Nord User Forum

My Lead 2 has been in storage for a while and now one of the keys isn't working properly. It initially would continuously hold if pressed but now only plays one note then stops completely.

Ive opened it up and cleaned the pad etc, still no joy, but noticed that the trace around the pad is corroded, could that be the problem? Or is likely to be the carbon?

Im reasonable competent at soldering so no major problem in repair if at all possible depending what is required

Any help much appreciated

I don't see anything wrong with the traces in the photo. The pads are the black areas. I do see what might be a cracked/scratched pad, or could just be an artifact of the photo. Not sure if that would have any effect on the key working though.

The track on the top looks corroded (dark green) so top-left carbon pad, of teh group of four in the middle of the picture, may be disconnected from its track (see how the pad on the right of the picture has its track OK instead)

First of all I'd check if that's the case (with a multimeter) then if it is and there is at least a little bit of metal still solderable o the pad side I'd attempt rebuilding the track (using a thin copper wire). Of course this is not an easy fix so maybe it is better to have it done by an expert service workshop.

You can also buy silver trace markers (pens) that lay a conductive silver line down - if you confirm that the corroded trace is the problem, buy one of those. They're used quite often to repair circuit boards that have similar damage - no soldering and no thickness (to mess up the rubber bubbles) to be concerned about. They need a good, bare connection on both ends, though - in that case you may wish to use a little flux (the kind you can clean off with pure isopropyl alcohol, so it leaves no residue) and a clean, dry soldering iron to prep the endpoints properly. It's not an advanced technique and these circuits carry very little current, they're just sensing whether the "switch" is closed or open, so you can probably try it without the flux and it may well work perfectly fine.

Thanks for the replies, pretty much confirmed what i was thinking. Next step is to check the continuity of the trace and take it from there. Might have a check for any corrosion else where to while I'm at it