Completely lost on Fatar keyboard repair

[craigfowler]

I have a studiologic SL-990pro with a single, solitary key that gets stuck at the slightest provocation.

Suspecting a simple fix, I begin to unscrew the screws on the bottom panel so I can have a look-see. Not wanting to ship a 50lb keyboard out for servicing, I'm thinking I must be able to take care of this myself!

Not so fast though! I can't even get the darn thing disassembled! All the screws that I can see have been removed but I can't get the clamshell to swing open! After some time wrangling and prying with a flat-head screwdriver, I managed to release the bass side of the clamshell - but I just *can't* seem to free the treble side no matter what I do!

I'd be very, very grateful if anyone has any words of advice or wisdom before I revert to a clawhammer and crowbar!

[Enzo]

You still probably missed a screw. I don't know that board, so I have no mental image. Sometimes when I take such things apart, I look at teh screw pattern and think these are the keybed, and these are the upper panel. But sometimes I get it wrong, and one I think holds the keybed is actually part of the panel. And any number of times I have overlooked one on the rear.


What was holding the side you did get free?

[craigfowler]

Hi Enzo, and thanks for taking the time to reply. I'm sorry it took so long to check back in.

I'll give you the short version here, but have also linked to a similar post I had added to an old thread over at homerecording.com, in case anybody else stumbles across this with a similar problem (it would have helped me if I had a different model Fatar keyboard, I think).

You were quite right that I'd missed a screw - actually, 6 of them! I couldn't even see them when I stuck a flashlight into what I thought were ventilation holes, as they were recessed very deeply. But, your comment made me realize I must have been missing something!

Until I wrenched the case open (damaging it in the process), I hadn't realized this 'stalactite/stalagmite' mechanism existed! By the time I'd pulled the clamshell apart, only two of the grey flanges were left attached. Oops. Still, the keyboard is only for studio use, so it can sit comfortably on my stand and should be fine.


My next problem - and I'll buy you a virtual beer if you can solve it - is that I need to figure out what to do about this broken key. In this photo from the front, the G below middle C has been removed. More accurately, it fell off once I got the keybed out of the case!



There appears to be a small bit of plastic that had snapped off the key, meaning that when struck with even a little force, it would work its way loose and the front would stay depressed. I'd have to push the rear of the key back down to make it playable/triggerable again.

Here's a view of the keyboard from the top...


...and, in case it's of any value, from the rear of the keybed.



It had been suggested that I might replace the broken key with one from a low/high octave - but looking at this, I am unsure as to how to remove a key without damaging it. Do you have any suggestions for how I might pull this off.

Alternatively, I suspect that a little dab of epoxy on the 'pink bit' would hold the key in place just fine, but I'm nervous of doing anything quite that permanent in case it doesn't work as I expect it to!

(here is a link to the other forum - it was what came up on my original search for info about repairing Fatars, and there seems to be useful information for those with other kinds of boards)
Disassembling FATAR keyboard to clean - Help! - Home Recording forums

[Jazz P Bass]

Plastic can be "repaired" to a degree (depends on the plastic type).
I have used my soldering iron with the tip wrapped in aluminum foil.
Bring the temperature up & then shut off the irons power.
Remelt the piece around the cracks as the iron is cooling down.
You want to be at a temperature that the plastic just melts.
That is about 350 F.

[Enzo]

I have seen repaired keys, and I have seen a lot that the repair didn;t work. Usually best to just replace the key.

I know what to do when the thing is in front of me, but trying to descrive it in words is tough. And I forget on these keys.

It is going to be a sort of combination. I THINK, if we push straight in on the front vertical surface of the key, it should give a little, as if a spring pushes it forwards. It is usually a matter of doing that and pressing the little pink bumpr while lifting the rear, that the rear pops up and out, then slide the key forwards to clear the underside up front. But it has been a while.

Find the service manual for an old Yamaha or something that uses that keybed. The Yamaha manuals always had detailed instructions on changing keys.


And in the why not department, have you contacted Fatar?

[craigfowler]

Thanks both of you.

I have had success! Again, should anyone stumble across this thread because they have a similar problem, I'm linking back to the homerecording forum. After lucking out and finding a Youtube video on modding a Fatar keyboard, I was able to get the G from the highest octave removed and switched out with the trouble key. For whatever reason, not only is my G below middle C working fine now, but the 'bum' key that I put at the high octave is also doing much better there.

It involved looking at the keyboard from a playing position (i.e., from the front) and pushing directly downwards (i.e., vertically) on the tab with a small flat-head screwdriver. I was thinking that I would need to push the tab horizontally inwards from the back of the keyboard, and this was getting me nowhere.

I also discovered the importance of checking that the cable connectors from the keybed back to the main board are each (a) going to the right socket, and (b) the right way up. On closing the case back up I had no midi being transmitted by the keybed (it was sending fine from the mod wheel and sustain pedal) because I'd got the connectors pushed in upside down.

Thanks again for your help!

From what I hear, Fatar are not easy to get hold of, so I'm relieved that I seem to have got it sorted without having to try!

Link to cross-posted thread (lots of good tips there for other Fatar users): Disassembling FATAR keyboard to clean - Help! - Home Recording forums