Paul D is the expert on this, of course. It's the tails that are used to connect to the panels
that become brittle with age and crack, breaking the connections. I don't think these flex much
with use, so I would guess that it's just age-related and probably has little to do with use.

But maybe if the synth is in a moister environment the tails might not dry out as much?
Of course a moist environment can lead to lots of other issues...

Bob
--------------------------------------------

On Fri, 9/18/15, 'masonhu@...' Masonhu@... [chromapolaris] <chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Subject: Re: [chromapolaris] New Member Hopefully New Owner
To: chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com
Date: Friday, September 18, 2015, 10:19 AM




























Do panels/membranes deteriorate over time even if the
unit is not
being used?

(or is it mainly heavy use that causes them to break
down?_



i.e. If someone's selling a pristine synth is there
still a pretty
good chance the original panels underneath might be
shot?







On 6/3/2015 2:21 PM, Bob Grieb bobgrieb@...
[chromapolaris] wrote:

 



I replaced
the
panel on mine, and also helped a friend do
his.
It's
not that
hard if you watch Paul's video and make
sure
you follow
each
step.



    Bob





   








From:
"Paul Krull paul.krull@...
[chromapolaris]" <chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com>

To:
"chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com"
<chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com>


Sent:
Wednesday, June 3, 2015 12:41 PM

Subject:
Re: [chromapolaris] New Member
Hopefully New Owner










 I

have longingly studied the
installation
instructions for the
replacement panels
and they do seem pretty
detailed and
comprehensive. How many owners
and with
what kind of skill set have
replaced their
own panels? I worked in a
music store that
sold used synths many years
ago and a
couple Polarii came through
with troubled
membranes and I did do some
investigating
and poking around but it
seemed like a
losing battle with the brittle
and
deteriorating state of the
ribbon. I hope
I didn't leave the
instruments in worse
shape than I found
them.
 PT
  










On Tuesday, June 2,
2015 6:11 PM, "steve.welk@...


[chromapolaris]" <chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com>
wrote:









 



I
can attest to
the
wonderfulness
of Paul's
panels, and
also for his
generosity in
sharing his
expertise. 
Thanks to his
willingness to
keep this
cool
instrument alive, my
Polaris has
been brought
back from the
dead.  It
sat for many
years (5-10,
who knows) in
my basement
pretty much
out of
commission due
to the
broken flex
problem.  I
wasn't
really sure what to
do with it. 
Then I found
a book
("Synth Gods") in a
1/2 price
bookstore, and
it reactivated
my interest
in old analog
synths.  It
prompted me to
research
information on
my old
Polaris and i
ran into
Paul's
replacement

instructions.



Long story
short, I bought
a set of the
panels.  He
helped me
debug a couple
other
problems, convinced
me to try
fixing a couple
bad sliders
and gave other
good info
(e.g. part
number/where
to find the
ribbon
connectors).  I now
have a
perfectly
functioning (I
think)
Polaris again
thanks to
Paul.  I was
even
motivated to
replace a
couple chipped
keys, found
on ebay so now
it looks
pretty
excellent too.



Amazingly
enough, my D
cells still
registered 4
LED's of
goodness after
sitting idle
all that
time.  All
presets were
still
there.



Anyway, only
one
question. 
When pushing my
master volume
up past ~
1/3 full
scale, it gets
pretty noisy.
I gather
this is
"normal".  Was
there ever a
fix for
this?  Do
dedicated analog

voltages/ground from the
power supply
board help?



Again, kudos
to Paul!



Steve