Nord User Forum

Hi everyone,

I bought a NS3 5 months ago, and since January some buttons were malfunctioning. When I press the Chorus/Flanger/Vibe selection button, it works sometimes, and I´ve read a post about massaging the buttons and stuff, but I want to solve this problem for good.

Since the last weekend, the Key Hold/ Vibrato/ Exit and Store buttons have the same problem. Sometimes it registers twice, sometimes once, but mostly nothing happens.
I´m suspecting of bad energy or malfunctioning caused by Lightning through the eletrical system of my apartment, but only the Nord have this. I´ve not read on forums about this, only a post with a photo of the internal components and buttons disassembled.

Can anyone assist/help me?

The Nords are pretty high tech for keyboards, lightning can definitely damage them. Or perhaps you've just got a bum unit. I would contact Nord support and see what they say, as it should still be under warranty if it wasn't damaged by lightning. If they evaluate it and it was lightning damage, your insurance should cover the repairs, if it's anything like insurance in North America.

23skidoo wrote:The Nords are pretty high tech for keyboards, lightning can definitely damage them. Or perhaps you've just got a bum unit. I would contact Nord support and see what they say, as it should still be under warranty if it wasn't damaged by lightning. If they evaluate it and it was lightning damage, your insurance should cover the repairs, if it's anything like insurance in North America.

Thanks for the answer. I'm not sure that the problem was caused by lightning, it's just that I've observed the problemit on day after a strong rain were I live. I live at Brasil, so no warranty by the guy who sold the equipment. I'm wondering doing the job of fixing this myself.

Hi,

Just a quick update: I've successfully disassembled the NS3 and found the faulty buttons, opened them, isolate the metal inside - a sort of spring-like - and tried give them a little press using my own fingers. I've only removed the synth panel (I don't know how to remove the drawbars on the organ/piano panel). There's not any kind of dust or visible oxidation on the panel. Maybe there's some irregularities on the metal pieces on my Nord?
Now the the buttons are working fine!

Since I've not discovered the cause of the problem, I will update in case of any change on the status.
Hope that this could help others .

Update:

Now only the Store/Exit buttons have the same problem. Chorus / Key Hold and Vibrato are ok.
Since yesterday, I noticed that when I roll the Mod Wheel fast enough the Filter type of Delay changes. Disconected the Mod Whell solved the problem; then I reconnected and the problem was gone. I suspect a know problem with the Mod Wheel in the Compact version, caused by the fact that the connector is too close to the keys, related in another topic.
nord-stage-forum-f3/please-post-only-if-you-are-having-mod-wheel-morph-issues-t14534.html?hilit=mod%20wheel

Still Investigating...

I had a similar issue with the # 5 button under the PROGRAM/SONG parts section. If I were to hit buttons # 1-4, it would automatically switch to button # 5 intermittently.
Sometimes if you were on any button other than # 5 and you tap the area below or near button # 5 it would switch to button # 5. Disassembled the unit and accessed button # 5 on the PCBoard.
Nicely designed button switch which I was able to open. Following what jrsynth did to his unit, I took out the flexible metal contact piece and bent it a bit to give it some tension. Apparently, the
metal contact piece was intermittently shorting especially with vibration. Reassembled and so far, knock on wood, so good. Manufacturing QC on these switches should be improved!
This problem occurred with hardly any use - a few months old and I rarely use the # 5 button. Thank you jrsynth for the tip on the switch! Btw: the plastic finger pull piece on the drawbars can be removed by pulling up very carefully.