Had an annoying full velocity problem with my Electro 3, followed these instructions and successfully repaired it myself. Thanks for posting this, saved me so much time and money!
This is nice to know. I used to play gigs with s Kurzweil SP88 light model. A couple times live a key would be silent. In fifteen minutes I was able to take it apart and clean the contact with ease. Roland failed me before that. Now Nord has filled in the gap. Thanks for this video.
Thank you so much for this video! Had an issue with the velocity on one key of my electro3. I've played almost all my gigs in the last two years on a different keyboard; and for organ sounds the velocity was not a problem. Yesterday I had to play some piano sounds as well on my electro3 on a big stage. So I really had to fix this quickly. Thanks to you, doing the repair on the instrument by myself worked just fine. And so great to have an instrument with a small repair service still working perfectly fine after all these years.
Thanks a lot! Main information for me was, that I wouldn't have to change the bubble contacts everytime, but just to clean them! I lately had 7 bad keys, but I didn'nt need any new one - all cleaned up. Excellent :-)
Thanks, I have a Nord Lead 4 and it's very similar ( the way to open it, the key system, etc) so I could repair a key easily following your advices. Thanks a lot !
Fiz o passo a passo e voltou a funcionar ! A tecla estava com problema, quando preconizava ela, a mesma estava sem sensibilidade e tocava muito alto. Agora está ok, muito obrigado ! 🇧🇷
Great video ..also using a drill driver can crack a circuit board..I learnt the hard way with one of those $20 IKEA rechargeable but non torque adjustable screw drivers. Peace
So that explains why my keyboard broke a few years back when I tried to fix it. I had a dead key, took it apart, cleaned the key that was broken with rubbing alcohol, cleaned a few more I saw that were dirty, and then even more of it broke. Well at least now I know why. Lol
Very interesting video. I thought that the method they use (not in Nord, generally) is to measure the TIME difference between the two contacts in order to derive the velocity. Are you sure they use capacitors for that? Their behaviour may change in time. It seems to be a very unstable method.
Hey thanks so much for your helpful video! On my Nord electro 3 I have the problem, that one key seems to have lost the "touch", so Everytime a play it, it sounds much louder/harder then the others. I musst play it veeery soft to not have a very high velocity. Do you think it's a contact problem and Cleaning would resolve it? Thanks for your help!! Greets from Leipzig/Germany :)
Yes, I just did it today, using a wet cotton swab on the contact under the rubber. It was enough to repair that loud key despite the contact having no visible dirt on it. A wipe on that contacts (top and bottom) solved the issue. I struggled a bit when un-mounting the printboard and ribbons on my electro3 HP76 and I should avoid removing it next time. It shall be possible to lift-up the keybed front just enough to let keys come off, otherwise blocked by the frame. Gruesse aus Aachen.
I used isopropyl alcohol and a Q-Tip to clean the pads on a non-functioning key .. It fixed the problem but I hope I didn’t ruin anything. I did not see any carbon being transferred to the Q-Tip?
My Nord Electro 3 started by not reacting a lot unless you really hit they key significantly too hard (which I didn't do once I found out what the extent of the problem was), but not only was the sound very unsatisfactory, now I just don't get any sound at all from that key. Strangely enough I think that the damaged/not working key happens to be B3 and more than half the songs I play as part of my regular repertoire are in Eb and Bb lol.....so B is not a key that I overuse (I mean, I often end up playing a bunch of songs in a bunch of keys, but my point is that B3 definitely isn't a note that I overuse.).....Still, now it's just not working anymore :S......Do you think that the work shown in this video would do the trick even if I now get zero sounds instead of having to hit it super loud to have some semblance of sound? Also, I have this Microkorg dans I've stopped playing for almost a year and when I tried taking it out of its case and playing it, half the keys just weren't working anymore. I'm thinking, maybe it's super dusty.....maybe a buddy of mine played on it and dropped water, beer, or coca colla, or something on it (Theory based on 2 different friends breaking 2 meaningful piece of gear/instrument......a condenser mic that got dropped on the ground.....had to change the special expensive capsule a great friend gave me before moving all the way across the country......And one dropping a plastic Trombone (A Pbone lol) that sounded kind of okay for the price and that was a gift from my mother....I had to ask the guy......"Hey, I was playing it an hour ago, you've tried playing it a little, and now the horn is cracked and there's another piece cracked and missing.....Did something happened?" In both case it was a "Yeah sorry, I dropped it".....from 2 different guys.....I really love my friends for not being mad at them now that I think of it lol....Anyways, I have no idea how the microkorg stopped working, but every scenario is a possibility...........You say that we should never use air spray or any kind of liquid......but if some sort of sticky liquid got dropped on it, or if there's a ton load of dust or dust stuck to the keys before of a cola or something....do these rules still apply? What would you suggest?......I'm sorry I'm a bit confused about what to do. Lately I've used a controller and connect it to multiple synths, but it's not exactly ideal all the tine. Any suggestion would be much appreciated. Thanks if you took the time to read this way too long message :). Thanks again for the videos. Keep up the good work.
