TC, sounds good, let us know what's possible.

Omar, thanks! ?Let me know what you find!

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TC, I appreciate the offer. ?I was planning to scan at 600dpi, lossless compression, full white flat. (with overlapping scans for the oversized pages) ?There’s about 80 pages, and they’d be fairly large files. ?If you could meet that spec, and deliver originals as individual TIFFs, I’d be up for it. ?But I’d hate to put you out, I was just looking forward to doing all that dirty work myself. :)

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I might, let me check and get back to you...

Hi all,

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I’d like to make a higher quality PDF of the Xpander Service Manual, to share with the group.? The copy floating around the web is illegible in some places, and appears to have been scanned off a photocopy.? (No slight to the hero that originally made it!)? I hope to make much higher resolution scans, and perhaps correct some of the known errors.

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So, does anyone have an original Xpander Service Manual (US version) that they might sell? The ideal would be a well preserved version, with all of the original schematics.? I’d also be happy to pay ‘rent’, and return the original to its owner when finished.

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Hopefully, someone out there has a nice original lying around?

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Ha, you're too kind. ?My Xpander hasn't lived such a romantic life of sun or stage lights. ?It does however spend a lot of time in a basement that gets very cold (55F). ?I think you're right, relative temperature changes are probably what induces the shrinking.

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Yes, s##t happens.
The plastic sheet indeed shrinks AFTER it expands because of heat caused by direct sunlight or stage lights.
When the instrument goes back into a flightcase directly after a gig and into much cooler freighthold (truck/plane),- the plastic sheet shrinks.

P.

Hi everyone, It's been a while…

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Thanks to your suggestions, I fixed the sticking buttons on my (US) Xpander by filing the edges of the button holes to make them a bit wider.? (In fact, the holes look nicer now that they don't have ages of crud stuck to the sides. :P)

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I believe that the original cause of the sticky buttons is that the thick plastic sheet covering the front panel shrinks over time.? As the plastic shrinks evenly, it tightens towards the center of the panel.? On my Xpander,? _every_ button hole was shifted towards the center by a few millimeters, making the holes tighter against the sides of the buttons that face away from the center.? To re-widen the holes, it only takes a bit of filing the plastic cover where it had intruded on the hole.

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Hi everyone, It's been a while…

Thanks to your suggestions, I fixed the sticking buttons on my (US) Xpander by filing the edges of the button holes to make them a bit wider.? (In fact, the holes look nicer now that they don't have ages of crud stuck to the sides. :P)

I believe that the original cause of the sticky buttons is that the thick plastic sheet covering the front panel shrinks over time.? As the plastic shrinks evenly, it tightens towards the center of the panel.? On my Xpander,? _every_ button hole was shifted towards the center by a few millimeters, making the holes tighter against the sides of the buttons that face away from the center.? To re-widen the holes, it only takes a bit of filing the plastic cover where it had intruded on the hole.

If you’re up for it, a few bits of advice…? Mostly common knowledge to anyone who’s done this type of work, but just in case:

-You’ll need to open and dissemble large parts of your Xpander.? Do not attempt this if you are uncomfortable, or if you don't have the patience to go slowly and safely.? This operation doesn’t involve any electronics trickery, just a steady head and hand. Take pictures as you go. Unplug everything.

-Before you disassemble anything, be sure to take careful notes on which side of each hole needs to be ‘expanded’.? :)? Once everything’s apart, it’s easy to forget where your trouble spots are.? I did this by marking these spots on the front panel with small pieces of painters’ tape, and taking copious pictures.? The only way to test your work is re-assembling everything, since the buttons only line up very precisely when screwed all the way back in, so get it right the first time! ? These covers will keep shrinking as they age, so also consider areas that aren’t a problem _yet_ but look tight.?

-Everything's unplugged?

-Remove the volume and encoder knobs from the front panel. (First, pop off knob caps and loosen the interior screws.)

-Open it up and unplug all ribbon and power cables.

-Unscrew the cover from its hinges.? This is to keep loose filings away from the Voice and Power boards.

-Remove the Processor board and the the Pot board. ?There are a few screws for the Pot board hiding under the the Display board. ?The Display board is hinged, so you only have to remove three screws opposite those hinges. Then tilt up Display board to get to the remaining screws holding the Pot board down.? Again, take pictures to get it all back in later. ?

-Be _extremely_ careful when removing these large boards.? The I/O jacks on the Processor and Pot board can get stuck as you tilt it out, and could bend or break something.? The Display board holds the famously-difficult-to-replace VFDs.? These boards are all fragile, and will need a nice soft place to reside while you’re working.

-Filing is the easiest part of the operation.? I used a set of small metal filers from the hardware store.? There were a few grades of tooth.? Use thick tooth first, then more refined ones.? I actually filed around all of the holes a bit to clean them, looks way better.

I think that’s it.? I hope this info is helpful to someone, and thanks again for the advice.

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Wanted !

Matrix 12 US version EPROM dumps or chips.
Please if somebody has original US version bins, contact me.
Can't believe that nobody has it.
This synth is/was very popular and has been serviced a lot.

Best regards...?

Sorry, the name was Klaus Ploch. ...?/g/xpantastic/files/Software

Or maybe you tried to mention that they are compatible in some way ?
I doubt so.

Certainly.

But I got Matrix 12 here.
Whole another story ...

PS. Klaus Bloch's EPROMs are for the US version.

Thanks.
I actually was there before questioning.
Looks like there's only Xpander dumps are available ;(

Thanks.
It turns out there's no place to get US dumps or chips ?
Very strange and frustrating.
I thought there are more US versions of the keyboard are available.
Japanese seemed to be rather rare.
So, if ROM burns out, we get big 10 000$ brick ?

Auch ! ;(

See also:?/g/xpantastic/files/Software

Tiitu

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Sorry for a little bit of offtop.
But I did not find the right particular topic for my question.
So to my view this topic looks like a proper place to ask.