Ailing Allen ADC-4000

[Bruise in the Muttastery]

Greetings,
My ADC-4000 has now reached the point where it cannot be played for more than five minutes without exhibiting evidence of "bad boards" in the cage.

I'm wondering if anyone has an ADC-4000 that is just sitting around or that is being parted out that I could either borrow to test or acquire to replace these boards. They are the MA-1 and KA-1 boards. At this point I do not know which is going or gone.

I'm retired and on fixed income and don't have the $500 to have the Allen tech come look at it, and also don't have the $1500 to $3000 to get new boards.

Thanks for help, advice, assistance, etc.

Bruise in the Muttastery

[myorgan]

Bruise,

Direct your inquiry to JBird604. He used to play an ADC-4000 at church, and will probably have advice of how to narrow down your problem with your existing equipment.

In a direct answer to your question, though, occasionally Allen organs are parted out on eBay or other websites, but I don't recall an ADC-4000 being parted out yet. I also get from your post that you're not terribly interested in waiting for one to become available, either. Keep in mind that some boards are interchangeable between organs, while others are not. JBird604 can help you with that.

Best of luck finding out what is wrong.

Michael

[jbird604]

Hello Bruise,

Welcome to Organ Forum. I recognize you from the Allen Organ group on Yahoo, I think. I had a 4000 at church for a while and enjoyed it very much. There isn't a lot to go wrong with one of those. You might have nothing worse than a dirty card-edge connector or a chip not making good contact in a socket. Or there could be a bad solder joint in the cage power supply or a capacitor that has leaked out on the supply. Or a battery-leakage problem in the cage. Or a problem with the time-delayed voltage in the cage. Fortunately, the 4000 is a little less complicated than some other ADC models, pretty much just the console multiplexer, the cage, and the amps, so there are fewer possible points of trouble.

It's hard to diagnose without considerable detail, so please post and tell exactly what happens after the organ has been on for a few minutes. Voices going dead? Crackling or popping noises? Depending on the symptoms, I might be able to help you zero in on which board or other component is bad. I'll be checking the forum every day or two for your reply.

[don60]

Bruise, I sent you a private message a couple of days ago.

Don

[Bruise in the Muttastery]

Thanks, Michael.

I was told today by the Allen tech that the problem is in my "power source" and that board needs to be replaced. He said it was very expensive and when I mentioned that I was considering switching over to Hauptwerk or a similar program he indicated that that would be less expensive and probably more to my satisfaction.

In the mean time, I would like to find a used "power source" to hold me over until I get the other system in place.

Thanks so much for your help.

[Bruise in the Muttastery]

Hi John,
Yep... it's me from the Yahoo list. As I mentioned above to Michael, the Allen tech gave me a diagnosis of a failing "power source" which is the first board inserted into the cage, next to the MA and KA boards. He indicated that Allen no longer repairs them and that the new ones are quite expensive. He did not seem to feel that the ADC-4000 was worth doing to a lot of expense (which is how I got the organ, since the church didn't want to spend any money on the little things that were wrong which were also expensive to fix.).

I am looking for a replacement "power source" board that I could use while I'm getting the MIDI installed, acquiring a computer to run the Hauptwerk, GrandOrgue, or whatever system I find workable.

It seems that my biggest problem is that I don't want a BIG organ, or BIG samples, etc. And even though it might be possible to configure a small to medium sized instrument I would still have to purchase everything necessary to accommodate the BIG one.

Anyway, that's where things stand right now. I get to play the organ for about five to ten minutes a day for the time being. So, if anyone hears of a used "power source" board that want a good home..... I'M HERE!

Thanks again to everyone for your help.

Don60..... your message did not make it. I hate to think that you were dumped in with the SPAM (ICCH!), but I seldom check that file. Please resend, to [email protected] and maybe send one to [email protected] just in case. I'll be on the look out.

Thanks again.

Bruise in the Muttastery

[davidecasteel]

Hi, Bruise. (David in Dallas from OrganChat) I hope you find a way to fix your problem.

David

[jbird604]

Bruise,

Did the tech try taking out the power supply board and re-soldering it? I recently had to do that to a cage supply and at the same time discovered a leaking capacitor, which cost about a dollar. I sold a bunch of ADC Allens back in the 80's and I don't know of any that have needed the cage supply actually replaced. No particularly special parts in that supply, just ordinary diodes, capacitors, regulators, etc. I think it would be quite easy to renovate a simple power supply board, especially since a new one costs so much.

I personally wish I had the ADC4000 back that I passed on to another church. It was one of the sweetest little Allens I ever played. Would be a shame for yours to be ditched for want of a simple power supply fix.