I did this repair on my Nord stage compact and the messed up key worked for a little while but then went dead again so I tried to clean the contact once more today and even replaced the pad section with a new set of contact pads and the key is still not working. Do you have any insight on why this might be?
My wife has the same keyboard but the keys are producing quite loud mechanical noice when the are bouncing back after been used .. do you think it’s possible to modify with some soft material to lower the noise like seen on real acoustic quality pianos ?
The power supply module. If a few minutes go by before it shuts off then my guess is a cold solder joint or perhaps a regular or other IC getting too warm.
Damaged rubber pads are physically broken or torn. Once torn you have to replace the octave section because the rubber contact comes in 12 note and 1 x 13 note strip
Absolutely not. The key action is made in Italy by a company called Fatar. They put a very special white grease onto very specific parts of the action. This grease is called FLOIL and does not react with plastic and rubber. Don't spray anything inside modern electronics.
The dust and dirt that causes keys to have dirty contacts comes from outside of the keyboard. Fatar key actions are made in Italy and used by lots of companies. Roland makes some of its own actions, but some models of Roland use the same Fatar action.
No. You are thinking like an analogue technician and not understanding digital logic. There is no capacitor being charged. I am a keyboard tech with 40 years experience. I was regional technical manager for Technics musical instruments for 24 years. How the touch response works. There is a count down timer which counts from 127 down to 0. The first contact under the key tells the Microprocessor start counting backwards. The 2nd contract says STOP counting and read that value. So if you play a hard strike the start counting and stop counting contacts happen very soon so the value would be high probably close to 127. If you play a softly the time between the start counting backwards and the stop count is longer so the resulting time is longer resulting in a further count down. So if contact 1 is dirty the count down will never start and regardless of how hard you hit the volume will always be 127 on that key. If contact 2 is dirty then the stop count never happens and the Microprocessor will count all the way to 0. Which is zero volume for that note. The best way of cleaning the contacts is to wash the rubbers and the key contact circuit board in neat kitchen cleaner paste. Normally white creamy paste. Then rinse well in luke warm water. Let air dry for as many hours as it takes. Never use any kind of solvent because it destroys the carbon contract. There is no or almost no current flowing though the carbon contacts. It is a digital high and low which is typically 5v and 0v. (In some modern keyboards the high level of 5volt has been reduced to 3 volt) computers don't care all they need to know is there a high level or a low level. You fixed the keyboard because of your knowledge of mechanics rather than an understanding of digital circuits. Good job.
I've just followed this video closely and have managed to fix some keys on my Electro 4, thank you so much!!!
Had an annoying full velocity problem with my Electro 3, followed these instructions and successfully repaired it myself. Thanks for posting this, saved me so much time and money!
It's always fun to see what is underneath a machine and how things work.
So impressed with your confidence diving into that.
This is nice to know. I used to play gigs with s Kurzweil SP88 light model. A couple times live a key would be silent. In fifteen minutes I was able to take it apart and clean the contact with ease. Roland failed me before that. Now Nord has filled in the gap. Thanks for this video.
Thank you so much for this video! Had an issue with the velocity on one key of my electro3. I've played almost all my gigs in the last two years on a different keyboard; and for organ sounds the velocity was not a problem. Yesterday I had to play some piano sounds as well on my electro3 on a big stage. So I really had to fix this quickly. Thanks to you, doing the repair on the instrument by myself worked just fine. And so great to have an instrument with a small repair service still working perfectly fine after all these years.
Thank you so much, of all the videos in youtube, yours is the one with the best explanation. I was able to repair my compact keys with your help ❤
Thanks! Just followed your procedure and fixed mine.
Thanks a lot! Main information for me was, that I wouldn't have to change the bubble contacts everytime, but just to clean them! I lately had 7 bad keys, but I didn'nt need any new one - all cleaned up. Excellent :-)
Thanks!!! I just repaired my Electro 5D following your instructions. Same keybed. Cheers, Ralf
Thanks, I have a Nord Lead 4 and it's very similar ( the way to open it, the key system, etc) so I could repair a key easily following your advices. Thanks a lot !
