Disassembling FATAR keyboard to clean - Help!

[Toddskins]

So now I have the circuit board on my table. I have pushed the rubber pegs from behind, to loosed the rubber contacts.

I had no problem pulling up on them to pull them free, to reveal the electrical contacts beneath. Nevertheless, do it carefully, so as not to rip the rubber.

You may be replacing contacts in their entirety, in which case, you do not need to be as careful about ripping a rubber.

Take a Q-Tip, dipped in isopropyl rubbing alcohol, and clean the electrical surface points.

Also, run the alcohol along the inside of the rubber cups. Use the Q-tip to push the rubber molding back into form.

I believe my D# was stuck, due to a cock-eyed position. I spent a little extra time pushing the outer bowl form of the rubber cup.

The cup, is shown in this picture with 2 black contacts in it. There are a pair of them. Clean those, too.

When done, do everything in reverse to put it back together.

[Corndog]

I have no qualms hauling apart vintage guitars but keyboards scare the shit outta me!!!

[dementedchord]

those nipples inside the rubber booties need to be cleaned as well and remember that those springs are 2 different sizes/tensions so get them back in right or the feel will be screwed...

[Pavlo]

Hi everybody.

Thanks to Todd for his complete and illustrated explanation about the rubber-contact cleaning. I have a PC88 and my question: Is the FATAR AMS-25640190 the Rubber-Contact strip that the PC88 uses? If don't... Which is the reference? or Is possible to find it?

I think that it's time to change the rubber-contact of my keyboard, after 6-7 hours of use each day for about TEN years!

Thanks a lot!

[Toddskins]

Hi everybody.

Thanks to Todd for his complete and illustrated explanation about the rubber-contact cleaning. I have a PC88 and my question: Is the FATAR AMS-25640190 the Rubber-Contact strip that the PC88 uses? If don't... Which is the reference? or Is possible to find it?

I think that it's time to change the rubber-contact of my keyboard, after 6-7 hours of use each day for about TEN years!

Thanks a lot!

I think the only way you can find out for sure is by calling Kurzweil direct. The techie I got on the phone was fairly helpful. Ask him directly, what the part number is for your PC88, and see if they can sell them to you. Bypass intermediaries, if possible.


http://kurzweilmusicsystems.com/SupportUSAndCanada.php


From that link/page, here is the phone number info. to call:

(310) 637-2000 x145 (8:00a - 5:00p PST, M-F)

[Pavlo]

I got it. I'll keep in touch for news about this business.

Best regards!

[Toddskins]

Hi everybody.

Thanks to Todd for his complete and illustrated explanation about the rubber-contact cleaning. I have a PC88 and my question: Is the FATAR AMS-25640190 the Rubber-Contact strip that the PC88 uses? If don't... Which is the reference? or Is possible to find it?

I think that it's time to change the rubber-contact of my keyboard, after 6-7 hours of use each day for about TEN years!

Thanks a lot!

Okay. Here's what I have discovered after a few phone calls to 3 different places.

1) The rubber contacts that are used on ANY Fatar keyboard, are all the same. They use the same part for all of their keyboards.

This means that the part and picture of the rubber contacts I posted above (at the top of this forum), are the same contacts my Kurzweil K2500X needs, as is also true for your Kurzweil PC-88, Kurzweil K2600X, and most other manufacturers who use Fatar keyboards. Again, this is because these keyboards are actually FATAR keyboards, which kept the same part for all of their keyboards! Wonderful!

2) When replacing the rubber contacts (according to Sweetwater's technicians), you are well-advised to replace all of them. In the 88-key keyboard, this requires six of the 12-contacts, and one of the 13. That leaves 3 notes unaccounted for, and now I realize I guess I need to make another phone call. hmmmm Anyway.... moving on...

Quantity______Part name__________________Part No.
___6________12-contact_________________AMS 13.12
___1________13-contact_________________AMS 13.13

AMS stands for American Music Supply, which is Fatar's distributor. At least it is in the USA.

