BlahBlahCafe - Jean-Michel Jarre forum

THIS IS URGENT!
My beloved Alesis Ion just fell off its stand and now one of the keys is screwed. What's happened is that the anchor inside the keyboard has snapped off, so now it's always pushed up higher than all the other keys. You can see it in these pictures:


Turnkey, where I bought it from, do repairs themselves, and I might be able to get it done on the warranty, but if not, does anyone know any good repair people in the UK that can get it done well?
Thanks a lot,
JK.

I recommend you to do it yourself, if you have no warranty anymore. The way to learn it! Don't be afraid of demolishing something, because of you are a bit carefull, nothing can happen! Especially this problem doesn't have to be difficult! Why not try it?

Yes, contact them and if they don't want to, do it yourself, you'll see, there are not a lot of things inside the ION, and it is damn easy to change, you'll be able to save 150-200€ !
Good luck anyway

No, indeed, I have solved enough of these problems, and it isn't difficult at all. You only have to find a careful way to open the ION, but I'm sure it exists! .

Try these guys, they cover your area and also repair Alesis products

http://www.puretechsolutions.co.uk/cont ... mation.htm

I do remember reading while looking for info on the ION that the keyboard is a bit of a bastard to get into if your doing your own repairs.

There are plenty of screws on the back so opening it up is not a problem.
The problem is is replacing the actual clip that should be there. We've shook the Ion and it doesn't seem to be in there jumping around, and I can't find it on the floor, so unless it's inside the Ion but stuck, then it's disappeared.

Equinoxe5 wrote:Try these guys, they cover your area and also repair Alesis products

http://www.puretechsolutions.co.uk/cont ... mation.htm

I do remember reading while looking for info on the ION that the keyboard is a bit of a bastard to get into if your doing your own repairs.

Aha! That's good seeing as they're in Swindon! That'll be great, my dad lives there and could easily drop it off and pick it up!
Thanks Equinoxe!!!!!

No probs. Let us know how you get on and Im sorry to hear about the ION. Hope it can be easily sorted.

jarrekid wrote:There are plenty of screws on the back so opening it up is not a problem.
The problem is is replacing the actual clip that should be there. We've shook the Ion and it doesn't seem to be in there jumping around, and I can't find it on the floor, so unless it's inside the Ion but stuck, then it's disappeared.

It can be it's stuck in one of the two connections, that's not that strange. Come on, you build your own modular, but you won't repair your own ION?

Jarp2600 wrote:

jarrekid wrote:There are plenty of screws on the back so opening it up is not a problem.
The problem is is replacing the actual clip that should be there. We've shook the Ion and it doesn't seem to be in there jumping around, and I can't find it on the floor, so unless it's inside the Ion but stuck, then it's disappeared.

It can be it's stuck in one of the two connections, that's not that strange. Come on, you build your own modular, but you won't repair your own ION?

I build my own modular from kits yes, but if something goes horribly wrong with that, it's not too expensive.
If something screws up with my £400 (or more) regularly used Ion, like an IC frying or something even with me wearing gloves, I'm screwed.
My dad will probably be willing to open it up, so I'll leave it to him if someone's gonna open it. If he screws it up, he's gotta buy me a new one.

I'd have a go at it yourself,most keyboard assemblies are pretty self expanatory to dismantle/Rebuild,its the taking apart of the synth and its casing that will take the most time

the keybed assembly will usually be able to removed from the Synth main frame,theres usually only about 2 or so connecting cables on most synths from the keybed to the main Circuit boards so you shouldn't have to disturb the rest of the synth

Its probably just popped out of its retaining clip,(judging by the way the key is situated on the Picture its happened to me on one of my Korgs,if theres nothing rattling around inside chances are there is no actual damage,if you lived local I would come and repair it for you myself

Most keys have a lug under which the key is first placed(usually pressed down and then pushed upwards if you push another of your keys forward you'll be able to feel the play in it) and then there is a retaining spring which gives it the tension off the back of the key at fixes it to the key assembly,looks to me like the key has been knocked from out of that lug when your dropped it

If its under warranty then i would try and get it done for nothing,But not sure that this would be covered by the warranty,as its accidental damage rather than malfunction,plus Turnkey are a *beeping* nightmare with dealing with warranties/Repairs,I'd never buy anything from them again!

The way I look at it,these synths are built on a production line by people who have absolutely no idea how these things work,or even care so,so if they can build them,so can anyone with a decent amount of common sense/care,I've managed to restore 12 or so Keyboards in the past many of them suffering from key damages amongst other things,and I have no technical knowledge on the assemblies other than just diggin in and seeing how its constructed,most of its is straight forward and self explanatory anyway if your technically minded


If you've managed to build a modular yourself,Repairing the keybed on your Ion will be a walk in the park!!!

Just take some pictures of the assembly as you strip it,so should you forget how it reassembles you have a reference aid,and make sure when you asemble it you keep the screws seperate so you know how each set is reassmbled in turn,theres nothing worse than to find your a screw left over after putting it all back together!!!

Equinoxe wrote:Its probably just popped out of its retaining clip,(judging by the way the key is situated on the Picture its happened to me on one of my Korgs,if theres nothing rattling around inside chances are there is no actual damage,if you lived local I would come and repair it for you myself

No, the clip has snapped, we shone a torch at it and you could clearly see where it had snapped off. Also, the black plastic has turned white where the snap was so you can see where it's been stretched, then broken.

jarrekid wrote:

Equinoxe wrote:Its probably just popped out of its retaining clip,(judging by the way the key is situated on the Picture its happened to me on one of my Korgs,if theres nothing rattling around inside chances are there is no actual damage,if you lived local I would come and repair it for you myself

No, the clip has snapped, we shone a torch at it and you could clearly see where it had snapped off. Also, the black plastic has turned white where the snap was so you can see where it's been stretched, then broken.

You may be able to salvage it and glue it if you find the Plastic piece,I'm not sure on the Spares availibilty of Alesis ,as I've only bought From Korg..

Well my first port of call would be to open it up yourself,then assess where you take it from there judging on the actual damage scenario..

Paying someone else to do it may be very costly,seeing as you'll be paying more for the labour than the actual parts which if the prices of Alesis spares are as reasonably priced as Other parts I have had to buy from Korg/Roland,will be Peanuts to pay if you do it yourself

If you think you can't do it,then I would try the Warranty avenue,although I'm inclined to say I doubt the warranty would cover such an event of misfortune,and besides think about ti before you open it up as it'll void the warranty anyway,but if your Parent(s) have household insurance you can usually raise a claim against that for such accidents