[pianotech] More PianoDisc Help Please

Larry Fisher RPT larry_fisher at pdxtuner.com
Fri Sep 7 17:47:28 MDT 2012


Uh, last I looked, each set of 6 solenoids had a fuse.  (.. and so he ambles out to the shop)   I randomly checked three solenoids from a collection of mine and all three read 12.4 ohms.  While I was at it I looked at an old 1992 and 1997 driver board and they both had the same basic design with a fuse (f2, f3, f4, etc) for each header of 6 solenoid groups.  Their basic driver board design hasn’t changed much over the years  .........  just the driver CPU and it’s support components.

I have a PDS unit installed in a piano here at home and in the day of MIDI flowing freely on the internet I was able to d/l some bluegrass MIDI’s and assigned a zone on the keyboard to play each instrument of four  .... bass, banjo, fiddle, guitar.  (computer driven using a 128 plus as a translator)  The resulting data traffic was so intense and involved it locked up the CPU’s and I had to turn the thing off to get them to reset  ............  but it never caught fire.  Over time I heated up (abused) enough solenoids to seize up about half of them but they never blew any fuses.  By the time I turned it off for the last time I had enough MIDI files to rock the shingles off this house for hours non-stop.  (Donna Summers, Ike and Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Blondie, lots of Rolling Stones, some Beatles, and a choice few from this century)  The hammers got hard as a rock and the action got really loose but the player still rocked.

QC at PDS has slipped a bit lately I agree.  Each kit I’ve installed lately has had something missing or the wrong version of cable etc.  After amassing a collection of PianoDisc doodads over the decades I’ve managed to get through most of their oversights with inventory laying around.  I can live with the changes.  It’s the process I have to go through to get things rectified that I have major issues with.  The last one took over 30 phone calls and I think it was 2 and a half months in duration.  I just tuned that installation a week or so ago.  The customer is totally happy with the player.  He’s using an iPad to drive it.

A smoky smell is a fuse that did it’s job  ........  most likely.  I’ve had a few.  I swapped out the offending stinker (PCB)  and was able to make the customer happy.  It happens.  Take a deep breath, pour yourself a tall frosty one and dream about fine babes delivering pianos.




If a bad solenoid blows a board, wouldn't a good design protect the board with a fuse or breaker. Much cheaper than a new board.
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