Button problems on Electro 6

[Funkademic]

My Electro 6D has started having some issues with the "Octave Up" button in the piano section. It is extremely sensitive, meaning that you barely have to touch it (without pressing down at all) and it will raise the octave up by one or two. This wouldn't be a huge deal except that it has started changing octave without me touching it at all, usually in the middle of a gig. In the worst case scenario, it changes octave and won't let me bring it back down.

From what I've read on this form (thanks Pablo!), quite a few NE6's are having button issues like this one. But it also seems like it is pretty straightforward to fix. So here are my questions.

1. If I were to use Deoxit on the button, which flavor of Deoxit should I use? Pablo has said that the buttons/switches contain gold-plated contacts. So would that mean that I could use Deoxit G5, which is meant for gold contacts?

2. If Deoxit doesn't work and I have to open up the keyboard, does anyone have any advice about how to remove the panelboard from the upper chassis? I've watched some YouTube videos that show that there are several screws attaching the board to the upper chassis, so I suppose I'd have to remove those along with the knobs on top of the unit. What about the drawbar sliders? Do those come off easily?

3. If both of the above solutions are unadvisable, would anyone have any recommendations for a good Nord repair tech in Rhode Island or Massachusetts?

Thank you!

[Funkademic]

Okay, this may be the quickest issue to be resolved in the history of this forum. In less than the time it took for my post to be approved by the moderators, I figured out what was happening with my Electro 6. I figured I may as well post the solution in case others have similar issues.

Feeling squeamish about opening the keyboard and trying to disconnect the panel from the upper chassis, I decided to try to treat the problem from the outside. It turns out that it's very easy to remove a tact switch from the surface of the unit. All I did was gently insert the point of a knife into the gap between the switch and the metal. With just a little bit of gentle pressure, the plastic cap popped right off. Beneath it, I found the copper strip, which I removed. There was no dust, no oxidation, no issues that I could see. The gold contacts beneath the strip were unobstructed. So, what to do next?

On a hunch, I repeated the same steps with a button that was functioning properly. And I noticed that the bend in the copper strip beneath the good button had an angle that was just a tiny bit more acute than the strip beneath the bad button. We're talking a fraction of a millimeter. But clearly, that tiny amount could make a difference, because it would bring the strip into closer proximity to the gold contact. So I gave the bend in the strip a tiny little squeeze, to make the angle just a bit more acute so as to match the strip beneath the good button.

I reinserted the strips, put the button caps back on, turned on the unit, and presto. No more oversensitive octave button! No more haphazard octave shifting! Problem solved! (at least for now)

Hope that helps others.

[Funkademic]

Thanks a lot for reporting. If ever the behaviour of that button changes again, please let us know, too. But I wish you luck!

[Funkademic]

@Funkademic - Fantastic result - your method of removing the key cap from the outside is genius!

I did a search on "marquardt switch 6450 repair" (the Nord Switch model number) and found this amazingly detailed and documented guide for those who want to see pictures:
https://www.phase57.com/build/nord-modu ... r/buttons/

[Kit French]

Hi, sorry for hijacking your post but I’m having trouble navigating the forum and was unable to start a new post for some reason. Can you please tell me the height of the white key tops from the base (as if on a flat surface). I don’t have a 6D in my possession to measure. I’m making a shell and want to get all the correct physical dimensions right.
Thanks, Kit

[Kit French]

Hi, sorry for hijacking your post but I’m having trouble navigating the forum and was unable to start a new post for some reason. Can you please tell me the height of the white key tops from the base (as if on a flat surface). I don’t have a 6D in my possession to measure. I’m making a shell and want to get all the correct physical dimensions right.
Thanks, Kit

Hi,

I think it is better if you open a dedicated discussion your own (just go here nord-electro-forum-f9/ and click on "New Topic" button at top left corner) and make a detailed list of all the dimensions you need to know

[zeek_zanzibar]

I just wanted to thank Funkademic for suggesting the method of removing the button caps externally. I also recently started having problems with buttons being oversensitive, or apparently not being responsive at all on my 6D 73.

Like the other reports, my problems were with button presses not being registered, buttons apparently being activated without my touching them, and extreme sensitivity of buttons which would then 'lock on' (such as the bank change button) and prevent me changing things back.

