"Sylvia Else" wrote in message
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Trevor Wilson wrote:
"Sylvia Else" wrote in message
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Sylvia Else wrote:
The sustaining pedal on my Yamaha electronic piano is become rather
flaky. Sometimes it doesn't sustain when pressed.
So I disassembled the piano enough to get at the mechanism, (removed 12
screws, and 6 bolts), and was rather surprised to see that the business
end consists of a potentiometre.
I'm not really surprised that it's failing. In fact, the surprise is
that it's lasted so long. When a piano is played, the sustaining pedal
is in constant use. I can't help feeling potentiometres were never
designed with that kind of use in mind.
The design seems rather primitive.
Sylvia.
At least Yamaha are willing to supply just the pot. I was expecting them
to want to supply a complete replacement pedal mechanism, at some
exorbitant price.
Spares guy described it as a "volume" pot for the sustaining pedal 
None in stock here, though - order from Japan - takes 4 weeks.
So much for supporting their product.
**How old is it? Beyond 7 years (or is it 5 now?) they don't have to do
diddly about spare parts supply, if they don't want to.
From the ACCC web site
"What is ‘reasonably available’ will depend on the particular
circumstances, such as the nature of the product and its expected useful
life. There is no minimum period for a manufacturer or importer to provide
facilities and spare parts for repair. However, a manufacturer or importer
will remain liable for damages for up to 10 years if the failure to
provide repair facilities and parts is found to be unreasonable."
This is a piano we're talking about, not an iPod. It cost not much shy of
$5000 seven years ago. I'd be surprised if a court found that it was
reasonable to cease supplying parts so soon.
Just appreciate that
they can get you the right part in 4 weeks. I could tell you stories
about ather brands, whose products have only been on the market for less
than 2 years and the parts are NLA. Yamaha, IME, are one of the better
companies for spare parts support.
OTOH, let your fingers do the walking and look through the Farnell
cattle-dog. They have some very superior quality parts, which you may be
able coax into the right spot.
Maybe, though when I went through Farnell's site yesterday, and considered
the mechanical requirements, I couldn't find anything suitable.
Sylvia.
I don't get what the problem is here. The pot has done 7 years. It's
knackered. Ho hum. Yammy will supply a direct replacement that will do
probably another 7 years for just $25 shipped. That's less than 7c a week. I
appreciate that the piano cost $5k (Aus ??) initially, but at the end of the
day, it's not exactly a Steinway, is it ? You could pay that much for a top
end LCD TV or a mediocre plasma, and find that you couldn't get parts, or
that they were prohibitively expensive, as little as 2 years down the line.
You might even have just been unlucky to have your pot fail in 7 years. If
Yammy don't have it available anywhere in your country, needing to de-stock
it from Japan, that might suggest that there is little call for
replacements.
Personally, I wouldn't give myself the grief of trying to shoehorn an
alternative in, with no guarantee that it's going to perform as the original
did, when a direct manufacturer's replacement is available at what I think
is a very reasonable cost, and with a life expectancy of at least another 7
years. Half of that cost is probably shipping and handling anyway, so get
two whilst you're at it for probably not a lot more, then you'll be ready to
roll again in another seven years ... d;~}
Arfa