Nord Triple Pedal Problems

[cphollis]

I'm hoping someone here might have some advice, as I'm stuck ...

My Nord Triple Pedal wouldn't work at practice last night. I had a backup sustain pedal, which worked fine.

Looking at it again today:
1. Verified that pedal type was set to Auto=Triple
2. Soft pedal (left) works, sustanato pedal (middle) works, sustain (right) doesn't work.
3. Tried another sustain pedal, worked fine.

Obviously, the problem is in the pedal ...

Carefully opened the pedal up:
1. Three solder joints from cable to PC card seem intact
2. Nothing untoward in the mechanical action, worked the same as the other two.
3. Sprayed air under the pair of rubber sensors
4. Undid the TRS cable receptacle, looking for broken solder joints. All is well.

Put the pedal back together, tried it again on my Nord Piano 2 HA88.
Same problem, no change. So I'm stuck.

In all fairness, this is my very first piece of Nord gear to ever go wonky on me. But it's a very nice and expensive pedal, and I wish I could continue to use it. I've probably used it maybe 70 times or so, so it's not like I've beaten it to death -- I would expect it to last much longer.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Previous experiences?
Is there some way that Nord suggests to repair these items?

Thanks in advance ...

[Mr_-G-]

I bet it is the cable...
If you have a tester you can check whether the cable is intact. Check between the soldered cable connections inside the pedal and the connecting plug at the other end of the cable.
You could also check the resistance between T and S contacts as you slowly depress the right pedal.
Have a look at the pictures here:
http://www.norduserforum.com/nord-stage ... t1883.html

[cphollis]

If the wire checks out, you might try contact cleaning again. That is the same arrangement as in keyboards and is subject to contamination. If air doesn't do it, try q-tip with isopropyl or acetone (additive-free) to clean both the rubber and PCB surfaces.

Pedal is warranted same as instrument. Check me at work address if you like.

Bless,

Pablo Mastodon
Nord Technical Support USA/Canada
pablo.mastodon@AmericanMusicandSound.com
(800) 994-4984 x3030 USA
(800) 431-2609 x3030 Canada
(813) 644-8480 (direct line)

[cphollis]

Thanks Pablo.

I, too, thought it might be the cable -- but I couldn't see how a single broken lead could lead to two pedals working, and one not! I don't own a tester, but I can probably round one up before long. Cleaning with isopropyl is a logical next step.

Having thought about it a bit more, a possible third source might be the receptacle within the Nord Piano 2. I can try the pedal on my Stage 2, and see if the problem follows the pedal.

And if none of that works, I'll reach out to you on your work address -- thanks!

[cphollis]

Well, that is how it works, the pedals work sensing a difference of resistance, not ON/OFF type like the more common synth sustain/hold pedals.
Resistance changes and their timing between T & S are for the right (sustain) pedal (pedal noise/velocity and sustain/half pedal), while the other two pedals status is transmitted as changes in resistance between R & S.
That is why I think the white cable (in the photo link I posted) is not right: sustain does not work, but the other 2 pedals are OK (they are transmitted via the black cable). But I agree with Pablo that cleaning again the contacts might be a simpler first thing to do.

Cut cables might conduce intermittently when you move the cable around, so in the absence of a tester, twisting the cable sometimes helps to diagnose the problem.

The tester is a very useful no-sound-producing piece of music gear. The 2nd one is a soldering iron.

[cphollis]

Many thanks, Mr G -- makes sense now!

[Wayne Adam]

My pedal just crapped out as well. Sustain is on without depressing the pedal. It has no sustain when I do. I restored the board to factory after the 1.72 update. I am wondering if this might be the source of the problem...

W

[dynanord]

My pedal just crapped out as well. Sustain is on without depressing the pedal. It has no sustain when I do. I restored the board to factory after the 1.72 update. I am wondering if this might be the source of the problem...

W

Did you take a look into the menu settings? Perhaps you can turn around the functionality there...
I think you don´t have the triple pedal perhaps but a normal one

[Mr_-G-]

Yes it sounds like you have the wrong pedal selected in the settings.

[pablomastodon]

The factory default setting is AUTO. With that setting, the instrument "looks" at the pedal circuit based on the assumption that a pedal is connected, and sets itself accordingly. Potential problem with this is that it then becomes imperative (unless you use a normally open pedal) to connect the pedal PRIOR TO turning on the instrument. If you are using normally closed pedal type and don't connect it until after the instrument is booted, you will get the situation described by Wayne Adam above.

Best practice is to set the instrument for your specific pedal type in the System Menu. Then you don't have to remember to connect pedal prior to boot every time.

Pablo