Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

Greetings,

My brother sold me his VFX, which has the keyboard calibration error issue.  I opened it up to perform the hard wire modification only to find that it had already been done.  When I asked him about it, he said that Ensoniq had already performed this work many years ago.

Sometimes the recalibrate/ignore screen will freeze, or write the text in the wrong area of the screen.

Any suggestions?  

Is the modification procedure described in this group?  I read that there might be a tutorial, but have not been able to find it.  Should I replace or hardwire the cable going from board 1 to the motherboard?

Also, this unit behaves strangely, as sometimes it will pass the diagnostics, but then none of the buttons or keyboard will work at all.  A few of the buttons cause the system to go haywire if used, such as the up and down parameter buttons.  The slider works fine, but if those are used, they behave as if stuck.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Unfortunately there is no service available in the region and shipping cost would be prohibitive so any repairs are up to me.

Thank you for your consideration

bad idea...open up the unit and clean the connectors between the two big boards under the keys with De-Oxit for a more permanent fix, and you�are less likely to�break anything

�

Rich

May 30, 2009 06:49:44 PM, Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com wrote:

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The same thing with mine. Calibration error ---> hard solder fix ----> Calibration Error.

Look this is some bad advice but it does work.

Put a phone book under each end of the beast. firmly (not suddenly) push down in the middle of the unit under the display but not directly on the Keys themselves. Listen for a series of clicking sounds emanate from the keyboard. Turn on the unit to see if it comes up properly. repeat as needed.

once again, this is ultra bad advice.

I have had a love hate relationship with this thing, but for some reason I still have it after 18 years.

--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "Claus" <clauzii@...> wrote:

>
> If after resoldering the connections, You still get the error, try unscrewing the whole keyboard. On the underside there is a circuit board for the keyboard. It has some connections with some wirepins, which can oxidize. Unscrew that board, clean the pins and also push the EPROM (chip with paperlabel) into it's socket. Also remember to clean the ribbon cable connections from the keyboard to the motherbord.
> 
> If all this >does not< help, You are in for a repair at a shop.
> 
> Best,
> Claus
>

If after resoldering the connections, You still get the error, try unscrewing the whole keyboard. On the underside there is a circuit board for the keyboard. It has some connections with some wirepins, which can oxidize. Unscrew that board, clean the pins and also push the EPROM (chip with paperlabel) into it's socket. Also remember to clean the ribbon cable connections from the keyboard to the motherbord.
If all this >does not< help, You are in for a repair at a shop.
--

I re-soldered all of the connections on the hard wired ribbon cables going between the two side by side boards under the keyboard.  I tried cleaning the connector on the center board, then resorted to soldering it on.  I pulled, cleaned, and replaced all the socketed chips on the center board.

I had a new ribbon cable made that goes between the center board and the motherboard.  I cleaned both sets of pin headers, for that cable, as well as most of the cable and pin connectors around the entire instrument.  I removed all the keys and dusted/wiped the surface below the keys as well as all the metal pads under the keys.

I'm using Deoxit as the cleaner for electronic connections.

So far, it behaves exactly the same.  Unfortunately, there is no shop in my region that will service synthesizers, and the cost of shipping this out for repair is more than it would cost to replace it.  I can get the keyboard to calibrate by power cycling it several times, but I'm sure this will eventually fry something important.

Thanks again!

On Sat, 2009-05-30 at 15:49 -0700, Dean wrote:
> 
> 
> Put a phone book under each end of the beast. firmly (not suddenly)
> push down in the middle of the unit under the display but not directly
> on the Keys themselves. Listen for a series of clicking sounds emanate
> from the keyboard. Turn on the unit to see if it comes up properly.
> repeat as needed.
> 

Better yet, just open it up and carefully reseat all the socketed chips
on the main board and keyboard assembly.

Gordon

On Sun, May 31, 2009 at 09:20:29AM +0100, Gordon JC Pearce wrote:
> On Sat, 2009-05-30 at 15:49 -0700, Dean wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > Put a phone book under each end of the beast. firmly (not suddenly)
> > push down in the middle of the unit under the display but not directly
> > on the Keys themselves. Listen for a series of clicking sounds emanate
> > from the keyboard. Turn on the unit to see if it comes up properly.
> > repeat as needed.
> > 
> 
> Better yet, just open it up and carefully reseat all the socketed chips
> on the main board and keyboard assembly.

