Clarity on foot pedal usage

[anandmaloo]

Hi guys
I recently bought a sustain foot pedal for using it for initiating style breaks with my Genos.  The problem is that - it does start the break, but the break goes on a loop(similar to as if I keep pressing the break button again and again). I have to press the pedal again to stop that break loop. That also is many times not happening - depending on how much time long did I keep the pedal pressed. . 

Would be of great help if somebody could explain how does this exactly work.

Regards

Anand

[tyrosaurus]

One possibility is that your pedal is of the 'latching' type rather than the 'non-latching' or 'momentary' type required for this function.

In a 'non-latching' or 'momentary' pedal, the contacts only change position for as long as the pedal is pressed. Once you release the pedal the contacts revert back to their normal position.  Yamaha's own FC5 pedal is this type with it's contacts 'normally closed' ('NC') when not being pressed (Yamaha refer to this as positive polarity '+').  However if you don't touch the pedal when you turn on the power and the system boots up, the keyboard should automatically detect the polarity type and set it accordingly.

In a 'latching' pedal, each time that you press the pedal the contacts change to the alternate position and remain set like that until you press the pedal again.  A pedal of this type would produce the symptoms you describe if certain functions are assigned to it. 

Ideally you should check your pedal by testing for electrical continuity across it's plug using an multimeter or similar.  The contacts should be in one state when the pedal is not being pressed (i.e. 'closed' for a 'NC' pedal such as the FC5), and the opposite state only while the pedal is pressed.

However even if you can't check it like this, then if you assign 'Sustain' to the pedal and it applies the effect in a similar way to when 'Break' or 'Fill' is assigned, it suggests that your pedal is indeed a 'latching' type which is the wrong type for these functions.


Regards

Ian