Just thought I throw it out here.
I live far from civilization in the middle of the Jungle and I have an Arturia Keylab 49 which is crapping out on me. Everything works except occasionally all 'B' keys. I've opened it up and given it a nice cleaning, and still it happens. Since it works half of the time, I'm thinking its not all lost.
Perhaps, maybe, possibly someone here has an idea of what can I check or do to extend its working life?
Thanks for listening...
Broken midi keyboard q for engineers
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pascual
- KVRian
- Topic Starter
- 533 posts since 15 Jul, 2003 from costa rica / oregon
paz por esos mundos
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SushiFugu
- KVRer
- 8 posts since 18 Aug, 2004 from Seattle, WA
I can only give you "hobby engineer" advice, but since you haven't received any response yet I'll add what little I can.
Arturia is, unfortunately, not very forthcoming with their service manuals. That is to say, you won't easily find any schematics to help determine the path the signal is taking from the key to the keyscan processor. The steps to diagnose the issue properly would require you having access to a basic multimeter (to test continuity between leads and cables) and most likely a soldering iron to reflow or mend the point that's damaged. You would want to visually follow the circuit from the keys back to the keyscan/interrupt processor and make sure there is continuity along the whole path that the 'B' keys are taking.
In my experience when a set of keys all fail at once it is often due to a ribbon cable. If you can identify the ribbon cable that handles the keyscan signals from the keybed, I would try to look it over carefully and see if it has been crimped/folded in a way that has damaged one of the delicate wires inside. If a portion of the ribbon is only slightly damaged you may be able to (GENTLY) un-bend it just enough that it makes reliable connection again, but this obviously won't repair the cable. A replacement would be in order, but I understand you may not be in a position for that. Ribbon cables are somewhat of a pain to repair, and most people would try to find an equivalent replacement rather than trying to bridge a damaged wire inside.
Your options for repairing things are going to be fairly limited without a multimeter and soldering iron, but hopefully some of that information is useful.
Arturia is, unfortunately, not very forthcoming with their service manuals. That is to say, you won't easily find any schematics to help determine the path the signal is taking from the key to the keyscan processor. The steps to diagnose the issue properly would require you having access to a basic multimeter (to test continuity between leads and cables) and most likely a soldering iron to reflow or mend the point that's damaged. You would want to visually follow the circuit from the keys back to the keyscan/interrupt processor and make sure there is continuity along the whole path that the 'B' keys are taking.
In my experience when a set of keys all fail at once it is often due to a ribbon cable. If you can identify the ribbon cable that handles the keyscan signals from the keybed, I would try to look it over carefully and see if it has been crimped/folded in a way that has damaged one of the delicate wires inside. If a portion of the ribbon is only slightly damaged you may be able to (GENTLY) un-bend it just enough that it makes reliable connection again, but this obviously won't repair the cable. A replacement would be in order, but I understand you may not be in a position for that. Ribbon cables are somewhat of a pain to repair, and most people would try to find an equivalent replacement rather than trying to bridge a damaged wire inside.
Your options for repairing things are going to be fairly limited without a multimeter and soldering iron, but hopefully some of that information is useful.
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Tj Shredder - KVRAF
- 8495 posts since 6 Jan, 2017 from Outer Space
The idea that its a ribbon cable is spot on! You are in the jungle, and its humid there, contacts can corrode. I would simply disconnect and reconnect all connectors. Ribbon cables often have a connector that connects it to the motherboard. Just unplug it and reconnect. It kind of cleans the connection…
Good luck…
Good luck…
