Some pedals staying down after letting go on Wurlitzer 4700

[Guest]

I purchased a Wurlitzer 4700 about 3 years ago and had great luck so far in terms of no repairs. Got an unpleasant surprise today when some pedals stuck. About 5 of the 32 pedals now stay down when released. Am confident the problem is with the physical pedals, not anything to do with the electronics.

The brochure suggests pedals can be adjusted, though it doesn't give details how.

Already looked online; most of the content about stuck pedals was for Hammond. Are pedalboards mostly consistent across organ types?

The pedalboard does get a bit of dust in my home; don't know if dust could be an issue.

Any suggestions on how to proceed would be appreciated! Would like to be able to get the sticking ones to bounce back up without my attempts at repair causing damage anywhere. Thanks in advance!

[toodles]

Though I don't have experience with that specific model, this is certainly a mechanical issue. If the back cover of the pedals is held on with screws, try removing the cover. Often there is a rear steel plate for each pedal that provides tension. If the screw holding the plate to the rear wooden support comes loose, your tension is gone.

This is certainly a simple mechanical problem. Dust shouldn't affect the pedals at all. The switching mechanism uses sealed reed switches activated with a magnet. This problem has nothing to do with that.

[Guest]

Thanks, I will proceed with caution. Will look for the individual screws for pedals and see what they look like for the pedals that still work and will try to see if they look different for those that don't work. Thankfully I should be able to tell if I've fixed them or not because they will go back up when not depressed anymore, something that can be determined with the organ off or the pedalboard moved.

[toodles]

OK--I found my 4700 service manual. The pedals work as I suspected. Remove the rear cover. There are crews which clamp a metal plate which serves as the spring force to return the pedal up. It is listed as a Nylok, meaning there is a Nylon insert to increase the friction to hold it in place. Tighten the screw to increase tension. If that does not work, there are two screws on the bottom of the each pedal to hold the plate to the wooden part--those might have come loose or fallen out altogether.

Anyhow, look at the bottom if the pedals don't tighten up and return to normal position.