The 13-contact strip goes at the top end of the keyboard, and I asked if the 13 could be modified into a 12, and was told "No, because the rubber nobs that stick into the circuit board are at different dimensions and will not fit properly into the other places along the board where the 12's go."


Presently, this is September 04, 2008, Sweetwater has the 13 rubber contact in stock, but not the 12's which I was told they would not get until October. Verified by talking to Kurzweil's tech rep in Washington state who said that Kurzweil will not get any rubber contacts in stock until October, 2008. They have been on back-order for 7 months, already.

The www.MIDI-store.com (based out of Pheonix, AZ) does have the 12-contact strips in stock, but none of the 13's. So, you have to do what I just did. Order the 12's from the MIDI-store, and the 13 from Sweetwater.

At Sweetwater, you need to ask for the Keyboard parts desk, which is manned by Karen. Or, call directly to her extension at 1-800-222-4700 x.1417 You cannot order these parts from Sweetwater's website.

But, knowing what we know now, any keyboard store that has rubber contacts in stock, more than likely will be able to accomodate your need, so long as the rubber contacts they have in stock go to Fatar keyboards. So you might be able to locate parts from other music stores or technical shops.


3) Oh, one last thing. The contacts from the MIDI-Store.com are only $4.00/ea whereas the same part at Sweetwater is close to $8/ea.

[mikerobe]

Hats off to Toddskins ...thanks very much for taking the time to share this with us. You may have just saved me several hundred pounds (or dollars etc), as I've been thinking of giving up and buying a new master keyboard...very annoying when it's only one note that doesn't work on an otherwise perfectly good keyboard.

The next-to-lowest E on my FATAR Studio 500 has been stuck at a velocity of 1 for several years...I'm ashamed to say I'd even found myself writing in keys which don't require the note. Anyway, last week I took a deep breath, opened it up and saw all the bits you have described. I took off the board/rubber strip assembly and vacuumed everything, thinking that might do the trick. It didn't, so now I'll follow your directions as to removing the rubber strip and using a cleaning solution etc.

I'll let you know if it works - talking of which...and very important this...did it work for you?!!

[Toddskins]

Hats off to Toddskins ...thanks very much for taking the time to share this with us. You may have just saved me several hundred pounds (or dollars etc), as I've been thinking of giving up and buying a new master keyboard...very annoying when it's only one note that doesn't work on an otherwise perfectly good keyboard.

The next-to-lowest E on my FATAR Studio 500 has been stuck at a velocity of 1 for several years...I'm ashamed to say I'd even found myself writing in keys which don't require the note. Anyway, last week I took a deep breath, opened it up and saw all the bits you have described. I took off the board/rubber strip assembly and vacuumed everything, thinking that might do the trick. It didn't, so now I'll follow your directions as to removing the rubber strip and using a cleaning solution etc.

I'll let you know if it works - talking of which...and very important this...did it work for you?!!

In my 1st instance, it turned out that cleaning the contacts was not the problem, but that the rubber contact bowl or bulb form, was stuck in the wrong position, similar to a brand new baseball cap that starts losing its form.

So in the process of cleaning, I pushed the rubber back into the correct position, and then it worked again correctly for a few days, before it got stuck again. I have since purchased the rubber contacts to replace them, but have not yet done so, because when I bang on surrounding notes, it causes the rubber "bulb" to pop back into the correct position.

I have been staring at my new rubber contact parts on my counter for a couple of weeks now, not looking forward to taking the keyboard apart again to do the work, but I know I will get around to it any day now.

Glad all the photos and links are helpful to you. You might just want to buy the contacts (or at least one strip of 12) and replace it since you are going through all the trouble of dismantling it. It may just need cleaning, but then rubber may wear out and it could be that it might just be wise to replace the rubber strip, in which case the shipping expense would be the most expensive portion of the bill, if you live outside the USA. The part is only $4/ea.

[mikerobe]

Ah yes...good idea. At $4 it has to be worth ordering the rubber strip and waiting until it arrives before dismantling the keyboard again...plus if I mess it up I won't be keyboardless.

Will report back.