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A couple of days ago some of the LEDs on my NS3 HP76 started lighting halfway up and sometimes flickering. It is only on the LEDs that shouldn't be turned on (eg. organ drawbars, when the organ is turned off).
Here's a video of the problem:
EDIT: More details here
Have any of you some idea of what's happening? Or experienced the same?
It hasn't been powered through a grounded cable. It is connected to my computer through USB, and there's two jack-cables connected to my Scarlett 18i20 interface (not grounded either).
Could the lack of ground be the problem?
My NS3 is also sort of dusty - as seen on the video. But the temperature and humid in the room os fine. I don't know, if dust could've caused the problem?
Let me hear, thanks
- Mathias
Last edited by mouritsen on 04 Jan 2023, 00:31, edited 2 times in total.
Quite strange, have you tried to disconnect it from the computer and see if it still happens? The next step would be to open the NS3 (if not under warranty, otherwise send it to service) and check the flat cables connecting the panel to the mainboard (disconnect then reconnect them, on both sides, to be sure they are well seated) and see if there is anything else that looks strange and may cause false contacts on the panel (dust, other)
Last edited by maxpiano on 03 Jan 2023, 18:22, edited 3 times in total.
Looks like the program you have active is using a Wheel morph...I have found that sometimes morphs will cause some quirky behavior if the controller (wheel, pedal, aftertouch) is partially engaged...depending on what the morph is doing. You might want to cancel your morphs and see if that changes anything...or look into the Wheel as a possible contributor to the LEDs flickering like that. I'd say also simplify things and take the computer out of the equation to diagnose if this might be related to that part of the rig.
Nords: NE2, NS2 88, NS3 Compact x 2
Live rig: NS3, Vent, Radial KL-8, Shure PSM-900 IEM Rig, UE18 & UE7 IEMs.
Studio: Hammond A-101 & Leslie 122, Yamaha CP-80, Yamaha S90, NS2, DSI Prophet-6, Vent II, Roland JX-8P.
It still happens if I disconnect USB and jack cables.
The weird thing is that it the turned on LEDs are changing position when I'm changing patch. On the empty patches the organ LEDs are not lighting - only the "store" button and the split-LED above F2.
Sounds like there may be a loose connection somewhere inside. One other suggestion - can you take your Program back to the most basic settings and see if you can figure out where the issue arises? For example, turn off all the sections across each panel and zero out their settings, then start with a basic piano, organ, synth, etc.
Nords: NE2, NS2 88, NS3 Compact x 2
Live rig: NS3, Vent, Radial KL-8, Shure PSM-900 IEM Rig, UE18 & UE7 IEMs.
Studio: Hammond A-101 & Leslie 122, Yamaha CP-80, Yamaha S90, NS2, DSI Prophet-6, Vent II, Roland JX-8P.
ericL wrote:Sounds like there may be a loose connection somewhere inside. One other suggestion - can you take your Program back to the most basic settings and see if you can figure out where the issue arises? For example, turn off all the sections across each panel and zero out their settings, then start with a basic piano, organ, synth, etc.
I watched your second video, and -- yeah -- that's pretty bizarre behavior to have one control make other LEDs change state. Even if it doesn't affect the actual sound, it'd be very distracting. On my checklist would be (1) detach anything other than power, (2) check for clean, grounded power of sufficient voltage, (3) reinstall firmware, (4) open the unit and look for loose connectors. Each has been a problem for me at one point or another that resulted in bizarre behavior. None was fatal
It seems like LED ghosting. Since they share the same matrix, when a LED is on, other LEDs are turned on and off as well. It's not the control itself or the knob that causes this, but the mere state of other LEDs, and it's not about the quality of the mains you fed the keyboard onto either.
My NS3 has had ghosting from day 1, but the difference is that it's barely noticeable even in the dark, whereas yours is very bright. A bit of ghosting is apparently normal and structurally unavoidable according to how the circuit has been done, but again your case is much more evident.
If one of your NS3's LEDs failed as a short circuit it would cause this kind of behaviour.
Did you notice if one LED does not ever turn on? This is complicated because some LEDs appear to use multiple colours (note that red+green = yellow so if you see yellow it means both red and green at that location illuminate).
Alternatively, a piece of conductive debris on an LED control line (or between two LED control lines) might cause this also, but is much harder to locate without schematics and PCB layout map.
