Power Supply Repair and upgrade resource
Someday I’ll make this a proper article with photos, but this information is asked of me all the time. And it’s so easy: If you can use a Smartphone, you can do most of this on your own. The one exception might be replacing the power supply on your MX100.
Power Supply failure is hands down the most common call I get for the MX100: You turn the power on, and nothing happens, or you hear a high pitched whine or it plays for a minute then stops. That’s your power supply failing. Yamaha no longer makes a replacement power supply, but you can have yours repaired by Tap Electronics in Buena Park, CA. Call them at 714-562-7400 or visit their website. http://www.tapelectronics.com/
Removing the power supply
UNPLUG THE POWER TO YOUR DISKLAVIER!
Power supplies have capacitors which carry an electrical current which could shock you. Of course, one of the main reasons power supplies fail is a bad capacitor, but I wouldn’t put my faith in the capacitor being drained completely. I really have no idea how long the Yamaha MX100 Power Supply takes to discharge (that there is a disclaimer) so I’d leave it unplugged for 24 hours to be safe. If you must know, capacitors discharge 68% of their voltage after one time period, and are nearly fully discharged after 5 time periods. What’s a time period? It depends on the capacitor. If you want to figure this out on your own, here’s the formula:
Capacitor discharge equation: V_t=V_0 * e^{-t / \tau}. After one time period 68% of the voltage is gone. TMI? I figured as much. You're on your own on this one (another disclaimer).
The power supply is located on the bottom right side of the piano. Here is a generic video on disassembling an upright piano (bottom panel is at 5:00):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxFeBcsGtgg
It’s pretty easy to remove, but the bottom panel (sometimes referred to as a knee board) does get hung up on the toes (extension from body of piano to front legs). It takes some maneuvering, and a second pair of hands can help the novice. Once you remove the bottom panel, you’ll see several connectors going to the large component on the bottom right of your piano. It’s held in by a few screws, and there are a couple of connectors. Once you remove it, you can ship it to Tap Electronics, have it repaired, and you’ll be back in business.
Other Problems
I’ve seen floppy drives fail, as well as the LCD board. As of this writing Yamaha still sells them. However, the last time I had to replace a floppy drive, I discovered that the connector had become loose. I shoved it all the way in and presto! I was back in business.
But if your floppy drive is broken, do you have to fix it? Maybe not. Even if it’s not broken, you’ll want to read this.
Playing your MX100 with MIDI files
Beneath your keyboard on the right side you’ll find two MIDI ports: One IN, and one OUT. If you attach a Yamaha BlueTooth MIDI device to your piano, you can connect to your phone via Bluetooth, add a MIDI player to your phone, add some player piano files, and you’ll be playing your old MX100 with your phone. What?!?! Yes. Super easy. Here’s what you’ll need:
Bluetooth MIDI Adaptor
MIDI files of piano music
Some device with an app for those files
Here’s a link to the Yamaha Bluetooth MIDI product:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1222218-REG/yamaha_md_bt01_wireless_bluetooth_midi.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&lsft=BI%3A514&gclid=CjwKCAiA8Jf-BRB-EiwAWDtEGmMM_am6pncbQ-FFMrps-EkgQZ9SchKlm0DnM2W_DqHGF81biRJ70BoCP2MQAvD_BwE
MIDI Files (like digital player rolls!)
Next you’ll need some MIDI files. There are free MIDI files all over the internet, but they must be for player pianos. If not they might not play the piano too well. Here’s one place to start:
This site has been selling MIDI files for player pianos since 1980, so they sort of know what they’re doing.
MIDI Controller (an app for your iPhone)
Finally, you’ll need an app to control all of this. PianoStream is what you need:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/piano-keyboard-midi-controller/id1232509288
Inside of PianoStream they explain how to hook up everything. Here is a YouTube video of how to do this.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/piano-keyboard-midi-controller/id1232509288
Seriously, that’s it. This might take you an hour, or all day if you’re not too technically savvy.
Do you still have questions? Want some help? Your best bet is to book a tuning so I can check out your piano, and you’ll only have to pay for me to remove the power supply. Then you can send it to Tap, and call me when it’s back, and I’ll get you all set up.
Email me at Vincent@SFPianoWorks.com and we’ll get you on track to playing your 30 year old pianos with Bluetooth MIDI!!!
