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Somewhat OT: Latch Installation


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I received this new piece of gear (which I shall not name publicly); it has a removable, latching cover, which does not latch.

 

I communicated directly, via email, with a customer service rep from the manufacturer, including some photo and video evidence (below) of the problem, asking if these latches were indeed installed correctly as intended, or was there possibly an error or QA problem. Their prompt and polite response was, yes, the latches are installed properly, and I simply need to apply more force to make them catch:

 

Photo

Video

 

Does anyone else here think, as I do, that this is utter poppycock? Or am I just a nutty professor, and the latches are indeed installed in a perfectly reasonable way? I contended with the customer service fellow that the latches cannot possibly work correctly because the two halves are not flat and flush with each other, and the attaching screws are impeding the path of the latch:

 

The Problem

Mockup of Solution

 

To me, it's very clear that the latch will never close, no matter how much force is applied... :wall:

Legend '70s Compact, Jupiter-Xm, Studiologic Numa X 73

 

 

 

 

 

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Like was said, the latch top and bottom have to be even or it wont work. If you have some shop skill and a rivet gun you can drill the latch top off and shim it up and rerevit it but that takes some experience. Or see where the case halves are misaligned, but again it would take case repair skill to drill off the rivets holding the case together to have a clean result. No force will make it close right.

 

Note. I designed, built and repaired roadcases for a major multimillion dollar case company for over 18 years.

FunMachine.

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Brad,

 

Any company that makes excuses for faulty workmanship will not survive.

 

You've fully and accurately described the problem and solution.

 

My only other observation is they used the wrong type fastener head. That should be a pan head, not countersunk head.

Kurzweil Forte, Yamaha Motif ES7, Muse Receptor 2 Pro Max, Neo Ventilator
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Brad,

 

Any company that makes excuses for faulty workmanship will not survive.

 

You've fully and accurately described the problem and solution.

 

My only other observation is they used the wrong type fastener head. That should be a pan head, not countersunk head.

 

I noticed that too. The lid isn"t properly aligned with the body, as if the hinges aren"t set properly.

____________________________________
Rod

Here for the gear.

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That was made either on a Friday or a Monday...........

 

I'd take a closer look at the whole case to see if there's any other evidence of shoddy work.

 

As it was said above, the lid and/or hinges -- and latches -- aren't installed correctly.

 

Old No7

Yamaha MODX6 * Hammond SK Pro 73 * Roland Fantom-08 * Crumar Mojo Pedals * Mackie Thump 12As * Tascam DP-24SD * JBL 305 MkIIs

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Well, I do have to give customer service credit, where credit is due. They have been very responsive, and are genuinely trying to help me understand that the latches are installed correctly -- by which they mean "intentionally" and "by design" -- at least, according to the fellow there, this is the way the latches have always been installed; they are checked for QA, and they have never had a problem.

 

I received another email, complete with photos, which I appreciated:

Latch - detail

 

He explained that the latches indeed have a M/F tongue-and-groove that need to be aligned (of course) for the latch to close. And since the female half of the latch is installed higher (a necessity, he explains because the latch is intended for wood, and they are using it with aluminum), that part of the latch must be forced down to the level of the male half with additional pressure, before bringing the two halves together -- the aluminum will flex enough to make this possible.

 

So, we can volley the pros and cons of the engineering choices back and forth, but at the end of the day this is not a defect from their point-of-view, and ultimately I can't argue with that position. I left for a trip out of town this morning, so I won't be able to try their "flex" instructions for a couple of days.

 

If I decide to keep the unit, and I do like it otherwise, I'm certain I can either modify what they've done, or replace the latches with something that works better...

Legend '70s Compact, Jupiter-Xm, Studiologic Numa X 73

 

 

 

 

 

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Looking at the photo it seems the latchtop is fastened with screws. Just unscrew the fastener and put one or two washers on the screw to raise up the latchtop to be even with the latch bottom.

 

Ha! That"s actually one of the suggestions I received from customer service. :)

Legend '70s Compact, Jupiter-Xm, Studiologic Numa X 73

 

 

 

 

 

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Interestingâ¦.

 

Let us know if this works out OK.

 

Old No7

 

Well, I tried the customer service "flex" solution, but no bueno. I can get the two pieces of the latch to mate correctly if I really LEAN HARD, but it won't stay that way when the catch is closed, and the pressure is removed. It's a two-handed job (nearly three-handed) just for one latch -- no way you could close both latches with just your thumbs. It's just a bum choice for a latch, and a bum install -- it ain't happenin'...

Legend '70s Compact, Jupiter-Xm, Studiologic Numa X 73

 

 

 

 

 

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As others have noted, those are absolutely the wrong type of screws. The latch appears to be mis-aligned laterally. And the 'heights" of the latches don"t line up with each other. Latches like that should automatically just line up, ready to be closed easily. That looks like poor design, compounded by shoddy workmanship to me.

 

You are being handed BS from the company, imo.

I would like to apologize to anyone I have not yet offended. Please be patient and I will get to you shortly.
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My 2c: I see multiple problems:

 

1) The alignment of the hinge or squareness of the body or rigidity of the body is suspect. The halves don't seem to align well when the case is closed without the latches locked.

 

2) The chosen latch hardware appears poor. It looks like relatively inexpensive pressed sheet metal, which will only work well when everything aligns well - that's not likely the case with a lightweight case surrounding a heavy keyboard. It does have two short interlocking tongues, which will help if you pre-align things well, but it doesn't look as if they could take much lateral force when the case is being transported, even if you do get things to initially latch. It would be better with a system that pulls the sides together actively, rather than just maintains them together.

 

3) The screws used to attach the latch are definitely not what engineering specified. They're not the same as were used in the pictures that customer service shared with you. It's not clear from the photos that this is the only problem, but it is certain a problem. It makes me concerned what other deviances from the engineering drawings were made by manufacturing.

 

My background is engineering prof, MIT doctorate, three startups. That gives me the experience to say I trust Jr. Deluxe's opinion 100x more than my own since he has the background to answer the questions you've asked as well as the questions you haven't. I wonder if the company needed to hire inexperienced workers to fill orders - it's crazy hard to hire in manufacturing right now.

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  • 3 weeks later...
As others have noted, those are absolutely the wrong type of screws. The latch appears to be mis-aligned laterally. And the 'heights" of the latches don"t line up with each other. Latches like that should automatically just line up, ready to be closed easily. That looks like poor design, compounded by shoddy workmanship to me.

 

You are being handed BS from the company, imo.

 

Fixed. :2thu:

 

I replaced the cheapo briefcase latches with butterfly latches -- MUCH better solution, and creates a positive lock that can't be accidently popped open. I was able to reuse the existing screw holes for the catch plate on the cover, but I had to drill new bolt holes in the bottom case. I had a pair of black latches, so I also replaced the half-hinge assemblies with black hardware, to match (reused all screws holes, but replaced the screws with panheads). These butterflies look fine, but they're a bit bigger than they need to be -- they're not really holding anything heavy. I've seen smaller latches, but bird in the hand... I may squirt some black silicon into the old bolt holes.

 

A pair of these butterfly latches costs about $8 USD; in quantity, I bet only a couple of bucks. Plus proper panhead bolts and screws; the whole replacement kit cost me $15, works like it should, and looks so much better.

 

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Legend '70s Compact, Jupiter-Xm, Studiologic Numa X 73

 

 

 

 

 

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