Micro BR may be pushing up daisies :(

[ur2qt2b4got10]

Hey all,

This is a sad, sad day  .  I bought a Micro BR from someone in town, and it seemed to work well enough on batteries when he demo'd it for me.  It chewed through fresh batteries like me on a carrot cake, 20 mins and it's done!

I bought a PSA 120 AC adapter and plugged 'er in, and all I get is the screen going 'all on', as in every pixel lights up until I can't see anything.  Batteries now are always reading 1 bar or less and it keeps shutting down, even with new batteries in there. 

Long story short, from your experiences, is it dead?  Can it be saved (is it even worth the cost) or should I be looking for another one...

Any help is appreciated, I don't want to waste money or time on it if it is dead, I just want to stop worrying and get on with recording asap!

[Geir]

Sorry to say this, but fresh batteries should last for hours. At least 3-4. Tho I have opened mine up, I can't really give you any good advice. If you can return it, do it and get another one!! If that's not an option you could open it and see if there is some something short-circuiting the print near the power/battery inlet.

If you decide to open it, there's pictures and description on this site on how to do it. (I'll post a link later)

[Geir]

Here's the pictures I posted.
https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=7394.msg95965#msg95965

And here's Launched's detailed instructions, with pictures.
https://songcrafters.org/community/index.php?topic=4676.msg57289#msg57289

[64Guitars]

If you bought your Micro BR second-hand, it's possible that you've been cheated. Many users have fried their Micro BR by using the wrong power adapter. The original owner may have done this, then sold it to you by demonstrating that it works on batteries (if only for 20 minutes).

When you say that you bought a PSA-120 adapter, I assume that it's a BOSS PSA-120 and not some other brand that's supposedly compatible. It's very important to use the right adapter with the Micro BR. Otherwise, it's easily fried. If the power section of your Micro BR has already been fried, that could very well affect battery life.

[ur2qt2b4got10]

Oooohhhhh, Thank you so much!

Guys I really appreciate the info and the photos are invaluable.  Sometimes with a tightly seamed unit like this, you never know if there are tiny leads that are placed in such a way that they are begging to be snapped if a DIYer opens it up.  Now I can go in and take a look without worry of destroying it completely!

Here's to taking shtuff apart and hopefully putting it back together with no 'extra' pieces

[Spiritsong]

Was a conclusion made?

I also picked up a second hand MBR, and the batteries don't last all that long either.
I started using rechargeables and that helped a bunch.
The batteries last long enough for me to get done what I need, but I guess now I'll always wonder if it has this power supply problem? I'm not planning to get an adapter, as I have a bunch of rechargeable batteries on hand.

In my research, a good number of people complained of rapid battery drainage, so I thought it was the nature of the beast. Oh well, for $60.00 I could not pass it up. If it dies, I'd go ahead and plan to get a new unit.

[peterp]

The price on the MBR's has been falling, in Canada L&M was unloading them in their January sales in around the 160$cdn range.

Maybe something new and unanounced in the works from Roland, same thing happened with the br600 just before the br800 was announced. .

[64Guitars]

New models are usually announced at the major trade shows. So, if there is something new coming this year, we should hear about it from one of these:

• Musikmesse - Frankfurt - April 6 - 9
• Summer NAMM - Nashville - July 21 - 23
• Winter NAMM - Anaheim, California - Jan 19, 2012 - Jan 22, 2012

[Greeny]

Don't get me all excited. A new, enhanced MBR with expanded rhythm tracks (not just 4/4 patterns) and new patches.... ? Holy crap. I'll throw a party if they release something like that, and you're all invited! Lol

Well, I can dream.... !

[peterp]

I'd be happy with one that took modern (and easily available) sdhc cards and lasted many hours on a set of batteries!

and had a amoled touch screen and built in wifi and more concurrent tracks and more patches and.........