Electronics engineer in the UK?

[Girru]

Yo.

Just bought a Yamaha QY20 for doing my basslines (and having fun mucking about with when not doing samplin' biznezz). Took a chance on it as it was cheap and listed as "untested" (uh-huh...) and, alas, it ain't working. Looked into it and it appears to be a common fault...

Apparently I need to replace the internal battery, 4x small capacitors and 1x IC, but I don't rate my soldering skillz enough for surface mount/small PCB biznezz, so I'm looking for someone more capable.

Anyone know of anyone handy with such things in the UK? I have a PDF of the service manual, component lists etc...

Big ups!

[SP-USER]

I own a proper solder and reflow station but I'm unable to access it due to circumstances beyond my control. Out of curiosity though, what on earth is wrong with it to need all that attention?

I mean you even mentioned an "IC". Unless it's a very generic non-Yamaha specific IC, you likely won't find another without cannibalising another unit anyway cause those QYs are quite old units now, decades old.

What actually is wrong with it?

[Girru]

DOA, only one light on, no screen. As I say, apparently it's a common faut with these. It is a generic part with a modern equivalent, some kind of dc/dc transformer (max680?).

Thruhole I can do. Surface mount I don't fucwit.

[SP-USER]

Exactly, and unless it's something you do all the time and you have VERY steady hands I would not even contemplate doing surface mount.

Since you're a YouTuber though, here's a suggestion (a crazy but good one). Go searching for videos on YouTube on how to repair VHS machines and stuff like that. This is how you will find those people in the hobby who shut-up shop. See which of them have fairly consistent channels, and listen to them. If they sound competent and are based in the UK (which you will know by their accent), just send them a message and tell them it's a common fault, that you have the service manual, that it's easily fixed and that the parts are readily available.

I think you'll find those electronics dudes are very approachable and I can't imagine it would be too hard to find someone who'll help you out. Any excuse to fuck around with this stuff excites them, and it's highly likely they enjoy soldering as much as you enjoy twiddling your pitch knob!

So maybe try that, treat 'em with respect and you'll prolly even make a friend who might help you out further down the line if something way more expensive breaks. Perhaps another way to tempt them would be to point out the popularity of the product and that making a video of the repair would surely be of interest to others due to it being a common problem with that specific device. That way you even get to see your device being repaired when he uploads the repair video.

Here's a rather clever dude who's videos I really enjoy, he's called 'CoolDudeClem'. Take a look at his channel and you'll see that he does all sorts of stuff that interest people like us, he even makes his own tape recorders from scratch so I'm guessing your issue would be an absolute piece of cake for this dude.

I really like Clem and share lot of his views on life, he's a top bloke
https://www.youtube.com/c/CoolDudeClem/videos

He's UK based as well, so you never know, just send him a private message!

[SP-USER]

Was just catching up with some of his videos and, lol, perhaps you should watch this one and then decide whether to contact him or not. I mention this one cause although he debunks that shitty Chinese design after a quick WTF, he also mentions the devil that is "Surface Mount" on more than one occassion!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfAknQ87SUc

But yeah, love this dude's videos and how he always makes do with whatever he has to hand.
Just typical Clem really!

[SP-USER]

Just curious how you got on, did you try Clem or manage to find anyone else to fix it?

[Girru]

Not yet. Not a priority but will do at some point.

[SP-USER]

If you find someone who agrees to do a video, let us know cause I wanna watch it!

[gis_sweden]

I have 2 QY10
Both works just fine. Never replaced any internal batterys.
How do you know you have to change caps etc?

[Girru]

I had a QY10 the last time I tried to get jiggy wit' SPs, in Feb. I really liked it apart from 2 things I didn't realised before I bought it - the keyboard is monophonic and it didn't have decimal point BPM. As usual, I wish I'd kept it coz it would actualy do me very well now. It was one previously owned by 808 State too!

There's loads online about dead QY20s and that usually being the fault. The internal battery looks fine but it's worth changing anyway, of course. The IC/caps are to do with power distribution or summat.