Everything about the Nord Electro 2, Electro 3, Electro 4, Electro 5, and Nord Electro 6.

Full velocity key

Postby zumacat » 16 Apr 2013, 15:00

I've had a Nord Electro 3 for several years and have been very happy with it. I recently started having a problem with the G# above middle C, in which it (unpredictably, only sometimes) blares out at high volume when hit.. on the piano sounds. W/ the organ sounds it sometimes sounds like a bit of a "hitch" at the beginning of the attack.

From doing a bit of research it sounds like the key velocity problem described here, due to dirt:
http://www.proaudioe.com/pages/nord-tec ... eybeds.php.

Does anyone have any suggestions, other than trying to find a tech person to deal with it (which may be difficult, as I live in a mid-sized city and don't know if anyone services Nords here). Someone suggested using compressed air (like you'd use to clean a computer keyboard) and I'm wondering if anyone had had luck (or worse, bad experiences) using this approach? Thanks!
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Full velocity key


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Re: Full velocity key

Postby mjbrands » 17 Apr 2013, 20:44

The thing will need to be opened. It is not really complex, but you need to be careful. Do a search for 'velocity' in the Electro or Stage sections and you should find multiple posts about this, including instructions on how to do this yourself.

In those posts you'll probably find posts by Pablo Mastodon, who posted more information on this issue. Pablo does Nord tech support for the US and Canada, so you could also contact him. Pablo's also the guy who created the page you linked and his details are also on that site.

Anyway, the compressed air thing doesn't really buy you anything, since you'll still have to open her up. If you're going to do this yourself, you need some instructions, a screw driver, needle-nose pliers, some patience and possibly some cotton swabs and some rubbing alcohol.

Disclaimer: Nord's aren't considered user-serviceable and you can damage your Nord (and yourself) if you do open it. Bla bla bla. It sounds a bit hypocritical when I say this, as I habitually open any equipment I buy. :mrgreen:
Last edited by mjbrands on 17 Apr 2013, 20:47, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Full velocity key

Postby soulman » 26 Mar 2014, 17:41

Sounds like your rubber contact for that key has blown out or is partially damaged. It is a rubber strip between the bottom of the keybed and your contact board(converts physical energy to digital signals) with two bubbles that are pushed down when you play a key. 1 is for on/off and 1 is for velocity. When a key plays as loud as it can with soft hits as you've described it is probably a bad contact rubber. It doesn't necessarily mean it will do it all the time it may happen 1 out of every 10 hits or 4 or out every ten hits or 9 out of 10. I had the same problem with my Kurzweil on some keys and ordering new contacts fixed the problem.

here is where to find replacements

Nord parts : http://www.syntaur.com/nord.html
electro contact rubber 12 : http://www.syntaur.com/4156.html
electro contact rubber 8 : http://www.syntaur.com/4159.html

If you are fairly comfortably taking expensive stuff apart and putting them back together then go for it. But be very careful watch some youtube videos on how to replace them. The contact board is much more expensive if you bend it and break it (its very flimsy).

I know this is a year old and youve probably done something about it by now but I posted for future references .
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Re: Full velocity key

Postby pablomastodon » 27 Mar 2014, 05:14

Hi Soulman,

You are quite mistaken to suggest that this is a sign of damaged parts. It is a sign of a dirty contact and nothing more. This can be disassembled and cleaned, usually with a puff of compressed air (from a can or a compressor), to restore normal function. Also, you are quite mistaken to suggest that those PCBs are very flimsy. While it is true that any circuit board will need to be handled with a certain amount of care, these are not eggshells, AND they are not terribly expensive.

Eventually it may come to pass that a contact assembly will be dirty/worn past the point of no return. It is possible to purchase rubber contact strips and replace them, but this is NOT optimal. This mechanism is really nothing more than a set of switches, two per note. There are two sides to the contact surfaces which make up these switches, the rubber contact strip and the PCB. It makes little sense to replace one side of that equation without replacing the other, mounting nice new clean rubber contacts onto a dirty old worn PCB.

Rubber contacts are available in 12- and 13-position strips. They are easily trimmed to length with a scissors. Syntaur sells the 12/13 position strip for $10.95. The Midi Store used to sell them, too, but their website doesn't seem to be responding today. Anyway, a complete set will run $50-80, depending on number of notes. Entire PCB contact assemblies (with strips pre-mounted) are available from American Music & Sound through me for $80-$120, a relative bargain when compared to replacing only strips. This will effectively restore that mechanism to brand new condition. Please note that when doing this, it will be a very good idea to remove all of the keys, throw them in a bucket of soapy water, and scrub them down with an old toothbrush. Clean out EVERYTHING.

The cleaning operation is not for everyone, and it is possible to mess things up, so folks who are not mechanically inclined should leave it to the pros. However, for people who do have some skills it is very doable. In the past four years I have guided ~145 people through that operation over the phone, averaging about 45 minutes to completion, with only one instance where the cleaning procedure did not work -- in that case it turned out that there was a blown diode on the PCB.

Generally speaking, I like to be low-key about all this, but feel the need to step up and correct inaccuracies when I see them to protect future readers.

Bless,

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Nord Tech Support Canada/USA
bun fyah weh fyah fi bun
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Re: Full velocity key

Postby soulman » 27 Mar 2014, 14:44

Your probably right Pablo. I'm just speaking from past experiences of dealing with my old kurzweil. I did clean them beforehand, and cleaned the board with contact cleaner, but i noticed I had several rubbers that completely blown out and upon reassembly they was still velocity issues. That board is probably about 15 years old now. and the 2 contact boards on my 88 note kurzweil are pretty flimsy. Not sure about the Nord, might be more stable since its a shorter board Please forgive me im still pretty new to troubleshooting keyboard issues.
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Re: Full velocity key

Postby RocketRon » 17 Apr 2021, 23:44

I'm running into this problem with a new Electro 6D. I don't use it as a road keyboard. It mostly sits under my desk and I play it when I need a brain brake. I keep a Nord keyboard cover on it when I'm not using it. I've had this problem now with a number of keys, generally close together. I was surprised that I got this failure, the keyboard being less than a year old. The only thing I can think is I rest my computer keyboard on top of Nord while I'm working. Would this cause the contacts to get prematurely dirty? Or should just replace the bubble strips (and stop resting my computer keyboard on top of the Nord)
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