Nord lead A1 broken velocity

[midnight_mix]

I just bought a used nord lead A1. It got shipped and the seller said that everything worked before shipping. Now i am guessing that there are 2 strips where the velocity doesn't work as it is supposed to. I have buyer protection so i can send it back and get my money but is it worth it? I will gig with this synth a lot and can not risk stuff going wrong. Should i do a quick hardware fix myself or should i send it back?

ps.There are 8 keys (2 groups of 4)

All suggestions/advice is welcome!

[Mr_-G-]

Lack of velocity might be due to dirt in the key contacts (silicone rubber with carbon-coated contacts) which can be carefully cleaned with isopropyl alcohol. However it this happens in groups of keys, perhaps it is unlikely that they all got dirty at the same time... I wonder if there is a connector that needs re-seating.

[23skidoo]

Two options right off the bat: if you want to learn how to fix velocity on keyboards, you'll need to learn how to field-strip the synth, remove the keys from the keyboard, and as Mr_-G- there said, clean the contacts. If the contacts are heavily worn from loads of heavy playing, the keyboard might need replacement, but this is rare and usually happens to boards that had stuff spilled on them, in which case the water damage will be obvious. There are several posts on this forum for how to do this for various Fatar actions, it is nearly identical for all of the unweighted and semi-weighted actions, so the instructions for, e.g. an electro, will work for your A1 too, with the obvious substitutions for how to open the synth.

On the other hand, if you suspect for any reason fluid damage to the synth (water, beer, god knows what else) getting down into the keybed (e.g. there are dried puddles of stuff inside the synth when you open it up), or if you don't want to go to the trouble learning how to fix your own keyboard, you should just return it and not mess with it further. Keyboards that need cleaning like that usually indicate that a seal is bad and/or there's less carbon on the contacts than there should be, etc. and in my experience, at least, require periodic re-cleaning to remain playable. I've had to go so far as to get new rubber contact strips and replace them entirely to get back to a fully reliable keybed on one of my synths.

The other option is that you get a quote from a local repair shop to fix it, and ask the seller to pay the difference and see if they do. Then you decide whether you want to get it fixed or learn yourself.

It's very rare that a connector needs re-seating, but if the synth was opened before it is remotely possible. The type of connectors the Fatar series boards use snap positively into the PCB and have some anti-wear and anti-fretting compensation inherent in the design to ensure a good reliable contact - if they don't snap in cleanly it's unlikely you'd only see the symptoms you do. That said, can't hurt to unclip and firmly (but carefully) re-seat them to see if that solves anything.

The groups of 4 thing does make me think its a contact issue, though, and I would be very careful to check for any evidence of fluid damage, in which case, send it back ASAP.

[midnight_mix]

Two options right off the bat: if you want to learn how to fix velocity on keyboards, you'll need to learn how to field-strip the synth, remove the keys from the keyboard, and as Mr_-G- there said, clean the contacts. If the contacts are heavily worn from loads of heavy playing, the keyboard might need replacement, but this is rare and usually happens to boards that had stuff spilled on them, in which case the water damage will be obvious. There are several posts on this forum for how to do this for various Fatar actions, it is nearly identical for all of the unweighted and semi-weighted actions, so the instructions for, e.g. an electro, will work for your A1 too, with the obvious substitutions for how to open the synth.

On the other hand, if you suspect for any reason fluid damage to the synth (water, beer, god knows what else) getting down into the keybed (e.g. there are dried puddles of stuff inside the synth when you open it up), or if you don't want to go to the trouble learning how to fix your own keyboard, you should just return it and not mess with it further. Keyboards that need cleaning like that usually indicate that a seal is bad and/or there's less carbon on the contacts than there should be, etc. and in my experience, at least, require periodic re-cleaning to remain playable. I've had to go so far as to get new rubber contact strips and replace them entirely to get back to a fully reliable keybed on one of my synths.

The other option is that you get a quote from a local repair shop to fix it, and ask the seller to pay the difference and see if they do. Then you decide whether you want to get it fixed or learn yourself.

It's very rare that a connector needs re-seating, but if the synth was opened before it is remotely possible. The type of connectors the Fatar series boards use snap positively into the PCB and have some anti-wear and anti-fretting compensation inherent in the design to ensure a good reliable contact - if they don't snap in cleanly it's unlikely you'd only see the symptoms you do. That said, can't hurt to unclip and firmly (but carefully) re-seat them to see if that solves anything.

The groups of 4 thing does make me think its a contact issue, though, and I would be very careful to check for any evidence of fluid damage, in which case, send it back ASAP.

Thank you for the advice! I have talked to the seller, he is kind and offered me to ship it back, repair it there and then ship it here again. I'm thinking that i would rather just take the hit, shouldn't cost too much to fix this and repair it. I bought it for 800$ so the price was at least somewhat fair considering i would pay stupid amounts for it new. I will try to open it up later today and see if i can come up with something. If there is water damage I will simply return it

[23skidoo]

Cool, good luck with it and let us know what ends up!

[midnight_mix]

I HAVE SOLVED IT! I opened the keyboard up There is one ribbon cable connecting the board with the potentiometers (easily removable by opening up the back) and then you get free access to the keybed. https://syntaur.com/DIYdocs/DIY0003.html This guide helped me a lot, to remove keys you simply take some pliers, pull on the spring and move it forward. The key is free to pop out. The problem were the contact strips. They were cut by hand it seemed like (very rough edges) but they were seated in properly. Problem was that they were in backwards when i compared them to a working strip. No dust or problems with the contact on the PCB. They were simply backwards and this is a problem because one of the rubber legs is shorter. If it is the wrong way around it wont go deep enough to be able to press on the velocity contact on the pcb. Now, excuse me while i go and gig the absolute living hell out of this synth, hopefully it doesn't break on me

[Mr_-G-]

Well done! I am surprised that the seller did not notice it.

[23skidoo]

Excellent. I'm glad you took the initiative to do that. Now you know how they're assembled and will have much more confidence maintaining your own keyboards in the future! Congratulations.