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MINITAUR EURORACK CONVERSION KIT

DIY GUIDE also includes expander.

Summary of Contents for MINITAUR

Page 1: ...MINITAUR EURORACK CONVERSION KIT DIY GUIDE also includes expander ...

Page 2: ...O REMEMBER AS YOU GO THROUGH THIS KIT Please realize I have performed this modification on at least three dozen Minitaurs I have tried to design this re engineering procedure to make it as painless as possible It however is not pain free Please review this ENTIRE manual FIRST Once familiar you may decide you want to go your own way on a couple of steps This is ok and I fully encourage you to do so...

Page 3: ...tandoffs I would have included the two part epoxy but shipping regulations do not permit this Make sure it is a two part epoxy glue you use You can get this at your local hardware store DO NOT USE SUPER GLUE DO NOT USE HOT GLUE Power Cable Adhesive Block 6 Mono Jacks 1 Stereo Jack Copper Wire Colored Wires Stand Offs w screws Power Board Vinyl shorting stickers Serial Sticker Phillips Screwdriver ...

Page 4: ...into a plastic bag for safe keeping Step 1 Step 1 Remove plastic nuts from jacks on back While you are here also remove the tiny screws holding the MIDI connector Take a piece of tape and slide under the knob and use a screwdriver to slightly lift the knob This will give you space to use your fingers and gently remove the knob These are plastic shaft pots so GO EASY and take your time You only nee...

Page 5: ...boards Remove the silicone gel from the corners of the cable You should be able to do this with your fingers If not GENTLY use a small screw driver and use it AND your fingers to remove GENTLY remove the ribbon cable from the front printed circuit board Once removed set the bottom to the side Some later models have no silicone Lucky you ...

Page 6: ...el Please use sockets if at all possible Removing now is no big deal if you scratch the old shell but scratching your new front panel will not make you happy Again use tape if you don t want to scratch the front of the old shell Put all knobs and screws and washers into a plastic bag Step 3 Step 3 ...

Page 7: ... who you sell your Minitaur to will have no issue so please keep that in mind while performing the next steps Step 4 Step 4 If you plan to never sell your Minitaur then NO WORRIES Just custom fit to your rack dimensions and you are good to go Test your final rack opening by taking a couple of washers and nuts and attach the front panel This is temporary Now place into your opening and you might im...

Page 8: ...e can do is sand down a couple of millimeters The pic above shows the un altered board The bottom pic is after sanding You can sand down VERY close and still not touch the bottom trace How should you sand this down Next page please Step 5 Step 5 Before Before After After ...

Page 9: ...and paper Yes believe it or not you can actually do this by hand Takes about 35 minutes of focused work but I have done this Think a few minutes of pain for many hours of pleasure You can use other methods like a Dremel etc And if you feel confident using those tools then please do what feels best for you Please be careful and take your time Keep the circuit board firmly secure and use even pressu...

Page 10: ...A little pain now for lots of pleasure later Some more recent versions this little guy flies right off but older ones don t If you have test fit your front panel and circuit board and find you have plenty of room and don t need to do this step then by all means skip it However if you ever plan to sell your Minitaur to someone else please realize they might have a tighter rail set up than you and m...

Page 11: ...he back circuit board If you have a desoldering gun iron please remove all quarter inch jacks and MIDI socket Now you can skip to step 12 If you don t have a desoldering gun iron please go to the next step Step 8 Step 8 ...

Page 12: ...shorts and then reattach them to our new jacks This is easier to do if you have any quarter inch plug Stereo or mono it does not matter Insert the plug into the jack and watch the metal fingers lift up This gives you easy room to slide in shorting vinyl stickers There are 6 jacks and you have 12 stickers Please apply stickers to the front and back switches Skip the ones in the middle Step 9 Step 9...

Page 13: ... forth cutting the threads off the front of each jack GO SLOW and for God s sake don t cut your hand off Starting the cut is the hardest but once you are through the rest is easier The jacks stick out too far and need to be shortened Step 10 Step 10 ...

Page 14: ...Carefully remove the metal shroud by bending it back and forth until it snaps off Then use a set of wire clippers and make several cuts and round off the top so it looks similar to the pic below Obviously I used my de soldering gun to remove the jacks as pictured Yours will still be there and that is ok Congrats the back is done let s move back to the front Step 11 Step 11 ...

Page 15: ... factor The best plan seems to get the square buttons to align as best as possible and then using a socket cinch the nuts down MAKE SURE NOT TO CROSSTHREAD THEM It is very easy to do and can destroy the threads Now is a great time to double check your fit into your rack Never hurts to double check Insert the 6 mono jacks and only tighten the nut by hand Beware to how they are orientated It makes a...

