How To: disassemble an Optigan

[djimbe]

O.K. I decided to make a separate thread for this so it doesn't get lost at the bottom of some other Optigan post. This subject seems to be a popular one just now. What follows will be related to the model 35001 organs, since that's what I have. Maybe I'll have several installments in this thread, but the first one will be geared toward breaking the organ open so maintneance can be performed. It's easy to do if you go slow and pay attention. Yeah, it would be nice to just plug and play an Optigan, but I don't think that's gonna happen. You wanted one, right? Better know how to service one. Here we go:


Begin by removing the back of the organ. Lotsa screws...

Next, remove the top panel. It has NO screws. It slides out toward the back of the organ, and it'll be in there tight. It's much easier to get the sides off with top out of your way...

Now, you need to begin removing the sides of the organ. I'm not kidding. If you ever hope to remove the plastic cover on the keyboard (like to clean all the contacts and stuff in there), you need to get the sides off. Look inside the instrument from the back. Look at the left side. You'll see 3 screws with big star shaped washers holding the side to the front. Take them out. You'll see a 4th holding the side to the bottom. Take it out.

Again, look at the inside from the back. You'll notice that the keyboard and disc drive system live on a sort of shelf. On the left side of the shelf, you'll see a short wall piece. Two big screws go through this wall into the main organ side panel. Take these out.

Now the hard to find ones. Again, looking inside from the back. Under the shelf, near where those 2 big screws you just removed are, there is a screw that goes up into the shelf. See, the main organ side has a small ledge molded into it that serves to hold the shelf. This screw fastens the side to the shelf. THIS SCREW HAS A MATE! The mating screw is on the outside front of the organ. It also goes up, basically into the end of the keyboard. Take both of these screws out.

That's it for the left side (when viewing the organ from the back). The other side is exactly the same. Take all of the same screws out for that side too. DO NOT COMPLETELY REMOVE THE SIDES YET! The sides help support things. All you need to do is push the top part of each side away from the organ enough to expose the screws that hold the keyboard cover down. There are little ridges on the parts to help hold them all together. You'll need to gently tap the sides away from the organ with a wood block or rubber mallet. Remember that you're dealing with plastic stuff! Be gentle...

The door that you open to put the disc in is likely to fall off when you start moving the sides. The start bar kinda holds it in place, but you may choose to disconnect the start bar from the door and take it off completely. Let's assume that at this point, you have all the screws out of the sides, the disc door off, and the sides are tipped away from the organ at the top. Now you can remove the keyboard cover so you can de-gunkify the contacts, clean the optic device, etc.

The keys cover is held in place by 3 screws in front and 2 on the top of each side. Remove all of these screws. THERE IS ALSO A HIDDEN ONE! Look inside the organ from the back. Look at the right side. You'll find a thin metal strap that holds the keys cover down to the shelf. Remove the screw that goes into the keys cover, and leave the screw that goes into the shelf. Take a pair of pliers and try to rotate this metal strap away from the keys cover. Don't bend it backwards, rotate it counterclockwise, using the screw in the shelf as the pivot point.

One more thing is holding that keys cover down. That darn metrinome light. I couldn't figure out how to get that thing out without breaking the plastic mount that holds it. I have no use for it, so that didn't bother me. Best of luck with this part. You need it to NOT be attached to the keys cover, so however you achieve that...

O.K. You did it! Now you should be able to remove the keys cover and begin the real repair work. This is probably a good place to end this installment...

[Aj]

You are a prince, sir.

I just started disassembling mine this afternoon. I reached a dead-end with how to get the sides off, took a break to surf Tape Op. and lo and behold...

Needless to say, this is a big help.

Aj

P.S. Any tips for cleaning the thing (optics, innards, etc.) once I get the thing taken apart?