Nord User Forum

Thanks.
This is all very interesting information (quite a bit over my head but i'm learning lots).
I haven't seen the stuttering problem for awhile now. It did it the first time mid gig, with notes disappearing as well, then the next day when i tested it at home it did it a couple of times (that was also after i opened it up and blew it out with a can of air). But the notes disappearing happened more often that the stutter. I left it on for 2 days, playing it occasionally throughout this period and it seemed fine, no problems. So i took it to my next gig and played it (had a backup electro 2 just in case). I had the notes cut out on me once, maybe twice early in the night. But tapping the key and around the nord (i think i tapped it underneath, not too hard) and they came back and were fine for the next 2 hours of the show.
Since then i have opened it up to make sure the ribbon connecters were seated correctly as suggested by pterm. And since i have a non working electro 3 here at the moment i decided to try swapping my ribbon connector that controls the top half of my keybed (where my problem is) with the one from the electro 3. All put back together and i've been playing it without issue so far. I have a rehearsal tonight so i think if its going to play up then there will be plenty of opportunity for it to happen then.

My question is could this problem possibly be caused by just a faulty ribbon connector? I do remember quite awhile back when i was fixing a note stuck on full velocity once, that i accidentally placed the metal foot bracket that keeps the top separated from the bottom of the nord onto the ribbon connector, and only noticed this when i went to replace the screw back in the bottom of the piano, i could see the ribbon connector in the screw hole instead of the thread on the bottom of the foot. I took the lid back off, moved the ribbon connector out of the way and reassembled. It worked fine until this issue. I'm wondering if i could have done something to the cable for which i'm only seeing the consequences now?

groover wrote:My question is could this problem possibly be caused by just a faulty ribbon connector? I do remember quite awhile back when i was fixing a note stuck on full velocity once, that i accidentally placed the metal foot bracket that keeps the top separated from the bottom of the nord onto the ribbon connector, and only noticed this when i went to replace the screw back in the bottom of the piano, i could see the ribbon connector in the screw hole instead of the thread on the bottom of the foot. I took the lid back off, moved the ribbon connector out of the way and reassembled. It worked fine until this issue. I'm wondering if i could have done something to the cable for which i'm only seeing the consequences now?

It's not impossible, but I think it unlikely that a faulty ribbon connector could cause this.

Also, be wary of swapping your connectors too many times: The gold plating on the connector contacts might be rated for as few as 10 mating cycles (this is the worst-case number I've ever seen for a connector --not necessarily the case here). As the gold wears away, it increases the contact resistance of the connector and in the extreme breaks the connection entirely. Loss of gold also accelerates degradation due to oxidation of the connector contacts - a real concern for your high-humidity environment.

-pterm

pablomastodon wrote:

pterm wrote:There is a small possibility that the poor connection you described caused the misbehaviour.

This will not be the case here. A bad connection there will simply result in an interruption of the boot process and the generation of an error message. In this event. pressing SHIFT will cause the boot process to pass over this and complete and the instrument will be playable, sans calibration. Lack of boot interruption and error message generation would be an indication that this was not the problem in this case.

Such an error message might only indicate a total disconnection of the cable depending on how Nord implemented their error detection... Are you certain the Nord detects data corruption in the EEPROM bitstream?

Just to let you all know.. During my 2+ hour rehearsal tonight i had no issues with the nord whatsoever. Only time will tell......

Last night our Electro 4 just quit on the output. Actually, the organ patch still worked, but all other patches quit working. This morning, after careful inspection, this ribbon you are talking about was shown to be the culprit. It was not the plastic ends that attach to the boards, but the ribbon itself has become pinched a bit under the keyboard itself. Over time and hitting the keys, this was just enough motion to gradually wear off a tiny bit of insulation. I had to look extremely close to notice it. Once this was taped over the issue resolved. I've ordered a new 26 pin ribbon to replace this bad one.

The ribbon can easily become pinched up under the keyboard, and with normal movement and motion of playing it, it can rub the insulation off.

Hi Royer,

This was the 26-pin ribbon? That one does not venture anywhere near the keys, or any moving parts, or anything else which might interfere with it. It runs between the panelboard and the mainboard.

The two keybed ribbons, 20-pin I think, do travel a path beneath the keys and pass by the central support stanchion inside the instrument. If care is not taken to ensure that those cables clear the area of that stanchion, it can sometimes happen that the cable may abrade against that support stanchion. I've encountered at least one person who failed to notice the cable directly beneath the foot of the stanchion and pierced the cable when re-installing the screw.

Bless,

Pablo

You are correct: the 20 pin connector ribbon that tucks up under the keyboard. I don't think it's a moving part so much that rubbed the insulation off the ribbon over time, but rather simply the very slight natural movement that occurs when pressing or the keys at the center of the keyboard that might create just enough rub on that ribbon to wear the insulation off over time if that ribbon is not carefully positioned with plenty of clearance. Apparently this ribbon had been looked at before or the top at least taken off because when it was put back together, the ribbon was folded under the keyboard in a way that made this problem possible.