Disassembling FATAR keyboard to clean - Help!

Update

'Just finished replacing all my contacts, and everything went smoothly and when I powered back up, all the notes play properly.

Couple of things to beware of. The rubber contacts need to be put on correctly, for if they are turned around, the notes will play at full loudness all the time.

You must look very closely for the queue. It is a very tiny little rubber nib, that are on one side of the strip, and not on the other side. I have marked them in the photos, so you know what to look for.

Make sure you make note on the old strips that you are taking off, which way they face.

Also, there is a 3 note strip for the lowest 3 notes on the keyboard. I did not replace mine. I don't play those notes all that often. If you need to, purchase an extra 12-strip and modify it into the "3". Or, take your old 12-strip at the top end of your keyboard, and cut 3 notes off from that, since those, too, should not be played very often and may suit you fine.
 

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Hi all.

Thanks for great instructions and pics.

I have PC2x and it damaged during transportation. :mad:

Couple of keys sounds "metallic" when i press them. Keys also "bounce" more than other keys when i release the keys. Otherwise keys works OK.

Do you have any idea what is broken inside fatar keyboard, and any ideas how to fix it?

Thanks in advance
 
you have one maybe two problems there... the bounce is because the keyweights are broken... the metalic sound could be you hitting the weights laying around inside or perhaps the keyrail is bent...
 
Does anyone know where to buy replacement contact boards for a Kurzweil PC88? does anyone know if the replacement boards the midi-store sells are compatable? It says it's for the SL series but they look the same.


HELP!!
 
replace the boards???? what did you do to them??? i own a pc88mx and have worked on like 50 of them and never needed to replace a board... and the sl boards should be the same but cant guarantee...
 
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..

Hi there, just wanted to say thanks so much for this info, I've had a nightmare trying to get it sorted out over here in the UK, apparently the UK supplier has been waiting for months for his back order and then he said it only comes as a complete unit with 2 PCBs anyway now, which sounds a bit over the top.

Anyway, Caren was really helpful, she'd got some in stock and I have now ordered a complete set from her as the Midi store didn't have any in stock when I contacted them. I will now be able to write tunes that use G4 again! :D
 
So glad!

Thanks for the news/update, Cliveloseby. It makes me glad to hear these stories and know that all the work is serving a good purpose!
 
Arrived

:). Well, they arrived this morning, so I am delighted, great service from Caron at Sweetwater and thanks to you, Toddskins, I reckon I can have a crack at it.

Thanks again mate!

Clive :D
 
Thank you, Toddskins...

I have a Studiologic Weighted key MIDI controller that had lost sensitivity on one key (the E below middle C). As it turns out, I had been in a severe motorcycle wreck and my friend came and took all of my musical equipment to his storage building. This was GREAT, save for when it rained, the water would strangely run BACK UP on the underneath side (or inside the shop!!) all on my beloved SL-880 pro!! Before powering up after my long road to recovery, I done what any good concerned owner would do. I took the screws out and looked to make sure that no water was evident before powering on; I blew out and cleaned to the best of my ability, all while looking on the board for any tell-tell signs of corrosion. Well, all went well and I powered on. I then noticed my "full on" key no matter how hard I hit the thing. I was concerned about getting this remedied. It just so happens that my brother is an electronics technician and he ended up finding your info here. I noticed the similarity to the guts of my SL-880 immediately, so we proceeded to duplicate the procedure. All went well, and my MIDI controller is back to 100% thanks to your wonderful advice and detailed photos. Thanks so much Toddskins for your hard work. :)
 
Awesome thanks so much my e flat was not working on my k2600!
but this post put me right !
I can add only one thing... I had some problems re-seating the rubber nipples back into the board... I found that using 2 different sizes of bent out paperclips, slip right down into the nipple and stretch it a bit so the whole rubber pad seems to seal out the dust better.. careful you could poke through the rubber though!
Thanks for the great post and the great site!
Arne
 
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Squeaky Keys on PC88

I just got my keyboard back from the shop after getting some broken keys replaces. Everything works fine now, but a few of my keys consistently squeak. I am willing to that the keyboard apart with the above steps, but what is the likely culprit and how do I fix it? I am pretty sure all my contacts are cleaned now. This is my keyboard's second visit to the shop and I hadn't been playing it that much.
 
