VOGONS


Roland ra-50 repair

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First post, by sydres

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Recently I acquired a Roland ra-50 at a good price it was sold as is but it obviously isn't working so I need some advice on repairs!
When you power up the unit the screen would barely light up flickering. I had plugged it into my sound system and it immediately starts outputting scrambled up tones.
I opened up the unit to look for blown components. One 4700 uf capacitor in the power section appeared to either be leaking or glued to be safe I replaced it with a Panasonic capacitor. I also scrubbed the gunk away with isopropanol thinking it was shorting the close components. And replaced the battery.
After putting it back together the screen is brighter but still flickering and it still outputs the scrambled up tones.
What would the next step be?

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Reply 1 of 5, by sydres

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It would seem that the power cord I was using for my other Roland unit an RA-30 was insufficient power so I had ordered an upgrade and now the ra-50 is working perfectly. So if anyone is having issues with their unit try a more powerful supply

Reply 2 of 5, by Spikey

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It could have been polarity too, the RA-30 is actually a later model based on the Sound Canvas.

Reply 3 of 5, by sydres

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I double checked that both are negative center before plugging it in. The cord I have for the ra-30 outputs 600ma but I don't think it's even putting out that much as old as the cord is. The RA-50 calls for 800ma.

Reply 4 of 5, by Spikey

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Ah, well being short obviously isn't good. Glad you got it sorted!

Reply 5 of 5, by sydres

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Yes sir! She runs great now but I had to make a label to remember how to put it into mt-32 mode 🤔.