Page 16: ...of the mono jacks Now solder one end of the bare copper wire that is included Start by soldering the first ground leg of the first jack Then skip ahead to jack number 5 and solder the ground wire to it Keep slight tension when doing so now you can go back and solder the ground legs on jacks 1 5 Now bend the copper wire down to the ground leg of the headphone jack and solder it Bring the wire back ...

Page 17: ...hem After tightening them down make sure the jacks have not spun slightly behind the panel If they have straighten them back Prep the rest of the wires by trimming back the wire s plastic insulation and solder them by color to the posts When there is no plug inserted to the top three jacks their connections must be forced to ground To do this bend the tabs on the other side inward toward the groun...

Page 18: ...uit board so that the scored ends of the standoff s are pointing away from the circuit board as pictured above Peel one side of the backing away from the adhesive block and firmly press onto the USB and power connector DON T PEEL BOTH SIDES just one for now Flip the circuit board over and rest it and check to make sure it is sitting level on the front circuit board WE ARE JUST TEST FITTING IT NOW ...

Page 19: ...k the position of where the standoff s are See the above pic of where your marks should be Prep the two part epoxy with a small stick and make sure both parts are equally mixed Apply some to the area where you have your marks Apply some to the ends of the standoff s and then rest them back into place DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ALIGNMENT and Adjust if necessary Leave it alone for one hour Sixty minutes shou...

Page 20: ... just above the top circuit board as pictured below You can now remove the other carrier sheet from the adhesive block Carefully move the ribbon cable and tuck it between the boards Hold the bottom board at an angle so the adhesive DOES NOT make contact yet Now insert and rotate the screws a few times to just get them started With both screws started you can now fully seat the board on top of the ...

Page 21: ...nd measure each wire and trim accordingly before you prep the wire with solder you can use a little electrical tape and make a nice neat bundle out of them These pics show the jacks removed If you did not remove them then just use a little extra solder and prep the posts of the jacks This will get them ready for your newly soldered wires ...

Page 22: ...r will get ruined trying to remove it Please use the new one included in the kit Or use both Step 19 Step 19 Prep the power block wires with solder Then add some solder to the existing metal tabs Then solder the orange one first by holding it to the side making it easier and a better connection Then rotate slightly and solder the black one Now remove carrier sheet and permanently affix Install pow...

Page 23: ...s mod so I eliminated it However now it may seem confusing on how to plug in your power cable without the usual red wire indicator I have painted the 12V end of the power connector RED to indicate how to insert This cable is proprietary to this kit on purpose So you can t get it confused with your other module cables Now plug it in and test it already ...

Page 24: ... acto Knife Soldering Iron Rosin core solder Wire cutters Electrical Tape Optional Hot Glue USB cable 6 pin ribbon cable 2 pin ribbon cable MIDI Jack 7 pin header 2 pin female header Screws Twist Tie The Expander The Expander Phillips Screw Driver Helping hands ...

Page 25: ... and snap it into the panel It is keyed and will only go in one way Locate the black screws and also mount the USB pigtail to the panel Take the 6 wire ribbon cable and prep one end of it as pictured to the left Step 1 Step 1 ...

Page 26: ...or Now solder the ends of the wires to the header connector so it looks as pictured to the left Using a set of wire cutters cut the two off from the end so they are separated like pictured to the left Prep the other end of the cable and remove the insulation from the ends and solder them as pictured The missing wire from the connector is there on purpose It will act as a key so you know which way ...

Page 27: ... needs to be soldered to the MIDI connector pins as pictured Don t worry about orientation as we will deal with that later Make sure the solder joints are nice and strong Loose connections here will make interfacing your Minitaur problematic ...

Page 28: ...r That is the RED wire The next wire solder to the bottom left That is the White wire Next wire solder to the top left that is the green wire And the last wire gets soldered to the top right That is the black wire To act as strain relief for the cable you can add some hot glue or a strip of tape to the ribbon cable as pictured to the left In this picture the green and black wires have not been sol...

Page 29: ...ie and create a small loop in the USB cable and twist the MIDI cable in with it to act as strain relief Connect the two pin MINI connectors Now you can test your MIDI connection Plug in a keyboard or some sort of reliable MIDI source and turn on your Minitaur If your MIDI connection works then mark the header with a paint marker Mark the side of both ends If your connection does not work pull the ...

Page 30: ...ignal via your metal rack Please mark the red connector side with the red connector side wire that you just soldered Now test your USB cable and your MIDI cable again If you have no problems please use some electrical tape or shrink wrap to protect the exposed wires If you do have any problems or questions please contact me at chris millionmachinemarch com Thank you for your support Thank you for ...

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