IMHO these are the nicest MIDI controllers.

Ive fixed a few endbells and keys on an older one I bought for $20 that got one end run over...about $80 later it was perfect...felt as good as a bosendorfer grand.
 
Everything works fine now, but a few of my keys consistently squeak.

in most cases squeaky keys is indicative of a warped frame and/or the the little plastic guides that slide into the keys from below... both are allignment issues... pain in the ass and time consuming but doable by any diy affecionado..
 
Doubtful

hello, i have an alesis fusion 8hd.
My fusion have a fatar keyboard, the velocity of the black keys is more.
rubber contacts may be the cause?

thank you

All your black keys respond at a different velocity from the white keys???


Or is it just one note (a black key) that has a problem?


If all your black keys respond differently from the white keys, it is not a contact problem. Something else is going on, though even that would be hard to explain without a deliberate programming explanation.

If it's just one black note, then yes, it is almost certain to be a rubber contact issue.
 
hello toddskins, thank you for response.
yes all black keys.

Could be a defect in the black keys?(no in the rubber contacts)
for example: the part that touches the rubber contacts

or programing error?
 
Strange

I'm having a hard time envisioning what could cause this issue. Without a doubt, it's a programming glitch. But even so, I cannot think of any software menu that would affect only the black notes, and then only in their velocity.

Kurzweil workstations are known for their exhausting programming capabilities, and although I'm not familiar with one that would cause the sharp/flatted notes to be louder, I'm sure such a menu could exist, in other companies keyboards, too, no doubt.

So, it's definitely not a rubber contact problem. Go back to Page 1 of this thread and look at the photos. You can see that there is no way for the contacts to be affecting only the black notes. The contacts run up the cirquit board 1 thru 88, sequentially, that is, one right after the other. If something in the contacts were causing an issue, such as a baseball bat had been laid on them while your keyboard was opened and had been taken apart, well then, even in that case, the issue would affect white notes too. Indisciminately.

A menu in your synthesizer must be causing this. And if it's universal, that is, it affects the black notes on every and all synth programs, then we have narrowed it down even further to be a universal menu.

Universal menus affecting the velocity, no less. Narrowed down some more.

Next, look through your owner's manual for these things: velocities, programming, universal properties, default scalings.

Oh, by the way, if your keyboard can do different tunings, this MIGHT be wherein a problem could be connected. That is, although still highly unlikely, if there is a different tuning other than equal temperament, which was somehow affiliated with a velocity curve, and then somehow that velocity curve remained "on" when you went back to equal temperament.



This is such a peculiar problem that I'd almost reckon you were pulling a joke. IF all else fails, restore your keyboard after saving all your special programs, and when the keyboard is restored to its default settings, that will fix it.
 
I'm having a hard time envisioning what could cause this issue. Without a doubt, it's a programming glitch.

This is such a peculiar problem that I'd almost reckon you were pulling a joke. IF all else fails, restore your keyboard after saving all your special programs, and when the keyboard is restored to its default settings, that will fix it.

too weird... i actually can think of a way it could be a physical problem.. but that's no less likely than a programming issue... a hard reset is a good way to start as todd sugests...

ok so buckle in friends this from the too much information dept..

the way that we get velocity out of these things is every key has 2 switches... the first starts a clock the second stops it... the diff is your velocity...ok so far??

now consider the keys themselves... the stroke of the black keys doesn't always match the white..(a design decision) this nescessitates the switches being different for the black vs white... makes sense so far???

so if the keystripps are in there backwards it is possible that the velocity sensitivity would be off relative blk to wht...

but that still comes in under too weird as that means the strips were installed backwards at the factory and this has always been a problem... which he doesnt mention... and why didnt he take the damn thing back to the store right away?? or he tryed to clean them which he doesn't mention either...

geez this is giving me a head ache... were's my dilaudids...

so in closing let me quote steve allen... "i pass to kitty carlisle"
 
thank you.

i reset the keyboard and nothing,




i think that the problem could be:

-the black keys defective. (the part that pressing the ruber contact)

-the counterweigths of the black keys.

thank´s
 
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