emulatorII-list

Mike.....
You speak the truth.  Sometimes it's just that easy.  Dirty disk drive, oxidized chip or plug contacts.  I've had luck also by just using common sense, even without much knowledge in the field of electronics.
Recently, I turned on my old Emax II that had always worked perfectly, and it's just frozen.  Lights on and locked, window lit bur blank...........I tried reseating the chips, cable ends, even got a kit to redo the caps in the power supply, but it's not happening.
When I initially took the bottom off for a close look, I could actually HEAR a cycling kind of ticking coming from one of the circuit boards..............whatthe?
I've never experienced that before. Now the cycling sound is gone, but it's still frozen.
I'm thinking it might make sense to replace the caps on the circuit boards as well, as it doesn't take more than finding equals and soldering them in..............do you think that might be a possible fix...............?
Respect to all the people on the list.....you've helped me many times figuring things out with my Emulator II.  The Emax is the one that's got me baffled............I've got two of them and they do seem to be a little more touchy than many keyboards.
Dave
Dave

--- On Fri, 1/29/10, Mike de Vries <mrjdevries@...> wrote:

From: Mike de Vries <mrjdevries@yahoo.com.au>
Subject: Re: [emulatorII-list] Fixing up non working keys.
To: emulatorII-list@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, January 29, 2010, 7:13 PM







 



  


    
      
      
      If you have a few keys that don't work, or play at max velocity etc, it's generally just dirt or a hair or something under the rubber contacts in the keyboard mechanism.

 

It's not too hard to take the EII's keyboard out and take it apart, wash the rubber contacts in warm soapy water, then rinse in water, then completely dry.. also, wipe down the PCB with a damp clean cloth to clean the contacts.

 

I did this to my EII, and fixed up the few keys that were unreliable.. it works perfectly now.

 

Another possible problem of non working keys, which has happened to a few things I bought cheap & broken in the past is corroded tracks on the keyboard PCB.. It's hard to know without looking at the pcb, but once found is easy to repair. (Solder thin wires to bridge the corroded tracks)

The symptom from this is often keys that are not working and they are all say 7 semitones apart etc.

 

Best of luck

Regards

Mike

 



--- On Sat, 30/1/10, Gil <gilwe@hotmail. com> wrote:



From: Gil <gilwe@hotmail. com>

Subject: [emulatorII- list] Re: Just joined the group and considering buying a E-II...

To: emulatorII-list@ yahoogroups. com

Received: Saturday, 30 January, 2010, 4:11 AM



  



Thanks !



OK so I opened it up, took a few connectors out and in - and viola ! it works !!



I could load and play a few disks so far. I found 3 keys which doesn't respond. I guess this monster will need some service and refurbishment. I might go and replace some caps in the power supply and in few other places.



Does anyone know which type of keys are these ? I heard they are the same as the Kawai K1... Do they match the keys of other synths ?



The lock handle of the bottom drive is missing as well... Which type of drive should I look for ?



--- In emulatorII-list@ yahoogroups. com, "hexafuzz" <gclip@...> wrote:

>

> 

> 

> --- In emulatorII-list@ yahoogroups. com, "Gil" <gilwe@> wrote:

> >

> > Now we need to get it work :)

> 

> Just to further clarify what has already been said: When powered on with a latched disk in either drive, the E-II should boot on its own. Top or bottom drive makes no difference; it should locate and auto-boot from either one on a dual floppy E-II.

> 

> When powered on -without- a disk in the drives, the display message should quickly change from "Boot in Progress" to "Insert Diskette", and both drive status LEDs should begin flashing in an alternate pattern. If your display message doesnt change, and your drive LEDs never get lit, it may not be seeing the drives.

> 

> If you are knowledgeable working on electronics (dont get zapped!), do as Elm suggested: Inspect, remove, and clean all floppy drive data & power cable connections (Deoxit and q-tips may help). Then hit the drives with compressed air to remove any built up dust or debris. Reconnect everything and look for improved/changed behavior.

> 

> PS: Whenever the E-II is transported, remember to latch scrap disks in both drives to avoid damage.

>



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