Fixing the dial encoder on a Nord Modular.

A problem – I found out – is not so uncommon after some years of usage.Although I must say in my case it’s a bit more straightforward. The previous owner dropped it and the impact on the dial knob made the encoder shoot right thru the pcb (if you wonder how this could happen just look at the pics)

the part is a Bourns encoder ( ECW1J-R19-CC0024L ) Available at Mouser and probably (Digi-Key, Farnell, etc …)

Okey, switch it off and start unscrewing …

remove all the knob caps from the pots.
They sit on there pretty tight, just use the force, slowly 😉

Now, carefully pull off the lid from the big dial to reveal the nut, you can use a small flat screwdriver or your fingernail to lift it. Remove the nut and the dial cap.

Open up the synth, disconnect the ribbon cable, and lay the top part so that you can access the PCB.

As you can see the dial has been pushed entirely through the encoder (bad design IMHO 😉 ) There’s no point trying to close it or glue it back together. When this happened, the encoder is kaput. So it needs to be replaced … soldering time !

When you remove the encoder, clean everything up and check for damages. There normally shouldn’t be any serious problems.

Now just solder the encoder back on the PCB. Use the nut to tighten it in place.

Assemble the synth back together and attach the dial/cap to the encoder. That should do it. Now go and create some patches ! 😉