Getting crumbs out of keybed?!

[Westside Ryan]

Howdy,

I roommate's daughter tripped and accidentally dumped a plate of cookies on my C2D! Is there a fairly easy way to open it up so that I can get the crumbs out?

Thanks!

-Ryan

[Mooser]

That is thoroughly unfortunate. But it's sort of hard to offer any advice without knowing what kind of cookies they were. Chocolate chip? Snicker-doodles? Ginger snaps? Oreos? Raisin oatmeal? Fudge cookies? Rum-ball cookies? Milano's? Women's-fingers? Each cookie crumbles, but in its own way.

More info is needed. But I would start by....nope, gotta know what kind cookie. Offering advice without knowing that could be a recipe for disaster!

[BC_C2D]

Take off the right side by removing the six (I think) screws. Pulling off one of the wood sides will open up access to the entire inside. Just turn the keyboard up on its end. The crumbs should fall out. Might need to use a vacuum cleaner.

BC

[analogika]

More info is needed. But I would start by....nope, gotta know what kind cookie. Offering advice without knowing that could be a recipe for disaster!

Yeah, depending on the type, he's in a real dip.

[Westside Ryan]

Thanks for the info BC!

To be honest I don't even know what most of the cookies were called! I do know that there were sugar cookies with sprinkles involved, and some cookies with Hershey Kisses on them, but no chocolate chip cookies. Hope that helps!

[Mooser]

Rum balls, perhaps? Anything with powdered sugar? I think Mooser is perhaps suffering from recent holiday cookie deprivation (or overload?) and trying to hunt down some more cookies to satisfy his cravings.

Unlike most all of Nord's keyboards, on the C-series organs the wooden end cheeks can be removed by removing all of the visible screws on them. I don't think there's any particular reason to prefer to remove one side vs. the other; I'd remove both and have an inspection and to shake out anything loose in there.

Then again, you're not talking about a toy piano or a kazoo here. If there is any significant amount of debris in there, then complete disassembly really is called for, as distasteful (no pun intended?) that may seem. By the very nature of the design, anything which falls in between the keys is going to land on the keybed contacts beneath those interkey gaps and effectively provide a reservoir of foreign matter simply waiting to be sucked into any given note's key contact surfaces. Keep in mind that every time you release a note, air is pulled into the contact chamber. And you'll be better off scheduling a repair in advance on your time frame rather than putting it off until the inevitable day when you really really need to rely on your instrument for that important gig and then have Murphy's Law bite you in the backside.

Bless,

Pablo

[Westside Ryan]

I took off both sides and gave the organ a good shake. I didn't notice anything come out. Maybe I got lucky?

So there is no way to clean the contacts by yourself? It would have to be sent somewhere to be cleaned?

Thanks,
Ryan

[Mooser]

Hi Ryan,

I didn't say there's no way to clean contacts yourself, but it is an extremely involved operation on a C-series organ and better left in the hands of people who have experience with the operation. Some Nord owners may have considerable keyboard repair skills and others may not. In the interest of being "on the safe side" these kinds of responses are slanted towards those who do not. Personally, I might be willing to risk assisting someone over the phone with those kinds of repairs on older, simpler and less valuable instruments, but due to the complexity of the C-series build and the dollar value of a C2D, I would not be comfortable with that in this kind of situation. Someone else may feel differently. There are many things that can go wrong, and being on the other end of the phone line while someone inadvertantly damages their very expensive instrument is not a happy feeling.

All Nords use Fatar keybeds, which are quite generic to the world of keyboards at large. Any reasonably competent keyboard tech should be able to handle that job. Thus, most people who are located in or near any large metro areas in the USA are likely to have someone reasonably close and be able to avoid packing and shipping.

Pablo

[Mooser]

Thanks for the explanation of what happens when things go into the keyboard Pablo. That was very informative. Hadn't thought about the air movement involved.

[Westside Ryan]

Thanks for the information Pablo!