Synth-DIY Yahoo! Groups Archives

Bought Polaris, look inside, someone already modded or replaced membrane?

2013-08-19 by vexkon

Hello I'm new here and new to the Polaris but it was an instant love affair <3!!

Only issues seem to be spongy keys, gritty sliders and noisy headphone output. The membrane buttons are all functional however.

So anyway when I opened it up to air dust and deox the sliders I noticed some board mods/strange wiring so I stopped what I was doing and

I took pictures (will try and upload after)

Was hoping someone could highlight what is going on here as it looks very strange and I know nothing about synth techy.

Thanks so much, love the sound and want to keep my polaris healthy!

-Jes

Re: Bought Polaris, look inside, someone already modded or replaced membrane?

2013-08-20 by vexkon

Just figured out that at some point a previous own replaces ribbon cables with this "blue mess" of wires which is great because they won't degrade. How do I find out whether the membrane has been replaced?

Pictures are in the Photos area.

--- In chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com, "vexkon" <vexkon@...> wrote:
>
> Hello I'm new here and new to the Polaris but it was an instant love affair <3!!
>
> Only issues seem to be spongy keys, gritty sliders and noisy headphone output. The membrane buttons are all functional however.
>
> So anyway when I opened it up to air dust and deox the sliders I noticed some board mods/strange wiring so I stopped what I was doing and
>
> I took pictures (will try and upload after)
>
> Was hoping someone could highlight what is going on here as it looks very strange and I know nothing about synth techy.
>
> Thanks so much, love the sound and want to keep my polaris healthy!
>
> -Jes
>

RE: [chromapolaris] Re: Bought Polaris, look inside, someone already modded or replaced membrane?

2013-08-20 by Paul D. DeRocco

> From: vexkon
>
> Just figured out that at some point a previous own replaces
> ribbon cables with this "blue mess" of wires which is great
> because they won't degrade. How do I find out whether the
> membrane has been replaced?

I'm sure they haven't been replaced, but one easily visible but not very
noticeable difference between the new and old panels is this: the word
SEQUENCER is in somewhat smaller letters on the old panels, but are the
same size as the other section names on the new ones.

That wiring will probably prove unreliable, because there's no good way to
attach wires to silver ink except with a proper connector. If you're using
the Polaris at home, it's reasonable to wait until they fail and then
upgrade, and maybe you'll stay lucky and not have to. If you're using it
professionally, I'd recommend ripping that junk out and doing it right, so
you don't wind up with a malfunctioning instrument on a gig somewhere.

However, it looks like the technician has replaced the membrane switch
tail connectors on the board with completely different connectors, so
you'll have to change them back. If you buy panels, I can throw in the
necessary connectors for a little more, but you'll have a soldering job to
do.

--

Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
Paul mailto:pderocco@...

Re: [chromapolaris] Re: Bought Polaris, look inside, someone already modded or replaced membrane?

2013-08-20 by kide krazy

Thanks for the quick reply Paul. I agree there's no way I would take her on the road with the hack job that has occurred here but I'm still glad not to have brittle ribbon cables. I will do some more testing with the midi implementation because so far I have not been able to establish midi transmission between the polaris and my kiwi technics midi controller. All that it accepts right now is note data.

A future customer,
Jes

From: Paul D. DeRocco <pderocco@...>
To: chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, August 19, 2013 11:59 PM
Subject: RE: [chromapolaris] Re: Bought Polaris, look inside, someone already modded or replaced membrane?

> From: vexkon
>
> Just figured out that at some point a previous own replaces
> ribbon cables with this "blue mess" of wires which is great
> because they won't degrade. How do I find out whether the
> membrane has been replaced?

I'm sure they haven't been replaced, but one easily visible but not very
noticeable difference between the new and old panels is this: the word
SEQUENCER is in somewhat smaller letters on the old panels, but are the
same size as the other section names on the new ones.

That wiring will probably prove unreliable, because there's no good way to
attach wires to silver ink except with a proper connector. If you're using
the Polaris at home, it's reasonable to wait until they fail and then
upgrade, and maybe you'll stay lucky and not have to. If you're using it
professionally, I'd recommend ripping that junk out and doing it right, so
you don't wind up with a malfunctioning instrument on a gig somewhere.

However, it looks like the technician has replaced the membrane switch
tail connectors on the board with completely different connectors, so
you'll have to change them back. If you buy panels, I can throw in the
necessary connectors for a little more, but you'll have a soldering job to
do.

--

Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
Paul mailto:pderocco@...

Re: [chromapolaris] Re: Bought Polaris, look inside, someone already modded or replaced membrane?

2013-08-20 by kide krazy

My "sequencer" is also slightly smaller so it is an old panel :(.

From: kide krazy <vexkon@...>
To: "chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com" <chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2013 8:26 AM
Subject: Re: [chromapolaris] Re: Bought Polaris, look inside, someone already modded or replaced membrane?

Thanks for the quick reply Paul. I agree there's no way I would take her on the road with the hack job that has occurred here but I'm still glad not to have brittle ribbon cables. I will do some more testing with the midi implementation because so far I have not been able to establish midi transmission between the polaris and my kiwi technics midi controller. All that it accepts right now is note data.

A future customer,
Jes

From: Paul D. DeRocco <pderocco@...>
To: chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, August 19, 2013 11:59 PM
Subject: RE: [chromapolaris] Re: Bought Polaris, look inside, someone already modded or replaced membrane?

> From: vexkon
>
> Just figured out that at some point a previous own replaces
> ribbon cables with this "blue mess" of wires which is great
> because they won't degrade. How do I find out whether the
> membrane has been replaced?

I'm sure they haven't been replaced, but one easily visible but not very
noticeable difference between the new and old panels is this: the word
SEQUENCER is in somewhat smaller letters on the old panels, but are the
same size as the other section names on the new ones.

That wiring will probably prove unreliable, because there's no good way to
attach wires to silver ink except with a proper connector. If you're using
the Polaris at home, it's reasonable to wait until they fail and then
upgrade, and maybe you'll stay lucky and not have to. If you're using it
professionally, I'd recommend ripping that junk out and doing it right, so
you don't wind up with a malfunctioning instrument on a gig somewhere.

However, it looks like the technician has replaced the membrane switch
tail connectors on the board with completely different connectors, so
you'll have to change them back. If you buy panels, I can throw in the
necessary connectors for a little more, but you'll have a soldering job to
do.

--

Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
Paul mailto:pderocco@...