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Vintage Synth Repair

Index last updated: 2026-04-28 23:41 UTC

Message

Re: Unreliable Moog Source

2002-08-13 by kanaguvnor

OK. Lets Try this again ;)

I dug this one up from one of the newsgroups quite a while ago that 
may be of use:

"

The cause of the "Crazy Source" problem seems to be the following:
- The power supply board is attached to the top control surface.
- The voltage regulators are mounted to the back wall of the synth.
- The sockets connecting these voltage regulators to the power supply 
  board are at located the "hinge point".

Every time the control surface is pressed, it moves the power supply 
board. Since the regulator pins and sockets corrode over time, this 
movement causes intermittent fluctuations in load resistance thus 
causing voltage drops. This inturn causes grief for the CPU and logic 
circuitry.

Note: Moog had issued technical bulletins on how to resolve this 
problem through the use of special plastic regulator holders however 
these parts are not necessary.

The easy way to repair the problem is to essentially desolder and 
remove the troublesome sockets and "extend" the voltage regulator 
leads through the now empty socket's through-holes.  Resistor leads 
or 20 to 22 awg wire make great "extensions".

Simply push the "extensions" through the pc board's through-holes and 
solder these to the legs of the corresponding regulators. Since the 
regulators are attached to the big aluminum block, soldering is easy 
and there is no need to remove the regulators. 

Steps:

1.  Open synth. (with power off and UNPLUGGED!!)

2.  Unplug all connectors to the power supply board (note their 
position and orientation)

3.  Remove two screws holding the power supply board to synth's 
control surface

4.  Remove two screws holding the power supply board and aluminum 
heat sink assembly to the synth's back panel

5.  Remove the power supply board and aluminum heat sink assembly 
from the synth (watch out for the messy heat sink compound!!)

6.  Desolder all regulator sockets.

7.  Unscrew two screws holding the power supply board to aluminum 
heat sink.

8.  Remove the regulator sockets from the power supply circuit board.

9.  Reassemble the power supply board and aluminum heat sink assembly.

10. Push wire or lead through each of the socket's through-holes and 
solder to the voltage regulator leads. Do one at a time. Don't solder 
leads to circuit board yet.

11. When all leads are soldered, inspect for poor joints, shorts, 
solder balls and solder bridges.

12. Solder "extended" leads to circuit board solder pads.

13. When all leads are soldered, inspect for poor joints, shorts and 
solder bridges.

13. Install the power supply board assembly in the synth then 
reassemble synth.

Note: The aluminum heat sink has lots of heat sink paste on it. This 
is very messy stuff.  You may wish to put wax paper or a plastic bag 
on the work surface.

If you get mixed up with the connectors P-13...P-16 They are labeled. 
Simply match the label to the silk screened text on the circuit 
board. All edge black wires for each connector are on the right hand 
side. (Missing pins on the sockect match missing wires on the 
connector)

"


Hope this helps!!!

Guvnor




--- In vintagesynthrepair@y..., "einarekstrom" <einarekstrom@y...> 
wrote:
> Hi "Kanaguvnor",
> 
> It seems you tried to reply to my post, but your reply only 
contained
>  my original message, strange...
> Well, Kanaguvnor (or anyone else for that matter), please try to 
reply
> again if you had some thoughts of the subject.
> 
> Einar
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --- In vintagesynthrepair@y..., "kanaguvnor" <guvnor@r...> wrote:
> > --- In vintagesynthrepair@y..., "einarekstrom" 
<einarekstrom@y...> 
> > wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > > 
> > > I recently purchased a Moog Source from the US, which I now got 
> > > rewired for 240V(thanks to Peter M. Blacket for the 
schematics!). 
> > To 
> > > my relief the membrane switch panel seems to be intact, but 
there's 
> > > another annoying problem: 
> > > 
> > > When I turn it on it's working fine for about 10-15 minutes, 
> > > suddenly the keyboard goes crazy. It keeps playing the wrong 
notes 
> > > from the wrong keys, and sometimes it can re-trigger the 
envelopes 
> > > several times while pressing a key. Funnily this doesn't seem 
to 
> > > affect the lowest octave. Sometimes it may start to work 
properly 
> > > again after a couple of minutes. 
> > > 
> > > I wonder if this has something to do with the power supply 
> > > generating heat, after a while it gets so hot that i almost 
burn my 
> > > fingers on the back panel.
> > > 
> > > Please reply if anybody has a clue what may be the cause(and 
cure) 
> > > of this problem. Somehow I got the feeling this is not the 
> > > famous "crazy source" syndrome, since it looks like the 
previous 
> > > owner did something to the digital regulators on the PSU board.
> > > 
> > > Thanks in advance,
> > > Einar Ekstrom

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