12V RAIL, you can tell its the -12V rail cos the PCB track for it is large.

You can ground it to the screw hole to the right of it.

Sorry I have no photos, I can't be bothered taking it apart again... but if you post a photo of the main board I can show you.

Check out my other posts or my blog @ http://adriangin.wordpress.com/2013/06/ ... -korg-i3s/