L102 - no sound (First Post)

[Jeff Gascoyne]

Thanks.

Broken key is a snapped ‘lug’ visible when I take the key off. Suspicion this is section of a larger part with access needing pretty major dismantling like removing all the keys?

My pretension to expert status has collapsed as I don’t understand the volume pedal return mechanism. Surely it’s not just the return spring of the brass plate interrupting the light of the LDR mechanism?

[Drawbar Dave]

Not sure if my response got sent okay. Essentially all combinations were good for the tappex Reverb unit but nothing on the keys.

I'm in Stockport.

Thanks for the valve check details I see three other valves of the same nominal type...are they next for a swap around?

Thanks.

Broken key is a snapped ‘lug’ visible when I take the key off. Suspicion this is section of a larger part with access needing pretty major dismantling like removing all the keys?

My pretension to expert status has collapsed as I don’t understand the volume pedal return mechanism. Surely it’s not just the return spring of the brass plate interrupting the light of the LDR mechanism?

I think your snapped lug is actually a key actuator. Can you post a picture?

[Wes]

Expression pedal is a piece of cake. There is a light bulb and an LDR. The pedal has a shutter that slides up and down through a slot in the cylinder. No light = max volume. Blackened bulb = decreased dynamic range.

Agreed with Dave, sounds like a key actuator. Post a pic. If so, it is a piece of phenolic or plastic (usually peacock blue) that holds an assembly of 9 leaf switch contacts that push down on busbars when the key is depressed. Repair will be quite involved. Changing the key contacts is tough. I would probably sacrifice a donor actuator and glue it to the original, using a lap joint with a lot of overlap. A butt joint would fail instantly. A good lap joint might last.

Wes

[Jeff Gascoyne]

I thought of fitting an L shape strip of metal using the rivet hole for the felt pad.....

I also thought about a sliding an electrical spade connector over the existing part but If glueing with a splint is the best option from experience that sounds good. But is it too involved to actually replace the actuator, I’ve only seen a YouTube video of a console Hammond?

The foot pedal when refitted to the assembly drops to full on. Is the little spring the only restoring force or is there something else in the brass bar component?

It does sound nice, even my wife is softening to it. My youngest son is back from a school trip tomorrow, it’s really for him to play with his more electrically orientated brother..... a leap from ‘classical’ to ‘prog’... bring them more together.

[Drawbar Dave]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]29338[/ATTACH]

I thought of fitting an L shape strip of metal using the rivet hole for the felt pad.....

I also thought about a sliding an electrical spade connector over the existing part but If glueing with a splint is the best option from experience that sounds good. But is it too involved to actually replace the actuator, I’ve only seen a YouTube video of a console Hammond?

The foot pedal when refitted to the assembly drops to full on. Is the little spring the only restoring force or is there something else in the brass bar component?

It does sound nice, even my wife is softening to it. My youngest son is back from a school trip tomorrow, it’s really for him to play with his more electrically orientated brother..... a leap from ‘classical’ to ‘prog’... bring them more together.

How about another piece of plastic above that lug sleeved with some flat heat shrink tubing glued over it?

[peterb_2795]

Jeff,
A broken actuator to repair properly will require replacement. This will entail a disassembly of the manual and keys to properly get amongst the contacts (and resistor wires). It is a quite do-able repair with a little bit of care and patience and (at least) in your case only requires to deal with nine contacts in order to effect the repair. Pretty sure that your Hammond will have enameled resistor wires which will require a bit of careful handling (0.2mm dia) but they are (surprisingly) stronger than they first appear once you get the 'feel' of them.

The attached picture will give you a good idea of what you can expect to deal with in removing and replacing the actuator. Ignore the fact that there is a full octave of notes removed in this picture as you will only be removing the one vertical strip of keying contacts. I can certainly advise and assist in walking you through the process if you have the confidence to tackle the job at this level.



Hope this helps,
Peter

[Jeff Gascoyne]

Hi Peter,

This forum is amazing!

Thank you for the picture etc.

I used epoxy to join two pieces of credit card. I then glued the creation onto the remains of the actuator but it was too thick to move freely. I wanted to access the actuator to hold it whilst connecting the card pieces so I removed the full length metal plate from the bottom rear of the manual. This really scared me, I may have seen all the resistor wires. Whatever they were they seem to be loosely hooked into a slotted plastic sheet. On reassembly all seems okay but I couldn’t believe that what appear to be tiny diameter bare wires would be so loosely held in proximity to the metal casing.

[Jeff Gascoyne]

The organ hasn’t made it past the hallway so working on it with an aged m-in-law, two teenagers, three dogs and an occasional cat makes me nervous.

Once moved I want to open the manual to reach the actuator as per the picture but resentfully other calls on my time mean it may be a few days before I can tackle this.

The offer of assistance is gratefully accepted as this looks the sort of job where it is easy for the over-confident newby to reek havoc in their ignorance.

[peterb_2795]

Hi Jeff,
I will be happy to offer you some guidance through the process. You will certainly need a safe/quiet and uninterrupted work-space to do this repair. A handy tip before you start would be to collect a small number of jars/medicine containers to place all of the different nuts and bolts into with labels on the front. Equally, a multi-compartment tray (or trays) is perfect for this. If you PM me with details, I will pop a few spare actuators in the post to you whilst you are in the situation of waiting for the appropriate time-slot and work-space to appear.

Regards,

[peterb_2795]

... but I couldn’t believe that what appear to be tiny diameter bare wires would be so loosely held in proximity to the metal casing.

Not bare wires at all, either enameled (as yours will be) or (earlier) sleeved.

[Wes]

I just fixed a broken resistance wire on an A100 lower manual. The tips from Peter are all on point. I used a muffin tin with paper cupcake liners to organize my parts. The paper liners make great label surfaces. :)

[Jeff Gascoyne]

Thanks for the advice. Going for glass jars with lids for screws. Also lots of photographs.

I also read an article on the forum suggesting placing a cover over the oiling holes to prevent screws etc dropping into the TWG and motor.

Those tiny wires did frighten me. I took ages hooking them back into the slots. After I read Peter’s Post that they are insulated I felt better, but as ever, after some thought, how could they not be, they would be short circuiting against each other if they weren’t insulated in some way... !