Roland PG-800

I finally bought one!
My JX-8P has found its mate! :)

Sorry about the crappy flash reflection

Roland JX-8P finally working

JX-8P is working!(for real)

In my previous post I wrote about replacing the rectifiers.
So, I removed the two. One is for the +/- 15V, one is for the +5V.
I'm no expert, but I'd say one of these is in less than perfect condition...

That right one... Hmm.....

JX-8P +5V supply goes crazy

The +5V looks OK most of the time...

... but sometimes... it looks like this:

Nice +5V voltage! No wonder it crashes...

What the .. !?

Nope, JX-8P still crashes...

Damn it! Still crashes!

It's a lot more rare now than it was a couple of years ago, before I tucked it away.
But still, something's wrong with it. Maybe I'll try to replace the voltage regulators and recap the PSU.
Some of the buttons are a bit difficult to get to trigger as well. That can wait though...

Blah...

JX-8P is working?

I finally opened this one up and took a look inside.
The PSU voltages looked fine on the oscilloscope and I couldn't see anything obviously wrong there.
I still experienced some resets/crashes but they seem completely random.

Roland JX-8P

(Photo taken for an offer for the fantastic VST-instrument Zebra. Check out the dinosaur crossgrade.)
I picked it up some 100km from where I live after seeing it in an ad some time around 2001 I think.
It has some really nice pads and other nice sounds as well, but the thing I remember most when I think about it is how you are tortured with that awful "Piano 1" preset every time you switch it on. It's an instant inspiration killer.

Anyway, that's not really a problem anymore.
About a year ago when I was using it it just froze and the display got stuck. Nothing responded. "Odd.." I thought. So I restarted it and it failed straight away. I switched it off and let it rest for a while and then tried. Sure, the startup succeeded and I could get a few notes from it before it froze again. So, it's dead.

Now I'm not an expert in synthesizer repairs but it does seem symptoms like this indicate something is over heating. Everything seems to be working so I don't think anything is fried dead. Maybe something with the power supply, like one of the voltage regulators.
I'll have to open it up and take a look at it soon. It could be really simple to fix, and if that's the case I'll be really happy :)

As of now, it's just standing on its side in the wardrobe...