Neo Instrument Ventilator II Repair Information Wanted

[Doerfler]

Wondering if anyone can help me out with this. My Vent II is stuck in bypass mode. Local repair shop, guy I have worked with for 30 years, can't diagnose the problem. I have reached out to Gand Music twice this summer, no response. On the Neo Instruments FaceBook page, there are multiple people who are having the same problem, no response from Gand. Neo Instruments webpage (Germany) has no contact information that I have been able to find. Any help appreciated, thanks for reading. 

[Polychrest]

I had the same problem with mine back in 2016.  Apparently lots of Vents II were crapping out the same way.  Mine was out of warranty, but I took it back to the place I bought it (Cosmo Music north of Toronto) for service.  It came back fixed a month later--no charge.  Some original part had been faulty.  According to the service order, Cosmo emailed Gand, then sent it to an outfit called Innovative Technologies for the fix.  It's been rock-solid ever since.     

[Delaware Dave]

It's troubling to me that a manufacturer who has made more than a half a dozen variations of the vent is non responsive when there is an issue.  I can understand a distributor who sells them but may not be in a position to do a repair, but when you contact the manufacturer and they are non-responsive that troubles me.  It wont take long for the word to get out and then sales of product fizzle, then they go under. One thought is that the Mag organ has a ventilator option on their builds.  You might try contacting them to understand how they get their Vent's repaired in the event of an issue.

[MathOfInsects]

I also contacted them with no reply. My Vent II is just a very expensive paper weight now.

[Doerfler]

thanks for that info, Josh, even though not good news. If I get anywhere with this I'll let you know

[CEB]

I don’t know if it will help but I know what I would try if it was me in your shoes.  The music store closed a few years ago and I think Gary and Joan are in California.  Joan Gand is the organist I thought she handled the Ventilator stuff.  
 

The sound business is still going on I would call them 1-630-509-2457 and hope I could talk to Tim Swan.  Tim has been with the Gand’s since the 80s.  He might be able to get you connected to the right person or know what is going on.  Tim might not know anything about the MI stuff. Again, this might not help but it’s the type of desperation move I would try.  

[o0Ampy0o]

Regarding it not taking long for Neo Instruments to go out of business over this: It would take a while for this to play out if this ever happened. They have time to organize a recall if warranted. It isn’t like every product has a defect. They have quite a few products nowadays. They are well-established as manufacturer of the best Leslie emulator although a relative minority would debate that.

[CEB]

14 minutes ago, o0Ampy0o said:

Regarding Neo Instruments going out of business over this: It would take a while for this to play out. It isn’t like every product has a defect. They have quite a few products nowadays. They are well-established as manufacturer of the best Leslie emulator although a relative minority would debate that.

Who said Neo is going out of business?   Gand’s Retail Music store is out of business.  It was Chicago’s best keyboard store IMO.  Gand is the North American distributor for the Vents and who you go through for repairs.    Gand not answering repair inquiries is the problem or Neo needs new North American service support.  

[o0Ampy0o]

1 minute ago, CEB said:

Who said Neo is going out of business?   Gand’s Retail Music store is out of business.  It was Chicago’s best keyboard store IMO.  Gand is the North American distributor for the Vents and who you go through for repairs.   

Referring to the “manufacturer” Delaware Dave described a foreseeable (by him) scenario in his post earlier in the thread.

 

7 hours ago, Delaware Dave said:

It’s troubling to me that a manufacturer………………It wont take long for the word to get out and then sales of product fizzle, then they go under. 

 

[Delaware Dave]

Dave, here is a list of dealers.  You might try contacting them and asking about getting a broken unit serviced:

 

https://neo-instruments.com/dealers/

[Baldwin Funster]

NEO is a very small company, I'm not sure if it's a they or it's still a him. I bought my first vent back around 2004 or 2005 when you had to get Guido to ship them from Germany. I doubt he has alot of employees and taking intl phone calls over a repair issue in the US might be harder to deal with than we think. Roland is huge and they can't get to the phone when you call, how much harder for NEO.

I'm not minimizing the OPs issue though. I have a vent2 and I may find myself in the same boat.

[KeyMoe]

Had the same problem. Sent it back to Sweetwater for the repair. Took about about a month or so but got it back working! 

[Doerfler]

thanks for all the replies. I'll wait until Tuesday ( after holiday weekend ends) and see where it goes from there. 

I'm not in any hurry for this, just hate to have a relatively expensive effects pedal go to waste. 

 

[Doerfler]

5 hours ago, CEB said:

I don’t know if it will help but I know what I would try if it was me in your shoes.  The music store closed a few years ago and I think Gary and Joan are in California.  Joan Gand is the organist I thought she handled the Ventilator stuff.  
 

The sound business is still going on I would call them 1-630-509-2457 and hope I could talk to Tim Swan.  Tim has been with the Gand’s since the 80s.  He might be able to get you connected to the right person or know what is going on.  Tim might not know anything about the MI stuff. Again, this might not help but it’s the type of desperation move I would try.  

