How to clean drawbars on T-500

[fuzilbear]

Hello all!

Having not fully mourned the passing of my T-200....although, it still may be resurrected, I have turned my immediate attention to my newly acquired T-500. It has several issues. I think I would like to start by cleaning the drawbars first-- none of them seem to work..although, I did get the pedal drawbar to work once. The presets work fine and all the notes/keys seem to work OK. I'm reading conflicting things about how to go about cleaning them, so I need your help.

• I've read to not use Deoxit D5 because the T has plastic on the drawbars and they will get damaged
• Can I use Deoxit F5 instead?--it says it safe on plastic

I am hoping the forum can direct me to a link or post that explains how to clean drawbars on a T series--preferably with step by step instructions and pictures.

Probably the second problem I would like to tackle would be the annoying hum that gets louder the farther the expression pedal is pressed down. I'm thinking of disconnecting the cassette deck and drum unit. Might that help with the hum?

• Is disconnecting the cassette deck as easy as merely cutting the wires?
• It seems like I saw something that the drum unit needs to be by-passed somehow rather than simply cutting wires because of the "auto-accompaniment" feature?

Any information and advice will be greatly appreciated! Thank you, John

[Bobmann]

Deoxit D5 will not harm plastic. I have been using it for many years and never had an issue, and I believe that others will echo this observation.
I do not think that any of the DeOxit products will harm plastic.

I would normally prefer to take the entire DB apart for a thorough and proper cleaning, but there are times that a fix in the field is necessary or the owner is not willing to pay for the hours is can take to do this.
This method works well, and as far as I know will last a long time.

I have never seen the insides of any T model, so my method may have to be adapted somewhat.
You will have to gain access to the rear of the DB somehow. On an H for example, there is a lot of sheet metal that has to be removed.

I use cotton swabs...but not those that are sold in the drug store, like "Q-Tips".
I use the swabs that I use to clean my guns. The cotton is tightly wound and is less likely to shed fibers. They are also ona wooden stick rather than a flexible plastic rod like the cosmetic swabs. I am sure that there is a sporting goods store in your area that sells firearm supplies.

Again from the back, push the DB in...which means that the DB us pulled out all the way as viewed from the front.

Soak the swab with D5 and carefully insert it into the space above the contact.
Make sure that the swab stays in the center of the contact. Work it in and out a couple times, rotating the swab each time.
Depending on what the swab looks like after cleaning one DB, I would hesitate to do more than a couple of DB with each swab; do not be frugal with them. These are usually sold in packs of 100.
On some models, like the H, I have to hold the swab stick with pliers in order to reach into the back of the DB. They do make these swabs with long sticks but I normally do not have any, I use the ones with the short sticks.
In extreme cases, I have had to first use mineral spirits (odorless Mineral Spirits as found in the paint section, NOT Naptha, and DO NOT use denatured Alcohol. If you have doubts, put a couple drops on the top of the plastic housing and see how it reacts before putting anything inside the DB) to clean gross amounts of grease and dirt out then after allowing it to dry then following up with DeOxit D. Note that this only applies if they are really gunked up.

As far as the hum...my guess is that your power supply caps are in need of replacement.
Other causes can be bad ground somewhere, bad shields on a wire, or missing sheet metal shields.
I am sure others with more experience with the T will be able to help more.

Disconnecting parts to see where the hum originates is a pretty standard method of troubleshooting, and it will pinpoint where the problem is.

Bob

[einstein magoo]

me too

I just cleaned the drawbars on my 1962 / 63 L100 (103) last Sunday. Mine were not terrible but were very crackly and intermittent, sometimes loosing all tone depending on where they were set.

I just got in the back of the organ, already had back and top off for other work, pushed all drawbars in and one at a time gently depressed the leaf spring and aimed a short shot of CRC contact cleaner upward in the back of the drawbar. I shot three or four at a time then worked the dog-***t out of the drawbars back and forth for a couple minutes. Then went on to the next two or three.

When finished, checked it out and all were working cleanly and smoothly with no ill affect. Finished with a tiny shot of CRC Power Lube in the same locations, again working the drawbark. Wiped offf any excess lube, wasn't much cause I used it very sparingly, and drawbars are now top notch excellent in function and operate smoothly. No melted or deformed plastic. CRC cans indicate "safe for use on most plastics".

I have been playing and cleaning on the thing each night since Sunday, and everything is working great. Close inspection each night shows no problems with my cleaning technique or product choice.

Now this was a living room kept, pretty good shape, rarely played organ that has been dusted frequently over the years and only the innards were very dusty from not being exposed for more that probably 15 years at previous last oiling.

Good luck with yours!

[fuzilbear]

thank you Bob...I will let you know how things work out...John

[chbelt]

Hi John. My T-500's drawbars were also completely non-working when I got it a little over a year ago. I completely disassembled the drawbar unit to clean the contacts and busbars. This forum helped me figure out how to get access to the unit. I used mineral spirits to clean out the grease and a pencil eraser and CRC QD cleaner followed by CRC 2-26 lubricant to clean contacting surfaces. This brought all the drawbars back to life, and I haven't had any issues since.

Take pictures before you start, because some of the wires soldered to the ends of the drawbars are almost guaranteed to break off. In fact, you might want to take pictures of all the organ guts, because this thing is a rat's nest, and the wires kind of like to break off.

As for the hum, it's common on the T-500, although mine doesn't have that problem. There's a capacitor laying oddly next to the my amp transformer that may have been retrofitted. Be sure the black ground wire is attached to the RIII unit on the right (when facing back of organ) bottom corner. Mine hummed when that was disconnected. I disconnected the cassette unit by tracing its wires back to their source and detaching them there. It didn't affect anything.

When removing the lid be careful not to drop it on the autoaccompaniment board and smash it like I did:'(. Consider adding lid hinges to avoid this.

When I got my organ about half the keys had broken attachment posts making them loose and rattly. I devised a repair using hockey tape and super glue that has worked well in case you also have that problem and are a cheapskate like me.

Enjoy your organ!

Hello all!

Having not fully mourned the passing of my T-200....although, it still may be resurrected, I have turned my immediate attention to my newly acquired T-500. It has several issues. I think I would like to start by cleaning the drawbars first-- none of them seem to work..although, I did get the pedal drawbar to work once. The presets work fine and all the notes/keys seem to work OK. I'm reading conflicting things about how to go about cleaning them, so I need your help.

• I've read to not use Deoxit D5 because the T has plastic on the drawbars and they will get damaged
• Can I use Deoxit F5 instead?--it says it safe on plastic

I am hoping the forum can direct me to a link or post that explains how to clean drawbars on a T series--preferably with step by step instructions and pictures.

Probably the second problem I would like to tackle would be the annoying hum that gets louder the farther the expression pedal is pressed down. I'm thinking of disconnecting the cassette deck and drum unit. Might that help with the hum?

• Is disconnecting the cassette deck as easy as merely cutting the wires?
• It seems like I saw something that the drum unit needs to be by-passed somehow rather than simply cutting wires because of the "auto-accompaniment" feature?

Any information and advice will be greatly appreciated! Thank you, John