Very helpful. Sorted out part of my puzzle.... thank you very much ! Previous repair I did myself was yamaha ypp55 contact circuit.
thank so much for the explanation about the way the sensor works, it saves me a tons of time !
Fiz o passo a passo e voltou a funcionar !
A tecla estava com problema, quando preconizava ela, a mesma estava sem sensibilidade e tocava muito alto.
Agora está ok, muito obrigado ! 🇧🇷
Good jazzman 👍
Many Thanks for this video !
Franck from France
So cool! Well done!
Love this channel.
Cool ！ It's so useful，thank you！
Gracias Bro!!!🇲🇽
The contacts ate not uniform in order to mimic both acoustic and electric piano. Ingenious really.
Thanks , about to do an electro 4 and this will help heaps
i have the electro 4 waterfall 73 , if you have the same, is it this keybed, would like to make sure before i take it apart ? thanks
Great video ..also using a drill driver can crack a circuit board..I learnt the hard way with one of those $20 IKEA rechargeable but non torque adjustable screw drivers.
Peace
So that explains why my keyboard broke a few years back when I tried to fix it. I had a dead key, took it apart, cleaned the key that was broken with rubbing alcohol, cleaned a few more I saw that were dirty, and then even more of it broke. Well at least now I know why. Lol
Very interesting video. I thought that the method they use (not in Nord, generally) is to measure the TIME difference between the two contacts in order to derive the velocity. Are you sure they use capacitors for that? Their behaviour may change in time. It seems to be a very unstable method.
Id would like to see you restore an acoustic piano one time
11:12 Used no threaded screw!? That’s awful!!
I was considering to buy a Nord keyboard, but I totally changed my mind.
thank you! My Nord Piano2 HP has the same problem. Do you think i can fix it following your video?
Hey thanks so much for your helpful video!
On my Nord electro 3 I have the problem, that one key seems to have lost the "touch", so Everytime a play it, it sounds much louder/harder then the others. I musst play it veeery soft to not have a very high velocity.
Do you think it's a contact problem and Cleaning would resolve it?
Thanks for your help!! Greets from Leipzig/Germany :)
Yes, I just did it today, using a wet cotton swab on the contact under the rubber. It was enough to repair that loud key despite the contact having no visible dirt on it. A wipe on that contacts (top and bottom) solved the issue.
I struggled a bit when un-mounting the printboard and ribbons on my electro3 HP76 and I should avoid removing it next time. It shall be possible to lift-up the keybed front just enough to let keys come off, otherwise blocked by the frame.
Gruesse aus Aachen.
i snapped a chassis node and cant find a replacement. is there a way to glue it back or otherwise fabricate a new node so the key doesnt stick up?
I used isopropyl alcohol and a Q-Tip to clean the pads on a non-functioning key .. It fixed the problem but I hope I didn’t ruin anything. I did not see any carbon being transferred to the Q-Tip?
I did the same because a tech told me so. Keyboard still works fine. 🤷🏻♂️
My Nord Electro 3 started by not reacting a lot unless you really hit they key significantly too hard (which I didn't do once I found out what the extent of the problem was), but not only was the sound very unsatisfactory, now I just don't get any sound at all from that key. Strangely enough I think that the damaged/not working key happens to be B3 and more than half the songs I play as part of my regular repertoire are in Eb and Bb lol.....so B is not a key that I overuse (I mean, I often end up playing a bunch of songs in a bunch of keys, but my point is that B3 definitely isn't a note that I overuse.).....Still, now it's just not working anymore :S......Do you think that the work shown in this video would do the trick even if I now get zero sounds instead of having to hit it super loud to have some semblance of sound?
