Korg Repair Prices, Level Slider Problem

Kvetch · Post by **Kvetch** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:31 pm

A couple of months ago my main output level knob stopped working properly. It would jump in volume and crackle a lot, a sure sign of a dirty POT. I called Korg and explained the problem, they said it would cost me 60 pounds per hour that they had to work on it, which could be one to two hours. They also said I would be charged for the replacement parts, and charged 30 pounds in courier service to my house. For you Americans out there this means:

Work hours - 60 or 120 pounds (around 110-220 US Dollars)
Courier - 30 pounds (around 50 dollars or so)

Instead of this I opened my KP3, took the volume pot off the circuit board, and read the underside which said 150KLIN. So I went to Maplin, bought the exact same pot and attached it to the circuit board, screwed my KP3 together and it now works like a charm.

...This cost me 36 pence, or around 60 cents for the Americans. Regardless of how Korg work out their pricing (hint: they just pick a huge number), I now find myself in the same situation with the level slider.

Ive opened the unit again and removed the slider, but it is not marked on it what the variable resistance value of it is. Harder to replace correctly then. Looked for schematics....failed....anybody know the value of the variable resistor? I suppose I could just buy resistor strips of multiple values and try em till one works, or maybe use my multimeter to measure the resitence of the strip and buy one of that value. Either way it'l cost me less than 1 pound, I just thought Id check in case someone already knows the resistence value, and I really wanted to vent about how much Korg are ripping off people who use their repair service.

Of course I checked my local pro audio store in case they would repair cheaper and was told that Korg are the only complany licensed to repair Korg gear. I thought monopoly in business was illegal? Maybe this doesnt count as monopoly or something

/Rant

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 4:38 pm

60 per hour labour is about average rate of pay for an engineer.
It does pay to do it yourself if you know how. Of course if it were in warranty you wouldn't have to pay for this at all.

Similarly I've had similar repairs done by a local engineer who runs a shop around where I live for about £35

Nigel · Post by **Nigel** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 1:46 am

Measure the end to end resistance of the slider with an accurate ohmmeter. The part that usually fails in the variable slider contact.
You will get the overall value of the slider for replacement.
I charge £30 per hour for repairs.
Maplin sells 2 linear slider pots. 10K and 100K

Kvetch · Post by **Kvetch** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:23 pm

Cheers guys, will measure it and see, just desoldered it from the board so fingers crossed maplin have on, otherwise need to order online or something.

Kvetch · Post by **Kvetch** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 9:47 am

Ok if anyones interested the level slider is a 5KOhm linear, with a 45mm track travel length. Picked one up online for 1.20 and fixed it. So Korg charge me 150 pounds but it cost me less than 2 pounds. Hoorah

Aciphecs · Post by **Aciphecs** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:27 pm

On a side note Kvetch, I love your signature quote!

I actually have that vocal sample on my ESX.

ctujoao · Post by **ctujoao** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 2:55 pm

Hello,

Does anyone have a proper ref for the slider?

5k linear, 60mm long and 45 travel, that's ok.

But it looks like the stock one was dual gang...? Which are a nightmare to find.
The PCB does have the footprint to accommodate a dual gang (even if the second gang doesn't appear to be connected to anything).

Did you guys just bought a single gang one and bend the pins to get them in the right place?

Thanks for any answer.

ctujoao · Post by **ctujoao** » Sun Dec 31, 2017 3:38 pm

And I'm answering myself...

After having a closer look at the service manual schematics: all you need is a single gang 5k linear slider, and bend pin2 in place.

https://www.mouser.co.uk/productdetail/ ... tLZASe0%3D