Yamaha Motif Rack Display [SOLVED]

[fh991586]

The display of the Motif Rack I got at an estate auction is not working well. Is that difficult to fix? Syntaur doesn't even seem to have it: only the keyboard's display is listed...

I was not considering editing the synth since the preset are really dope anyway, so I guess I'll most likely leave it like that anyway...

[Edited because of broken links of the pictures]

[meatballfulton]

Contact Yamaha customer service directly, they can tell you about availability of parts and hook you up with a nearby service center.

The difficulty of fixing: getting the new part and opening the unit up would be the hardest part. If you're lucky, there's a cable to the display and no soldering would be required. I couldn't find a service manual for d.l. and Yamaha probably does not sell these to end users.

[fh991586]

Yamaha Canada is not in a hurry to answer my part # request...

Can anyone tell me is it's the same display as the keyboard? I have no way to check it by myself.

[meatballfulton]

The rack displays are not the same as the keyboard displays for any of the Motif series.

[fh991586]

I was told in a very brief reply that part is # WA17410R. The price wasn't stated, so I have to write them back... Still don't know if it can be swaped easily, so the price will decide if I go through this.

[fh991586]

Now I have a direct contact at Yamaha, and they answer a lot more quickly! The part is $90, the service manual is $10 and the shipping is around $10.

Syntaur still has not replied, but I don't think it will be cheaper with the exchange rate & shipping...

Last thing to check: is it an easy swap or not? I'll open my unit to see how it's done inside... Considering the use I'll have of the module, it's already a bit too high for my taste. But it also might be more difficult to sell in the future...

[fh991586]

Sadly, Syntaur never replied to my availability/price inquiry for this part...

I finally decided to open it up to check how the inside is made, and it happens to be pretty simple: only a ribbon cable is connecting the LCD to the main board, without a connector! It's simply bare at both ends, and can be inserted in the right input. It's a little thin, but doesn't seem that fragile. The LCD is mounted on a TR-804 94V-0 PCB (also stamped TRULY MCG445-A1), but it's so small and compact it would most likely be impossible to troubleshoot and repair...

Now the only thing missing is the true knowledge that the problem is related only to the LCD part itself, and not elsewhere on the board... I can't swap it with another one for a test, so even if I buy a new one I won't be sure until I plug it in.

Anyone can tell me if those lines can be a symptom of something else going bad BESIDE the LCD itself? I don't know anything about this.

[Yes, I have unplugged the ribbon connector on both ends to check for any visible defect.]

[meatballfulton]

That sort of problem is almost always the display itself. Good luck.

[fh991586]

I decided not to buy the service manual after all. But just in case anyone needs the information, I was able to find out that you can access the test mode if you press "BANK [RIGHT]", "VOICE" & "UTILITY" while powering up. The first diagnostic test is for the LCD, making it flash to see if every pixel works.

[fh991586]

It's done!


But it wasn't that simple: the connector was a lot thighter on the replacement than on the original (not exactly the same thing)...


And the bad part is that I didn't get a replacement LCD in pristine condition: there are some black specs under the glass, and I now suspect it is a refurbished part or one that didn't meet the first factory check but they didn't want to trash it...


You can see them a little while it's behind the front panel (less visible than in first picture), but not that much so I'll keep it anyway. But I'll send a feedback to Yamaha about this!

[Edited because of broken links of the pictures]

[dluther]

I had a similar problem with my Motif Rack. A nice fellow on the Motifator forums clued me in on the part number which is the exact same as the Rack XS, and Syntaur had them brand new.

Here's a thread on Gearslutz outlining my repair:

Repair of a Motif Rack

[fh991586]

Cool!
Syntaur took a month to reply to my email inquiry about the display. Now I see they list their part as the same for all rack models (which wasn't the case then). The original Yamaha part number isn't listed on their product page, though...

Concerning the not perfect display that I initially purchased full price from Yamaha Canada, they sent a pristine replacement part after I complained. But they didn't offer a partial (or total) refund... So now I have a spare display, because I didn't want to open my rack another time just for that!

[fh991586]

Weird. Links for the pictures were not working anymore, so I edited the posts to help...

[BoomOperator]

Cool!
Concerning the not perfect display that I initially purchased full price from Yamaha Canada, they sent a pristine replacement part after I complained. But they didn't offer a partial (or total) refund... So now I have a spare display, because I didn't want to open my rack another time just for that!

Hi, I'm about to attempt a similar repair on my own. Thanks for your notes and for dluther's writeup on Gearslutz.


I'm replacing the rotary encoder but also have lines out on my LCD, since it's still 80% visible I wasn't going to spend the $80 (Syntaur) to replace it but if you still have your (imperfect) spare display, I'd pay something for the improvement. If you want to recover some of your cost, let me know, I'm in Las Vegas, NV, US, 89103 for shipping. Thanks!