Post by kenjwright on Apr 3, 2021 2:03:45 GMT -5
Greetings all!
Recently I acquired an early model ddrum4 (v1.32, circa 1998) for a decent cost but could tell that it was going to need a little TLC. It powered up just fine but all of the buttons were not functioning correctly, either not making contact at all or making multiple contacts when pushed only once. I disassembled the unit for a complete cleaning and removed all of the button caps, revealing varying degrees of oxidation on the copper contacts.The caps come off fairly simply using a flat blade jewelers screw driver to gently pry open the slot that the cap's retainer feet slide through while rocking the cap side to side until it pops free. Once the cap is off the contact is immediately visible (see pictures). One end of the contact is bent in a V shape as a spring and the other is forked which fits into a notch in the button housing. The contact can be easily removed with fingers or small pliers by pulling the spring end slightly up and away from the housing. The forked end is where the oxidation occurred. I gently scraped off the oxidation with a pocket knife until the blue-green color was removed and shiny copper visible again. I also scraped the notch. Take your time! There are 23 buttons and not spending enough time will result in buttons that must be worked on a second time after reassembly, testing, and disassembly! (I had two that needed more work after testing). When replacing the contact, place the forked end in first and then push the spring end until it snaps into place. Be gentle as it does not take much force to pop it into place. Too much force and it will over-bend and drop in too far, preventing proper spring action. Then snap the plastic button cap into the housing and test the action.
The buttons now all respond perfectly on this unit! So if you're having a button response issue on your ddrum4, don't despair! They likely just need a good cleaning.
A note about disassembling the ddrum4; The panel circuit board is screwed to the inside of the top cover, but also contains the 10 input jacks which are secured to the bottom frame so be sure to remove the nuts from the jacks before attempting to remove the top cover or the panel board could be damaged!!
Cheers!
Ken
Recently I acquired an early model ddrum4 (v1.32, circa 1998) for a decent cost but could tell that it was going to need a little TLC. It powered up just fine but all of the buttons were not functioning correctly, either not making contact at all or making multiple contacts when pushed only once. I disassembled the unit for a complete cleaning and removed all of the button caps, revealing varying degrees of oxidation on the copper contacts.The caps come off fairly simply using a flat blade jewelers screw driver to gently pry open the slot that the cap's retainer feet slide through while rocking the cap side to side until it pops free. Once the cap is off the contact is immediately visible (see pictures). One end of the contact is bent in a V shape as a spring and the other is forked which fits into a notch in the button housing. The contact can be easily removed with fingers or small pliers by pulling the spring end slightly up and away from the housing. The forked end is where the oxidation occurred. I gently scraped off the oxidation with a pocket knife until the blue-green color was removed and shiny copper visible again. I also scraped the notch. Take your time! There are 23 buttons and not spending enough time will result in buttons that must be worked on a second time after reassembly, testing, and disassembly! (I had two that needed more work after testing). When replacing the contact, place the forked end in first and then push the spring end until it snaps into place. Be gentle as it does not take much force to pop it into place. Too much force and it will over-bend and drop in too far, preventing proper spring action. Then snap the plastic button cap into the housing and test the action.
The buttons now all respond perfectly on this unit! So if you're having a button response issue on your ddrum4, don't despair! They likely just need a good cleaning.
A note about disassembling the ddrum4; The panel circuit board is screwed to the inside of the top cover, but also contains the 10 input jacks which are secured to the bottom frame so be sure to remove the nuts from the jacks before attempting to remove the top cover or the panel board could be damaged!!
Cheers!
Ken
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