Cheers Mark,
I now see that you have had a really hard tome with your keys. I have repaired now several DW8000 contact boards which had the same initial problems as yours with long lasting success. But I now learn from you that at some stage in a DW8000's life a NOS replacement is the way to go. Thank you for that teaching. BTW: The source in the Netherlands I can recomment.
I apears as if after all your attempts to fix and adjust the contacts their metal's mechanical resistance did "wear out" making it impossible to restore sufficient contact pressure for a safe contact.
I would love to post some photos, but am afraid that the photos cannot be so accurate and clear to inform on how the contact adjustment is to be done. But the next time I open up my DW8000 I will shoot some pictures, promised.
I can only hope that your "note off" problem is not attributed to a damage of the key-sensing electronics. Did you succeed in "forcing" a "note off" at the faulty contacts by shorting them with external means (i.e. pair of tweezers)?
What regards the keyboard, I experience more problems with broken keys. The are prone to break on the tip and, more serious, on the pivot back. I succeeded in glueing the broken parts together. Luckily, the broken off parts tend to be retained in the inside of the case and can be easily retrieved. After the glue is hardened I ues a very small drill to drill a hole through both glued together parts and use a rigid (stainless steel) wire that goes into the holes and glue it into place. As a reinforcement of the fix. Glueing without metal reinforcement does not hold for long, if at all. You might want to do this "surgery" under a magnifiying glass. The most critical thing is the drilling of the hole that takes the wire. For the pivotal end of the keys use a dril of less than 1 millimeter. Pay attentiion to the tempersture of the drill during drilling, else the plasic will melt. When you're finished, place the repaired keys to the high or very low octaves which I think are not used too often. My equipment for drilling the small holes and the glues was less expensive than the money asked out there for replacementt keys. A last word on replacement keys: Consider that the recplacment key may not match in color with your own keyboard, in particular if your afre or haven been a smoker...
What I would like to say to people here is that it is a good idea to get another used, maybe partly broken, DW8000 as a reserve for futuer repairs. (Having said that I must admit that I have sold every broken DW8000 I bought for "spare purposes" because they all were easy to fix and then I gave them away to (now happy) musicians. The next broken DW8000 I will keep for sure...)
Any comments? Please feel free to ask.
--- In DW8000@yahoogroups.com, Mark B <Bugsi@...> wrote:
>
> And to be clear, the contact assembly I ordered is new-old-stock, not
> used. Your email here is the only description I've seen on "how to"
> repair the contact assembly. I think this is a ripe topic for a how-to
> with pictures. If I can make successful adjustments to my assembly,
> perhaps I'll document it on DW8000.com.
>
> -Mark
>
> On 12/24/11 12:34 PM, mondovermona wrote:
> > Hello all,
> >
> > please trust your skills. The DW8000 keyboard is easy to repair and to put into service again. With some feeling for mechanics and understand of the contact assembly. I have managed to fix a keyboard even after a heavy impact due to the synth's falling from my car's roof (while car was standing...).
> >
> > Before you go throught the hassle of ordering and installing a new (used) contact assembly, try fix your own.
> >
> > You need a good eye (magnifying glass and good illumination) and a pair of tweezers. Just try to bend the worn out contact metal strips (contact springs) into the right position. I am sure there are some key left with flawless contacts that may serve as a template. There is a "note on" contact and there is a "note off" contact. The latter being more prone to failure due to oxidation and wear. It is important to have all contact strips in the same position, else the velocity will not be sensed correct. I never had a used DW8000 keyboard where the contact postiion was the same for all key - with negative impact on the velocity. So even if note on and off is sensed correctly it might be worth adjusting the contact strips after all these years of use.
> >
> > Once the contacts are all in about the same position, you need to get rid of oxadation. You need to use a strong oxidation remover (in Europe e.g. Kontakt 60), but ,in any event, you need to remove the applied antioxidant after use (i.e. once contact has been re-established) by means of some neutral solvent (alcohol or de-greaser will do; in Europe e.g. Kontakt 61, Kontakt WL or Tuner 600)
> >
> > I think the DW8000 keyboard contact assembly is pretty robust and serviceable. Who is able to remove or replace the whole keyboard in a DW8000 has enough skills to also service the key's contacts. Trust your skills!
> >
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> > ------------------------------------
> >
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
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