Also, I have this Microkorg dans I've stopped playing for almost a year and when I tried taking it out of its case and playing it, half the keys just weren't working anymore. I'm thinking, maybe it's super dusty.....maybe a buddy of mine played on it and dropped water, beer, or coca colla, or something on it (Theory based on 2 different friends breaking 2 meaningful piece of gear/instrument......a condenser mic that got dropped on the ground.....had to change the special expensive capsule a great friend gave me before moving all the way across the country......And one dropping a plastic Trombone (A Pbone lol) that sounded kind of okay for the price and that was a gift from my mother....I had to ask the guy......"Hey, I was playing it an hour ago, you've tried playing it a little, and now the horn is cracked and there's another piece cracked and missing.....Did something happened?" In both case it was a "Yeah sorry, I dropped it".....from 2 different guys.....I really love my friends for not being mad at them now that I think of it lol....Anyways, I have no idea how the microkorg stopped working, but every scenario is a possibility...........You say that we should never use air spray or any kind of liquid......but if some sort of sticky liquid got dropped on it, or if there's a ton load of dust or dust stuck to the keys before of a cola or something....do these rules still apply? What would you suggest?......I'm sorry I'm a bit confused about what to do. Lately I've used a controller and connect it to multiple synths, but it's not exactly ideal all the tine. Any suggestion would be much appreciated.
Thanks if you took the time to read this way too long message :). Thanks again for the videos. Keep up the good work.
I did this repair on my Nord stage compact and the messed up key worked for a little while but then went dead again so I tried to clean the contact once more today and even replaced the pad section with a new set of contact pads and the key is still not working. Do you have any insight on why this might be?
Read my post.
My wife has the same keyboard but the keys are producing quite loud mechanical noice when the are bouncing back after been used .. do you think it’s possible to modify with some soft material to lower the noise like seen on real acoustic quality pianos ?
needs a new keyfelt installed. after years of use the keyboards will exibit a loud knocking noise on return.
My friend I have an electro 6hp. can the ram be increased by soldering ,do you know? Theoretically it should be able any ideas?
No you can't increase the ram size.
the way springs holding up the keys are so similar to Roland.
Roland used some Fatar keyboards in some of their products. Nord also use Fatar key actions.
My nord e3 is turning on then switching off a few mins later, what do you think the problem could be?
The power supply module. If a few minutes go by before it shuts off then my guess is a cold solder joint or perhaps a regular or other IC getting too warm.
What would a damaged rubber pad look like and what do you do if that's the problem?
Damaged rubber pads are physically broken or torn. Once torn you have to replace the octave section because the rubber contact comes in 12 note and 1 x 13 note strip
What about DRY lube spray, like Teflon? Just wondering
Absolutely not. The key action is made in Italy by a company called Fatar. They put a very special white grease onto very specific parts of the action. This grease is called FLOIL and does not react with plastic and rubber. Don't spray anything inside modern electronics.
My Nord 3 chow me something like ERROR when I turn it on and don't give me anything. can you help me
😂🎉❤
Are you South African? Sorry this is totally off topic but I'd just like to take a guess. I have a NE6D though :)
No he is not South African. I'm South African and our accents are different. He Sounds New Zealand.
Why are Nord keybeds so often faulty.? Not impressed. I have 35 year old Rolands still with perfect action.
I wonder if they showed a potential buyer what was inside for all that money, if they would still buy it.
The dust and dirt that causes keys to have dirty contacts comes from outside of the keyboard. Fatar key actions are made in Italy and used by lots of companies. Roland makes some of its own actions, but some models of Roland use the same Fatar action.
No. You are thinking like an analogue technician and not understanding digital logic.
There is no capacitor being charged. I am a keyboard tech with 40 years experience. I was regional technical manager for Technics musical instruments for 24 years.
How the touch response works. There is a count down timer which counts from 127 down to 0. The first contact under the key tells the Microprocessor start counting backwards. The 2nd contract says STOP counting and read that value.
So if you play a hard strike the start counting and stop counting contacts happen very soon so the value would be high probably close to 127.
If you play a softly the time between the start counting backwards and the stop count is longer so the resulting time is longer resulting in a further count down.
So if contact 1 is dirty the count down will never start and regardless of how hard you hit the volume will always be 127 on that key.
If contact 2 is dirty then the stop count never happens and the Microprocessor will count all the way to 0. Which is zero volume for that note.
The best way of cleaning the contacts is to wash the rubbers and the key contact circuit board in neat kitchen cleaner paste. Normally white creamy paste. Then rinse well in luke warm water. Let air dry for as many hours as it takes.
Never use any kind of solvent because it destroys the carbon contract.
There is no or almost no current flowing though the carbon contacts. It is a digital high and low which is typically 5v and 0v.
(In some modern keyboards the high level of 5volt has been reduced to 3 volt) computers don't care all they need to know is there a high level or a low level.
You fixed the keyboard because of your knowledge of mechanics rather than an understanding of digital circuits.
Good job.
i have the issue of a key reading 127 , will this technique in the video fix the problem ? as in using an eraser