Thanks, Ed. I'll try calling  Tim on Tuesday. Joan and I corresponded semi frequently many years ago on the "Clonewheel" group started by Bruce Wahler over at Yahoo 20 years ago or so i guess. She was always very friendly so it seemed odd to me not to get a response.

[Caevan O’Shite]

FWIW, a little context, and maybe some clues- and note that this has apparently been an issue for quite some time now...

 

Quote

Posted by geoelectro on the Organ Forum dot com

04-03-2015, 05:27 AM

I just had to send one [a Neo Vent II] back for this problem, stuck in bypass. We sent one back last Sept. or so and after some investigation, it was the same unit! After talking with the distributor they said some early versions of the Vent II had a "weaker processor" that has been upgraded to a "stronger one". I don't know what that means as they are not a technician. I assume it means the newer batch won't be as prone to this problem.

The first time I sent it back started me on a path to discover if it could be a problem with connecting it between a grounded sound system and an ungrounded Hammond. I came up with a modified circuit used to pad the Hammond volume down and provide isolation. You can see it at; 

    http://tinyurl.com/n3axey3 

Geo
       
 

 

[ChazKeys]

You could try and email Guido Kirch.  Although he is based in Germany he may be able to recommend a tech person in the US. When mine broke I sent it to his tech guy in Germany.  Repaired FOC but took around 6 weeks.

 

gk"at"neo-instruments.de   "at" = @ 

 

 

[Doerfler]

5 hours ago, ChazKeys said:

You could try and email Guido Kirch.  

I will, thank you

[Doerfler]

8 hours ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

FWIW, a little context, and maybe some clues- and note that this has apparently been an issue for quite some time now...

Thanks for checking in over here, CO. 

I had been aware that this had been a problem for a long time, just can't understand that this being the case it is darn near impossible to get one repaired.

[StickMan393]

Just curious... I understand the original Neo Vent was, like, king of the Leslie sims and kept the crown for some time. Is there a current "modern" equivalent?

[Doerfler]

this is the current version, the same one being discussed in this thread

 

https://neo-instruments.com/ventilator-2/

[KeyMoe]

10 hours ago, Doerfler said:

I will, thank you

Here is an email I received from Guido on my issue last year...

Guido Kirsch <gk@neo-instruments.de> wrote:

 

Hi Matthew,

most likely its a defective UI chip, which can be replaced easily since it is on a socket.

You could replace it yourself or send the unit in to service.

 

Best regards,

Guido Kirsch

[Doerfler]

this is good news, now I just need the schematics. Thanks for posting 

[elif]

13 hours ago, Doerfler said:

this is good news, now I just need the schematics. Thanks for posting 

 If you  get this information, please post it here.  It would be good to have, just in case...

[Doerfler]

a little behind schedule on this as I contracted Covid 19 over the holiday weekend. Took 3.5 years but those sob germs finally caught up to me. Germs are usually scared of me, these are some bad mofo's. 

So this is a good news/bad news post, referring to the Vent, not to me.

After reading brother KeyMoe's post above (I owe you a cigar, Matthew, next time I am in Dallas  )

I decided to take my unit apart. What I didn't know was how was I going to recogonize which chip was the UI chip in question.

I do have some experience in this, although it has been many years and I'm not typically a DIY guy, I'd rather just pay someone who knows what they are doing and have it correct and be done with it. In this case however, I already did pay my repair guy his bench fee and he couldn't diagnose the problem.

So carefully taking the unit apart (it's like an onion, many layers) I discovered that there is only one chip in the entire unit that is socketed. Viola. 

Took a photograph, researched the part number, easily found it. Very inexpensive, less than US $3.00 before tax and shipping.

Now the bad news. No one has them in stock. Welcome to 2022. Mouser has almost 7,000 of them on order according to their web site, expecting them late August 2023.

As we know, that "don't mean sh--". It is a very good reputable company so I purchased one and they will ship it to me when it arrives, really no other choice for me anyway.

Once it arrives, pop the old chip out, pop the new one in, and hopefully it will work. If it does, most excellent.

If it doesn't, then Josh and I will have matching paperweights. In the meantime, I will still be searching

 

This is the part in question : https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Microchip-Technology-Atmel/ATMEGA168A-PU?qs=lwdSMh1%2FoYKv3kWK5Zt0JQ%3D%3D

 

[elif]

This part is a microcontroller and needs to be programmed before use. That said, I wonder if the one you removed could be reprogrammed?

[CEB]

Damn I hate hear to you are ill .  Get well my friend.

[Doerfler]

thanks for well wishes, Ed. I'll be back to kicking ass and taking names in no time. 

[jpgxk3]

Hi Dave, feel better soon! Thanks for the tutorial on the V2; hope I don't need that but glad you found it. Maybe try pulling the chip give a wipe clean and re-seat it? Wing and a prayer, but since you have the time....best to you, Joe.

[Doerfler]

1 hour ago, ChoppedHam said:

This part is a microcontroller and needs to be programmed before use. 

well, that certainly throws a wrench into the fan now, doesn't it?

[Doerfler]

Thanks for well wishes, Joe. I just sent Guido Kirsch an email. See if anything comes of that.