Allen ADC-520 pedals out below G flat?

[tomholsonback]

Hi there. I recently bought a nice old ADC-520 and have a couple of problems in the pedal division.
1. Most of the pedal stops are working. However, there is no sound from the Bourdon 16 or the Lieblich Gedeckt 16. The Bassoon 16 is fine. Any ideas where to start troubleshooting?
2. None of the pedal stops produce sound below the lowest G flat, meaning the lowest 6 pedals are inop. A couple of the other pedals are slow to respond or intermittent. The pedal board itself is simple and probably isn't the problem. Any suggestions for cleaning contacts or other measures inside the organ cabinet?

The pedal board I sent a little futzy anyway. The previous owner told me to lift them off and adjust the fit if there was a cipher in the pedal division. What I hear sometimes isn't a cipher, it's many notes sounding at once. But moving the pedal board around a little makes that's problem go away.

I'm running the sound through headphones only using instructions found here. Overall, the sound through the Behringer mixer is pleasant with a little digital effect added and I'm very happy to have found that information.

This is my first organ at 51and I've wanted to learn to play since my earliest church choir days. I'm excited to learn to play. Not sure I'll ever pull off the Bach works I love so much but I'll be happy if I can just play from the hymn book one day. Any advice will be received gratefully.
Tom

[myorgan]

Tomholsonback,

Welcome to the Forum and the world of organ owners.

You were given the correct advice about the pedals. They need to be aligned appropriately in order to work. If you're hearing several notes sounding, you will probably not be able to get anything else to sound. That is because an Allen digital is limited to producing 12 notes at once. Pedal alignment is important. On one of my organs, I have permanently placed a folded paper towel in the U-shaped holder on the left side of the console. It was necessary to make sure the Pedals worked properly.

Once you have solved the Pedal issue, then you can work on the other issue. I'm guessing your organ has 2 audio channels, and it sounds like one of them may not be working. Once the pedals are repaired, you can then check all the stops to see which ones work and which do not. Post the results here, and we can provide further advice.

Again, welcome, and I hope you continue to participate here long after your organ's issues are resolved.

Michael

[you795a]

The full size pedalboard should have some adjustable glides at the back that you can raise the back of the pedalboard so that it brings the magnets a little closer to the reedswitches. It may help, not guaranteed though. Also, make sure the pedalboard is in the hangers that are mounted on the organ. The pedalboard must sit in them. Another thing that you can try, there may be some play from left to right when the pedalboard is in position, you can try the move it to the left or right and see if that helps. Also, make sure none of the magnets are broken, they break very easily.

[jbird604]

You either have a broken wire between the pedal switch assembly or else a bad CM board. Look for the broken wire first, especially if there was a cat involved.

[tomholsonback]

All the stops are working in the great and swell and all pedal stops are working except the two listed above. I'll check the pedalboard more closely for adjustable glides. Thanks for the suggestion and for the responses.