Need advice on Roland D-50 repair

Uncle Krunkus · Posted: Wed Jan 09, 2008 10:51 pm Post subject:

I've got a D50 too, (I helped out Gothboy with his repairs) and the foil is supposed to be there. Like Jan said, it's shielding for the keyboard logic.
As you're losing the same note in various octaves at the same time, I'd be looking at connectors, and/or ribbon cables to/from the diode matrix on the key PCBs.
Try to power it up with the back off (carefully! shorting stuff while it's turned on could mean the end of your D50! Shocked

) and see if you can get the key to fail. Then check that the same note has gone on other octaves. Then keep pressing the note (down and up) while you touch/wiggle/reseat connectors to the keyboard, until you get an idea of the location of the fault.
If you're confident in your disassembly/assembly skills, you could also try taking the keyboard section apart (power off!) and checking the multiple connections for the notes which are dodgy. Trace them back to connectors and resolder them on the back of the PCB. One dodgy diode could do the same thing, so check them (with a multimeter) while you're there. Resolder if necessary.

Keep us posted on how you go.

And good luck. The D50 is a really nice synth when it's running well. Smile

ObsoleteSystems · Joined: Jan 09, 2008 Posts: 11 Location: Chicago IL

thanks! i think i'm gonna sit on it for a week probably before i dive into it again..i'll definately let everyone know what i found out to be wrong and what the fix (if i get it fixed) was...

thanks for all of the support

XpanderXT · Joined: Oct 22, 2007 Posts: 137 Location: the flat universe

I was the senior tech at Roland during the D50 days.
cleaning the key contacts should not be something that a service center charges $250+ dollars for.
It can be done in an hour by an experienced tech and that's if all the key needed cleaning.

Send it to Roland and they'll do the bests job on it.

Do not use alcohol to clean contacts! This is not a good cleaner for these types of contacts. We used to use TF solvent on the PC board side, on the carbon on the rubber contacts, use a q-tip with some TF and only touch the carbon part.

The place where people mess things up is in removing the keys.
there is a plastic strip under the back of the keyboard that helps lock in the keys. You need something long like a very thin screwdriver to press down at the back of the key to release the key. People mess up this strip or remove it and it doesn't glue back on well. Then their keys can pop out when playing it.
the other problem spot is the rubber contacts themselves. Some people will just pull them up and can rip them. There are little rubber tabs at the back that do best if you push them with something like the end of a bent thick paper clip.

It's been 15 years since I worked on one but I remember that the keyboard is attached to the mainboard. Mark all your connectors, I use a sharpy with a line that connects both sides of the connector so you'll know which ones go where. I think there are 3 or 4 with the same number of pins.
Be careful of the mainboard!
When you clean the contacts, remove a few keys on both sides of the contact strip and clean them too, especially if the ones that are dirty now are right at a break in the strip. I'd clean both sides of the break while you have it open.

enjoy your D50.

Uncle Krunkus · Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 3:11 am Post subject:

What is TF solvent?

XpanderXT · Joined: Oct 22, 2007 Posts: 137 Location: the flat universe

Synthtech · Joined: Nov 23, 2007 Posts: 32 Location: Australia

I have cleaned dozens of D50 key actions over the years, just one more tip: Make sure you put the strip back on the way it came off. There are 2 carbon pads, and they are different heights, when you play a note one lands first, then the other, and the computer calculates the "time of flight", and this is where you get the velocity calculation from. This is the reason that if a contact gets dirty you normally get the note only playing either it's maximum or minimum velocity, ie: it is really loud or really soft. If you forget which way around a pad is after you clean it, look at the others to see which way the pads go on - which is a good reason not to just pull all of the strips off at once too.

After you remove the plastic key retaining strip push the key back away from you and then gently lift the rear of the key.

oldmasterjds · Joined: Jun 18, 2008 Posts: 4 Location: London

Hi Guys,

I've been following your thread and wondered if cleaning the contacts would fix one of the keys which is playing louder, or is this likely to be an unrelated issue?

Cheers

John

Uncle Krunkus · Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:04 am Post subject:

Yeah, if it's consistently playing loud, that means there's something up with the timing of the contact pads, and I'd say that's most likely due to dirt/dust etc.

oldmasterjds · Joined: Jun 18, 2008 Posts: 4 Location: London

Thanks Uncle, I'll give the contacts a clean and see if that does the trick!

ObsoleteSystems · Joined: Jan 09, 2008 Posts: 11 Location: Chicago IL

Well my D-50's battery is DEAD. Sadly, it was just in time of me finishing the cleanings.

I've done some research, and am looking for some way to restore the PCM memory, as i'm sure you all know, it's wiped clean when the battery dies.

any help, let me know

Uncle Krunkus · Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 4:16 pm Post subject:

My D50 has the original sounds on a card, and I've loaded the internal memory with a different set of sounds from the SysEx_D50 program which I've attached to this post.
The thing is, that program also comes with a memory dump of the original sounds, so you should be able to use it to get them back. (And a whole load of other sound sets as well. Wink

)
Keep an eye out for blank cards on e-bay, then you could have a few set up with different sound sets.

sysexD50_19.zip

Description:

Download (listen)

Filename:

sysexD50_19.zip

Filesize:

1.07 MB

Downloaded:

536 Time(s)

ObsoleteSystems · Joined: Jan 09, 2008 Posts: 11 Location: Chicago IL

you are a life saver man...thank you very much. i can't wait to start playing with my ol' D-50. I have an alesis Micron arriving in the mail tomorrow as well, so i'm going to be going to town for a few days.

ObsoleteSystems · Joined: Jan 09, 2008 Posts: 11 Location: Chicago IL

hmm i seem to have an issue running it on Windows XP...gives me an error everytime i try to run the install he he he

Uncle Krunkus · Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 9:07 pm Post subject:

I'll check to see if it's still fine on mine.
Hold on.

Uncle Krunkus · Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 9:13 pm Post subject:

I unzipped it, installed it, and it's running fine under my XP.
Describe the problem a bit more.

ObsoleteSystems · Joined: Jan 09, 2008 Posts: 11 Location: Chicago IL

Actually i got it working with another program called something like Bomes SendSX. Works great, and i <3 it perfectly. Thank you. Now i've torn it apart and am cleaning all the keys he he he.

Aamir · Joined: Sep 12, 2010 Posts: 1 Location: Netherlands

Hi there I was reading your thread so thought why not drop a small message and a link:
it shows step by step with pictures how to open the roland d-50 and how to clean the keycontacts. good luck ! check out this link below :
http://www.bustedgear.com/repair_Roland_d50_key_contacts.html

regards!
Aamir