Yamaha FC-7 causing PC361 reboot

[mark urquhart]

I’ve used FC-7 pedals with my PC361 for five years and recently it seems to be causing my PC361 to reboot. Problem goes away when pedal is not connected. Using switched polarity adapter or cords all three FC-7 units I own worked well (all work perfect in my Yamaha board obviously) except for this issue which now seems to reboot the board every time. Sometimes when I go to use the pedal and sometimes reboot with no apparent trigger. Diagnostic shows expected transition up or down from 0 to 254.

I have some important gigs coming up and am concerned it could be something with the PC3 (does it in either CC port). PC3 manual it says:

Continuous pedals 10‐kOhm linear‐taper potentiometer, 1/4‐inch tip‐ring‐sleeve plug with the wiper connected to the tip.

I read that FC-7 is 50k pot -could that have somehow become an issue?? Looking at the Kurzweil CC-1 for $89 and crummy reviews hate buying to test – but also read that an M-Audio EX-P pedal uses a 10k ohm linear pot and saw one on Amazon for $21 and was thinking not much to lose might be worth a test just to see if the FC-7 is stressing my Pc3 out for some reason?

Appreciate any advice on where to go with this problem-- I might just go ahead and buy that EX-P to see if it resolves issue because I need to do something (playing intro to Lazy without exp pedal will not be the same)

 

[happyrat1]

I use a couple of these with my PC3K8. They work fine.

https://www.amazon.ca/Moog-ACCEP003-EP3-Expression-Pedal/dp/B00GG20DJ4/

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1010619-REG/moog_acc_ep_003_ep_3_expression_pedal.html

I'd say buy at least one to test out if the pedal is the cause.

You might also want to crack open the FC7 pedals and give them a shot of electronic contact cleaner on the pots.

The pots may be dirty and generating electrical noise that's causing the reboots.

It may or may not work and it may only be a temporary solution though. Proper service would involve opening up the pots themselves and cleaning each one thoroughly.

Gary

 

[delaware dave]

Happyrat (Gary):

Check this conversation we had about 5 years ago when this happened to me:

https://www.keyboardforums.com/conversations/50k-pot-vs-10k-pot-expression-pedals.1425/

Mark,

The exact same thing happened with me. I used an FC-7 for 3 years with zero issues and all of a sudden touching the FC-7 started causing a reboot on my PC3 every time I touched the pedal. Thinking it was the pedal I went to Guitar Center (about 30 minutes away) and purchased a new pedal. The new pedal worked for 1 gig; the next gig it started doing the same thing. I blamed it on the new pedal. I returned the new pedal to Guitar Center and they gave me another brand new pedal. As soon as I used the new pedal it caused a reboot. I then engaged in a discussion with Jean (Kurzweil Technical Mgr). He is familiar with the pedal and advised about 10K ohm vs. 50K ohm difference ( I was using an Ashby adapter since Kurzweil uses Roland wiring rather than Yamaha). He said that some of the parts were probably starting to wear and something was causing a component to go above/below spec and cause the reboot. Not knowing what to do I purchased a Roland EV-7 pedal, that not only has the long throw I require to play organ but is also 10K Ohm. It was used on Ebay. EV-7’s have been discontinued by Roland for several years now. That was 5 years ago; I’ve never had an issue with the PC3 since purchasing the Roland pedal and the PC3 works flawlessly with it.

EV-7’s are hard to find and pretty expensive, but low and behold here’s a used one in great condition and at a great price:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Used-Rolan...h=item1cbb261105:g:qUsAAOSwz5hbsf5Y:rk:1:pf:0

My recommendation is to purchase the EV-7 while you can find it cheap and sell the FC-7. The FC-7 is a great pedal but unfortunately over time conflicts with the PC3. You’ll find the EV-7 to be acceptable, much like the FC-7. Whatever you do don’t buy a Roland EV-5, it has a short throw and unacceptable to use in most cases. It’s sweep is so shallow (short) that “expression” is nearly impossible.

 

[happyrat1]

Dave >>> Thanks for reminding me of that conversation.

The Moogerfooger Pedals do use 10K pots though and they are still readily available.

Either one is an option.

Gary