Sad Baldwin Cinema 2

[Suhndog]

My poor Baldwin Cinema 2 has been 'ill' now for a couple years.

I presently have been being helped by a fellow overseas.. but his schedule is so full, he hasn't much time for me.. I do/did appreciate his help immensely, but I really want to get the repair it needs finished somehow .. 1/2 my living room is cluttered with its various parts and such.

My problem is that I can't find anyone else to help.. I am poor and can't afford a tech visit.. I have tried 3 or 4 techs in my state, but their responses have yielded zero. One fellow said he would help.. and never did. I do realize that organ techs DO deserve to be paid! I appreciate all the patience that goes into servicing an organ.

Well, I'm making this post hoping that just maybe someone might be able to provide some mercy-help.

I have the service manual, and a digi multi-meter.. I am skilled at electronics assembly and such, but I am not skilled in circuits or troubleshooting much.

If anyone might care to help, we could communicate via email, Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp messenger .. [maybe Skype? - I haven't tried that.]

If I can't get help, I may end up gutting the organ or throwing it away.. or sell it "as-is" -- but I really would like to get it fixed somehow.

I will elaborate on its problem as I might get a response here..

Thank you in advance! (^_^)

Sincerely;

Marc

[Admin]

If anyone might care to help, we could communicate via email, Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp messenger .. [maybe Skype? - I haven't tried that.]

You do know that this Forum has a live interactive chat capability, right?
https://organforum.com/forums/forum/forum-info/faq/44220-how-do-i-contact-another-member

[myorgan]

Marc,

If you also give an indication what is wrong with your organ, people might know how better to help you. I do know I can't be of help with a Baldwin, but others can-only if they know the subject of the help needed.

Michael

[Suhndog]

Hi Admin & myorgan! I didn't know about the interactive chat! and also I will post a description of the issue(s).

[Suhndog]

When you press any key on the UM, you hear a 'thump' sound before you hear any tones.
The other tech and I replaced the FET's on the filter board for the Reeds/Strings for the UM [I can get more specific as required]..

Also, I had reversed the wires on the Kinura stop tab switch because it was somehow working backwards voltage-wise. Then, by doing this.. I no longer get the Kinura on Piston button #1.

The tech that was working with me told me that somehow, voltage is interfering with the UM causing that 'thump'..

Also, I could record that thump sound if by hearing it, it may direct someone to its possible cause..
I'm not always available to work on it, but I can definitely set up time whenever someone may want to help..

I've not used the chat feature in the Forum, so someone would need to guide me through its use, etc.

I live in Arizona, [no daylight-savings time], and it is MST [-7].. You may also email me if you like: [e-mail removed per Forum policy-Michael, Moderator].

Thank you!

[Suhndog]

I also need to add that the 8' Salicional on the UM sounds soft, and very distorted..

[jbird604]

That's such a complex organ, it's going to be very hard to do any troubleshooting remotely, even if I had the time. I'd have to be fully retired and living alone in order to have that much time to invest in such a project! But I will offer a few lines of free advice.

Nearly all Baldwin organs I have ever seen had large electrolytic filter caps that were prone to going bad. Sometimes they opened up suddenly, producing a loud hum. Other times, they lost value gradually, producing distortion and grittiness in the tones, keying and stop thumps, and such malfunctions. You should find a bundle of large capacitors in the floor of the organ console somewhere. They could be cylindrical black cardboard tubes with multiple metal terminals sticking out one end, or they could be blue or orange. The service manual should show you where they are, and you can test them by putting your meter on the AC scale, putting probes across each cap section in turn, and noting which have AC voltage on them. Only a bad filter cap should have AC across terminals.

This problem is so common with Baldwin organs, I'd suggest that you replace them all even if you can't definitively tell which one or ones have gone bad. They are cheap and replacing them is far easier than messing around with FETs and such on the circuit boards!

You don't need to find the multi-section caps to replace multi-section units. Just get the individual components and use a separate cap for each section of the device.

Other than that, poor ground connections, various corrosion issues with the "push-on" thingies that slip over those "nails" or whatever it is they used on the circuit boards -- these are always suspect, and the only way to rule all them out is to pull each one, clean and lubricate the sleeve and the nail with Vaseline or something like that, the slip it back on firmly. You have to be careful not to wiggle the nail or exert a lot of force, lest you damage the solder on a board.

The complexity and the relative fragility of these old boards is one reason why I turn down most Baldwin work these days. A tech can get caught up and spend dozens of hours trying to chase down an odd malfunction, time for which he might otherwise be charging $100 an hour or more. But owners of these organs rarely want to spend a thousand dollars to get one patched up!

So if you change out the caps and grease up all the connectors and it still doesn't work right, you probably should cut your losses at that point. It's a pretty thing, but given the reality that much newer and better organs are being given away for free these days, it's hard to justify putting a lot of time or money into one of these.

[Suhndog]

Thanks, jbird604..

I previously replaced all the large caps in the amp. I also replaced a couple in the cabinet near the on/off switch.. that were connected to the amp remotely.

I'm not sure what you mean by push-on thingies.. There are a lot of push buttons.. and I don't know what you mean by 'Nails'..?

Sadly, this is the only organ I paid a fair amount of money for [$350].. it was an odd thing [long story].. I really didn't want the organ, and I am not at all a fan of anything made by Baldwin..

I did finally hear from the fellow who said he would help [via WhatsApp] .. he helped before. I am getting rather disgruntled with the organ, but taking a deeeep breath and will see what might become of this . He can't help until the end of January. In the meantime, I will work on the connectors and such as you mentioned.

If the fellow can't help get it fixed, I may offer it for free, and if no one wants it, I will consider gutting it and using the cab for a possible Midi implementation. If that proves too expensive, I will destroy it.. and dump it in the trash -- as a last resort.

Again, I do appreciate your kind input!! Thanks!

[Admin]

jbird604 is referring to the wires interconnecting the circuit boards. I'm assuming they're like what Hammond used: posts on the circuit board, interconnected via push on connectors. Very troublesome and I wound up soldering the wires directly to the posts when I owned my X-77. I would suggest using a good contact cleaner such as DeOxit as both the pins and connectors are prone to heavy oxidation, again assuming they are similar to what Hammond used.

[Suhndog]

The board I was working on - the tone board for reeds, etc. - has posts.. but all the wires are soldered to them. I didn't see any push-on connectors.. I'm waiting for the tech fellow to get back to me.. he's working on moving into a new home.. Thanks Admin for your info! I appreciate any I can get!

[Suhndog]

Long time coming:

I had a fellow help me for awhile.. progress was slow.
I recently replaced a resistor on the board that directs the signals to the pistons, reeds/strings voicing board, etc.. This somehow eliminated all but a few issues.
The 'pop' sound on keys is fixed.

The problems remaining are:

1) - When you turn the Kinura 8' stop-tab on/off, you get a loud 'pop' noise' - and the Kinura level is low.
2) - When you play multiple notes at the same time using just the Salicional 8' on the UM.. the sound becomes harsh as you press and hold more notes one after the other.
(The sting sounds on the LM are OK)
3) - You get that pop noise when selecting piston 1 and the cancel piston.
4) Somehow, the Kinura appears on piston 1 and 2. It's only supposed to be on piston 1 . I checked and cleaned the contacts [springs] inside the piston assembly.
5) There's a hum in the background when not playing anything. I had replaced all caps in the main amp, and at that time, there was No hum at all.

These are the remaining issues. The organ otherwise is fully playable.