I had a similar tale a long time ago -- bought a used VFX-SD, had the
calibration failure message, seller didn't know if hardwired mod was
done or not.  I took a gamble, was dismayed to find out the hardwired
mod had already been done.  I re-seated all the cable connections, and
re-flowed the solder on the hardwired mod.  It has been working just
fine ever since, though I rarly move it from it's position in my
house.

So, I guess I'm just adding you might want to re-flow the solder on
the hardwired mod connections to make sure the connection is good.

I didn't have any of your other symptoms, though; hopefully, Gordon's
"reseat all the socketed chips" will change those.

--> Steve

-- 
Steve Wahl    steve@...

Surely you're not writing scripts in csh.  That's like building
a fire escape out of balsa-wood and painting it with thermite.
              -- Peter da Silva

Greetings,

I did re-flow the solder on the hard wired mod, but I think I need to remove it completely and just re-do it just to be sure.  Also planned is to backup my sounds and re-seat all the chips as recommended.

This VFX was apparently trapped in a basement that got very humid, and developed problems shortly thereafter.  I'm sure there is corrosion on something responsible for these problems.

BTW - are the surface mount button switches available anywhere?  At least two of mine are sticking (even when out of the front panel) so I think they need to be changed.

Thanks!

On Mon, 2009-06-01 at 05:07 +0000, neurokrash wrote:
> Greetings,
> 
> I did re-flow the solder on the hard wired mod, but I think I need to
> remove it completely and just re-do it just to be sure.  Also planned
> is to backup my sounds and re-seat all the chips as recommended.

Good plan.  Be careful, because the print on the PCB is very fragile.

> This VFX was apparently trapped in a basement that got very humid, and
> developed problems shortly thereafter.  I'm sure there is corrosion on
> something responsible for these problems.

That seems entirely reasonable.  You could do worse than carefully
removing the socketed chips, spraying the sockets and IC pins with
contact cleaner (*not* WD40!) and putting it all back together.

> BTW - are the surface mount button switches available anywhere?  At
> least two of mine are sticking (even when out of the front panel) so I
> think they need to be changed.

I usually buy them in huge bags from Chinese guys on eBay, for a small
amount.

Gordon

> I usually buy them in huge bags from Chinese guys on eBay, for a small
> amount.

Is there a name or part number that you can suggest?

Thanks!

--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "neurokrash" <spamkiller@...> wrote:
>
> > I usually buy them in huge bags from Chinese guys on eBay, for a small
> > amount.
> 
> Is there a name or part number that you can suggest?

I would greatly appreciate any information you can provide on the correct switches.  I ordered some from Syntaur that were supposed to work, but they were too small in every dimension and the physical buttons will not activate them.  I would like to find a more appropriate replacement.

Thanks

--- In Ensoniq-VFX-SD@yahoogroups.com, "neurokrash" <spamkiller@...> wrote:
>
> Greetings,
> 
> My brother sold me his VFX, which has the keyboard calibration error issue.  I opened it up to perform the hard wire modification only to find that it had already been done.  When I asked him about it, he said that Ensoniq had already performed this work many years ago.
> 
> Sometimes the recalibrate/ignore screen will freeze, or write the text in the wrong area of the screen.
> 
> Any suggestions?  
> 
> Is the modification procedure described in this group?  I read that there might be a tutorial, but have not been able to find it.  Should I replace or hardwire the cable going from board 1 to the motherboard?
> 
> Also, this unit behaves strangely, as sometimes it will pass the diagnostics, but then none of the buttons or keyboard will work at all.  A few of the buttons cause the system to go haywire if used, such as the up and down parameter buttons.  The slider works fine, but if those are used, they behave as if stuck.
> 
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Unfortunately there is no service available in the region and shipping cost would be prohibitive so any repairs are up to me.
> 
> Thank you for your consideration
>
What you are describing here are all the symptoms of the poor wire connections. In this group, follow Files\Tools and Service\Poly Board Separations Fix\VFX Cal Error Repair to gt the pdf. I did the same repair a few years ago and it cleared all the symptoms you mentioned, but now I need to repeat the process.  The pdf has all you need to know if you follow good soldering technique.  Good luck
Jeff