Quite an interesting article was publish recently in a Malaysian music technology magazine . . which showcases the vintage analog synth restoration business.
Worth a browse - http://www.rlmusic.co.uk
Mal
Thanks for the link !!
Speaking of Restoration… I’ve been trying to figure out how to clean up my dirty/hairy opus3 board for a couple weeks now and have finally gone to google to help me out…
I did find this document on cleaning a Apple board but it involves using detergent, water and Isopropal alcohol. I’ve defintley had some bad experiences with alcohol but i’m almost thinking of trying to wash it under some running water…but then again this apple board looks a heck of alot newer and water resistant than my ancient one sided throughole only PCB.
http://home.iprimus.com.au/figjams/SE30/restore.html
Has anyone here ever attempted to clean a PCB…and what were the results… I don’t wanna make the same mistake people might have made before.
thanks
Don’t use water from the tap whatever you do as this is conductive and if your board doesn’t dry thoroughly and you switch it on - BANG! . . . also if it isn’t dried out quickly it can eventually rust the board.
If you need to go down this route try using distilled water . . like the stuff you put in your clothes Iron as that won’t conduct as well . . i have had great success with “coffee spilt on the £45 apple keyboard” - just dunking the querty keyboard in a bucket of the stuff and drying it out quickly and evenly does the trick.
Though I would try to seek out someone with real knowledge on these matters before I ripped out my Opus board.
Mal
Hello,
This question gets a bit complex, as thoroughly cleaning (washing) electronics that have been exposed to excesssive dust, soot, etc.
involves logistics which make it difficult to do as a home job if the board
is heavily contaminated.
A cleaning sequence can consist of:
a) Dry brush vaccuum
b) Pre-cleaning agent with a pure surfactant
c) Cleaning agent
d) Rinse with de-ionized water - amount of rinse water will depend on the
cleaning agent used.
e) Possible corrosion remover (depending if chlorides are present on
conductive surfaces)
f) Drying
The drying process can be critical, as drying done in humidity below 50%
can build static charge.
Among the equipment used to dry washed boards are:
a) low heat convection
b) vacuum chamber - this is critical as the chamber converts any residual
water present on the board into gas, thereby dissipating remaining
moisture.
The methods do vary as there are techs who do restorations using different
techniques and equipment than that outlined above.
I agree with Mal in investigating a professional restoration.
Also, diluted WD40 can be used to remove corrosion however,
corrosion removers do just that. They don’t clean, and are often only
applied after the board is first cleaned.
regards,
LWG
Wow, thanks for the depth of answer, It sortof affirmed my leanings toward this being a bit more then I could chew.
I might choose to try one of these techniques If I’m never able to give this Opus 3 a kick start…because as of right now I don’t have much to lose since she won’t even start up.
The main reason for cleaning the board is that I’ve discovered a rodent of some type has lived inside the keyboard for quite a while. Hair, feces…the whole nine yards.
I’ve spent the past two days taking her apart, Sanding down the wooden side pannels which looked horribly scratched and water stained. Sanded down the inside coating of paint (starting to rust and peel, as well as being eaten by the wretched black goop). I did remember today that I forgot to wear a mask when sanding the paint, I sure hope there wasn’t any lead in it considering the beast is pretty old!!!
I got my free replacement Texas Instrument LDO Regulators in the mail yesterday (yay to free samples!). I’ve started from the fuse and worked my way in until I got to both the +12V and +5V which didn’t seem to be working properly…lets hope that is the only problem!!!..
I still require an oscilloscope if i’m gunna go much further past the regulators but that might be put on hold…
lets hope for the best!..
Thanks for the Info!
Hello,
Getting a vintage instrument to a point where its fully functional can be a time-consuming process even when you have access to parts and test gear.
What appears to make this difficult is that when a piece of gear (and its innards) has been exposed to high levels of dampness or water (that
often occurs when when a previous owner has kept it in a leaky basement or garage) and corrosion sets in, standard cleaning, component replacement and calibration may be best.
You would be looking at a likely restoration task. Whether your interest is vested enough in the Opus to have this process professionally done, you will have to decide, depending on the hurdles you may encounter in getting it into functional shape.
Also, be careful about working around particulates when you 're not sure what they consist of and using solvents without safety precautions.
Good luck with the Opus 3,
LWG
My misprint, meant to say this may NOT be best.
Regards,
LWG
Hey e_e_g
You may also want to consider whether the Opus is worth all this treatment. by the time you have finished restoring her you may have spent and invested in time, far more then the units value.
If you picked her up for nothing and your time is spare then go for it as it will be a nice project but if you work and your spare time is valuable you might want to consider finding another one that works out of the box.
I love my Opus3 but in reality it’s a cheap and cheerful keyboard . . now if my memorymoog went down (which it does periodically) I would spend to get her working again but I’m not sure I would do the same for the Opus?
Mal
gEEk,
Dried mouse droppings can be really toxic when disturbed, wear a mask when cleaning up that crap.
Take a peek at the power transformer in the Opus. If there are signs of rust on the iron core layers, then the transformer is toast. Rust is a definite sign that it had been stored in a damp environment like a basement or garage, and when the iron cores start rusting it diminishes the magnetic strength of the cores and that reduces the eddy currents in the windings of the transformer. They are impossible to restore. This is a common problem in vintage guitar amps.
I tried to restore an ARP Omni that had been stored in a damp basement for years. It quickly reached the point of diminishing returns. All the metal parts were pitted or rusted and all the hardwood became as soft as balsa wood. All I could scavenge were the J-wires and keycaps from the keyboard, the 4072 filter board, and the ensemble FX board. I gave the boards with the sticky slidepots to a tech friend of mine, as Omni’s are often a source of slidepots for Odysseys and other ARP synths.
there are some instruments that I will fix myself but my Source I have taken to a pro just to have it fully checked out, as well as my '66 Hofner 500/1. I took both in Saturday (different places) the Source should only be a few weeks but the Hof is undergoing a full resto. so that will be months.