After I took the button caps off, I didn't find that the gold contacts were really bent, but rather that globs of lubrication had migrated down from the button cap into the contact between the spring and the gold tab it rests on. (There is a tiny patch of dried lube at the top of the gold spring, which I think means the lube is put on the downward protrusion inside the button cap.) It seems that the switches register a depress of the button when the contact is broken. Because many of my buttons had lube in the contact, it was taking only a slight (or no) press to break the contact, and the keyboard was registering phantom presses. For buttons where the contact was always broken, the keyboard was not registering new presses and they couldn't be activated. I cleaned out the lube gunking up the contact region with a soft plastic spudger and this seems to have made the buttons less overly-sensitive and start out with the contacts made. I suspect a proper cleaning would be in order to put them back to their new state, but it's working for now.

Trying this myself has probably saved me a paid repair job, or at least shipping it. When I spoke to Soundtech, the UK Nord distributor, they said they weren't aware of any Electro 6 or Stage 3 issues with buttons in particular and understandably could only look at it themselves before diagnosing any issues. One could speculate that more or different lube is being used in the production runs that Nord received for the recent models, but of course that really is pure speculation.

Thanks again to you all on the forum! It's a fantastically knowledgable community on here and the site is a fantastic resource. Long may it remain on the open internet as a growing archive of knowledge.

[ChoppedTop]

I had the same problem, over sensitive switches. I obtained a replacement switch but reluctant to desolder the old one. One thing i have found is that they are sensitive to bounce, therefore if the keyboard is mounted solidly the 'problem' remedies itself. My Nord was placed on rubber foam to protect my Hammond underneath, now its back on its feet, sensitive switching problem has disappeared.

[zeek_zanzibar]

As per usual, I was a little hasty in thinking that I had solved the button problems.

The lubrication migration was an issue, but after initially helping, many buttons continued to be extremely senstivite, and some them went on to stop working completely. Still not keen on sending the board away, I ordered some replacement buttons. (They are out of stock in many places at the moment so plumped for these and thought I could use the existing buttons if I needed to replace the switches myself, or have some nice blue buttons if the fancy took me.)

As other have reported, I noticed the sensitive/non-functioning buttons on the board had metal springs which stuck out less than the new switches' springs did. Moreover, the springs on my keyboard look to be made of a paler, slightly thinner piece of metal, and have a very slightly different design at the lower end. My subjective opinion is the springs in my 6D look cheaper, frankly.

Using the springs from the new switches in place of the ones in my board completely fixed the problem. Therefore, I followed others in repairing this by carefully bending the spring for the temperamental buttons so that the acute angle in it was larger, and so that the 'wavy' end bent down a little bit more. (I only bought a few switches, so couldn't just replace all the springs.) Doing this for all the buttons has helped enormously, but I worry that this will fatigue the metal and only require more of the same in the future. I certainly don't believe that the buttons in my 6D could ever stand up to the manufacturer-rated 5,000,000 presses (as indeed they haven't)!

[Jo Osantos1]

Okay, this may be the quickest issue to be resolved in the history of this forum. In less than the time it took for my post to be approved by the moderators, I figured out what was happening with my Electro 6. I figured I may as well post the solution in case others have similar issues.

Feeling squeamish about opening the keyboard and trying to disconnect the panel from the upper chassis, I decided to try to treat the problem from the outside. It turns out that it's very easy to remove a tact switch from the surface of the unit. All I did was gently insert the point of a knife into the gap between the switch and the metal. With just a little bit of gentle pressure, the plastic cap popped right off. Beneath it, I found the copper strip, which I removed. There was no dust, no oxidation, no issues that I could see. The gold contacts beneath the strip were unobstructed. So, what to do next?

On a hunch, I repeated the same steps with a button that was functioning properly. And I noticed that the bend in the copper strip beneath the good button had an angle that was just a tiny bit more acute than the strip beneath the bad button. We're talking a fraction of a millimeter. But clearly, that tiny amount could make a difference, because it would bring the strip into closer proximity to the gold contact. So I gave the bend in the strip a tiny little squeeze, to make the angle just a bit more acute so as to match the strip beneath the good button.

I reinserted the strips, put the button caps back on, turned on the unit, and presto. No more oversensitive octave button! No more haphazard octave shifting! Problem solved! (at least for now)

Hope that helps others.

Hello Man!
I am having the same issue with my NS3 Compact. On the "Live Button", i need to press it a lot harder in order to get it working! I was thinking about testing what you've just mentioned. Poping the cap from the outside... is that really easy as you've described?