At 21:30 3-2-02 +0000, you wrote:
Sjoerd et al,
> I'm thinking of repairing some broken buttons on my battered W-30. Has
> anybody ever replaced the W-30 pushbuttons / rotary dials?
First off, when you say "buttons" do you mean the little bit of black
plastic that you touch, or the electromechanical push switch underneath?
The buttons are proprietary Roland plastic mouldings, while the switches
themselves are standard items.
I meant the switches - thanks for correcting me (actually, shiny silver buttons would be very nice indeed... ) - and also the 'value' wheel (again: not the plastic itself), which rotates only about 60 degrees on my W-30. If anybody knows the specifications / part no. of this item, please let me know as well.
> If so, where did you get the replacements
The switches are standard 6mm-square tactile PCB switches with 5mm
shafts, available from a number of companies (Farnell, Rapid Electronics,
Maplin, etc). They cost me 14p each (about 0.22 Euros) and there are 29
of them.
> and how easy/difficult was it?
Mmmm, VERY tricky! The front panel PCB is, naturally, closest to the
front panel. But when you turn the synth over to open her up, the PCB is
now at the bottom!! All of the PCBs ands the keyboard must be removed to
the the front panel PCB out, which is why I also took the opportunity of
giving the entire systema thorough clean, including all the keyboard
switch contacts, the keys (which now look like new!) and a good clean of
the front panel (use iso-propyl alcohol).
It took me an evening to get to the PCB, an evening to replace the
switches, and an evening to rebuild the synth. Alternatively I reckon I
could do it in a day.
Getting this beaty fixed is worth at least 3 evenings to me!
So, in conclusion: its a tricky job (very fiddly removal of the main and
analogue PCBs -- don't forget to wear your anti-static earth strap!) but
the result is well worth it.
More information (part numbers, etc) are on my W-30 page on my personal
website: http://www.njohnson.co.uk
Go to the "studio" and click on the "technical information" link for the
W-30.
Hope this helps,
It does - a lot. Thanks again!
- Sjoerd
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