Allen tone card issues

[BaconByte]

So I recently picked up an Allen MOS-2 organ. Beautiful contraption. Out of all my current organs this one is wonderful. But alas I still have something to fix on it. The card reader. It is not reading any cards. I thought the problem would be that of the little lights inside burnt out. Seems to be a common issue. So I took it apart and gave them a test. They all light up so the issue isn't that. What are some other causes for card readers to fail?

Another issue which may be related is Alterable 2 and 4 sound exactly the same and alterable 1 and 3 are exactly the same but not like 2 and 4. What do the pros think?

-BaconByte

[davidecasteel]

If the card reader is not reading cards, how is there any sound on the Alterables?

I'm not an expert on the card readers, but I've read in past posts that dust can accumulate in the holes where the sensors are. Anything that prevented reading either 8 or 9 punches would render the reader inoperative; blocking other sensors would make the tone different but not missing.

David

[BaconByte]

If the card reader is not reading cards, how is there any sound on the Alterables?

I'm not an expert on the card readers, but I've read in past posts that dust can accumulate in the holes where the sensors are. Anything that prevented reading either 8 or 9 punches would render the reader inoperative; blocking other sensors would make the tone different but not missing.

David

I'm not entirely sure. There is no sound on the alterable stops when first switched on. But when I move the selector switch over to one it causes the same tones to sound all the time like I descried above.

[davidecasteel]

That sounds as if there is something wrong with the card reader circuit board. I'll let the Allen experts carry the ball from here.

David

[BaconByte]

That sounds as if there is something wrong with the card reader circuit board. I'll let the Allen experts carry the ball from here.

David

Sounds like it. The phenomenon does not occur while the card reader is out so it doesn't sound like anything with the computers. Hopefully the Allen techs can chime in on the next step is.

[davidecasteel]

I know this sounds crazy, but are you sure you're entering the card oriented correctly? The edge with the cut corner should enter first and the cut should be at the right. Any other orientation will probably not enter any data into the organ.

Sorry, but I had to ask.

David

[BaconByte]

Hah I understand. But I am putting the cards in correctly unfortunately. I have had some time to play around with the card reader and the phototransistors are working as well so my next bit of fun is to test the other set of transistors on the board. Perhaps I'll be lucky and one is out and thats whats been causing this.

Still if any Allen techs would like to chime in!!!!

[davidecasteel]

I believe that other threads on this subject have discussed making sure that the power supply provides the correct voltage--that it's touchy. You might want to search for those other threads.

David

[jbird604]

The lamp voltage may be set too high. Start with 8 volts and see how that works.

Dust and debris in the reader itself can cause faulty readings and erratic operation.

Most of the time a thorough disassembly, careful cleanup and reassembly is all that's needed, other than calibrating the lamp voltage, which is done by trial and error. Advance the voltage upward by half-volt steps until it fails, then go down by half volts until it fails. Set the voltage halfway between these two points.

[davidecasteel]

It's been 3 weeks since the last post. Did you ever get the card reader to work?

David

[BaconByte]

I did finally get to the bottom of the problem. The voltage wasn't set right and some of the ribbon cable was broken and not making contact. Setting the voltage took me for a loop. I could not a terminal I could test it on so I just swung the voltage to what I assume was down and progressively turned it until the card reader worked again.

[davidecasteel]

Glad to hear that the problem has been fixed.

David

[myorgan]

I did finally get to the bottom of the problem. The voltage wasn't set right and some of the ribbon cable was broken and not making contact.

Bacon,

Thank you for sharing the solution. I'm a bit worried about the ribbon cable, but I assumed you were able to fix it? Thank you for getting back in contact.

Michael

[BaconByte]

It was a gentle fix but an easy one. I did not replace the entire cable just the damaged section with a little bit of ribbon cable left over from a dead PC.