The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

Okay thanks for ytour input guys - problem solved.

Worked up my courage and opened up the damn thing.
After half an hour of hair pulling and screwing I found this rubber strip
which was *very* dusty. Vacuum cleaned it and the whole keyboard section and
Voil\ufffd everything is working just fine.

Erkki
----- Original Message -----
From: Bruce Wahler <bruce@...>
To: <AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, December 09, 2002 7:18 AM
Subject: Re: [AN1x] an1x keyboard


> Hi Ed,
>
> I had a major workstation crash on Wednesday, and I just got to this ...
>
> >> Hasn\ufffdt anybody got any idea how to fix this?
> >> Very irritating.
> >> Anybody done synth maintenance - this is hardly an1x specific stuff.
> >
> >Bruce... do you want to handle this one?  ;-)
> >
> >(Bruce Wahler, a member of this list, has done much more work on synths
than
> >me.)
> >
> >But I'll tell you what I know anyway.
> >It's hard.  Really hard to fix keyboard mechanisms.  They're hard to get
to
> >inside the unit, therefore you usually have to pull out the whole key
> >assembly sub-chassis.  Then the method each manufacturer uses to detect
the
> >key press differs... but usually it's via membrane switches - the same
kind
> >of thing as on your cell phone.  Not very sturdy, and not easy to repair
> >once the membrane or rubber or whatever gets bad.
> >
> >That's the bad part.  The good part is that if the membrane stuff is
still
> >good then the problem is likely that the pressure pads need cleaning.
But
> >that's still bad because it usually involves removing each key seperately
to
> >be able to get to the part that needs cleaning.
>
> That's a pretty good synopsis of what goes on inside the keyboard of most
electronic instruments.  There are four things that can happen:
>
> 1) The membrane switches can wear out (not very common).
>
> 2) The little plastic "strikers" (my term) on the bottoms of the keys that
press the switches can wear down a bit.  The mechanical tolerances are
pretty tight, so that one of them hits before the other, allowing the
velocity to be clocked.  The solution is usually to replace the key;
sometimes you can swap it with another one, and everything starts working
again.
>
> 3) Dirt, fuzz, etc. can clog up the striker/switch interface.  A little
TLC can work wonders.
>
> 4) The connectors can loosen up, which can appear as many other issues.
Re-seating the connectors often clears this up.
>
>
> Regards,
>
> -BW
>
> --
> Bruce Wahler
> Design Consultant
> Ashby SolutionsT   http://consult.ashbysolutions.com
> 978.386.7389  voice/fax
> bruce@...
>
>
>
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