Thank you a lot Markus for this video and sharing your knowledge! It made me find the courage to open up my old Korg MonoPoly synth and fix by myself the 16 keys that didn't worked anymore. I just cleaned the contacts with the pencil eraser and a special "contact cleaner" from WD-40. A lot of money saved, the proudness to fix something myself and a lot of music incoming. Thanks again, great job!
Fantastic demo - thank you. Enjoyed how you made this [seemingly] accessible for enthusiastic amateurs - i feel reasonably confident i'll be able to apply suggested advice.
Thanks to this video I was able to repair a dead key on my synth. I took it apart and sure enough - the same sort of circuit board with the rubber pads on top. I cleaned some gunk off the underside of the rubber contact pad, put it back together, and it works perfectly now. Thank you!
OMG. I can't thank you enough for sharing your video. I decided to clear the dust of my beloved Korg Karma only to find one key was not working. I was so gutted, but then I watched your video and proceeded to take it apart as you showed in your video. it worked !!!! WOW. Thanks again.
Amazing to see this 6 year old vid. I just did the same service on a scraped Roland from a very dirty barn under old scraps. Some fine wires were eaten by rats. All keys were muted. It has no adapter. So I dismantled all the keys, rubber contacts strips and boards. I washed them all in detergent with a soft tooth brush. Then I tested it with an old repaired adapter. The keyboard works like a new piano. Unfortunately, all other voices and features don't work. The volume control is also not functioned. The adapter became very hot because it has a half amperage rating.
hahahah when i was watching this made me think of my old geography teacher (mid 90's) that used to go jogging at dinner time at school and he wore a pair of those shorts
well Im from the olden days myself (circa 1966) shorts were short. some even shorter than the ones in this video. but hey fashion is a strange controlling thing that tells people what they should wear it makes people throw away clothes and continually buy new ones just to keep the industry going (see a devil wears prada movie that kind of explains it) Im not a fashionable person. I wear what I choose. thinking about what you said - I was doing some teaching in the 90s. Hmm
Just used this method to bring a dead key back to life on a $1300 Juno I thought was f**ed. Worked like a charm. Used a little bit of 99% isopropyl and a cue tip. Thank you, sir!!!
Thank you so very much for this one! I finally managed to fix my Novation X-Station that had been laying around unused for about four years. The lowest two octaves were dead, but now it works again thanks to your instructions! It was nice to find the very same parts inside! :)
+Ilari Sivil Brilliant I am very pleased you found this video and repaired your Novation. Its always nice to know that someone has bought something back to working order again. Many thanks from Markus
I really enjoy your videos, my favorite are the repair videos, I am not really a dude who knows anything about synths nor am I really interested in it, but I do enjoy the little tidbits of history about them, and I enjoy the explanation of the methods you use to repair them, and the process you show. I personally do not think I am gaining anything from it besides entertainment since I do not work in a field where this knowledge is pertinent, but maybe one day I will be doing something, and an "I actually know this" pops into my mind, and just maybe I will realize it is because of these videos. Either way I figured I would leave a comment to voice what I enjoy about your content, and that I do enjoy it. ~Best of luck to your Markus, and I look forward to more content. -- oh and by the by the way I found out about your channel was a reddit post about you going into the Nagra lithium battery power pack.
+†Ulfberh†t Hello Thankyou very much for your comment, It is interesting for me to know the sort of people who watch the videos wether they are into electronics , music , or just out of interest. Thanks for letting me know and I hope one day something I have done will help you out with something you will do. Best wishes from Markus.
I really enjoy your videos! I've used your technique on computer keyboards for years. That pencil eraser trick has saved many a circuit for me too! Many years ago, when Commodore 64 was THE hot item, they had plug in modules for things like a modem or a printer card, games, software and so on. These would get wonky after a while. A good scrub of the contacts with a pencil eraser brought them back! Believe it or not, when I get a tape recorder that has been in a flooded basement and the heads are total grunge, the pencil eraser can bring them back without harming them. Thanks for your video. Would love to hear you play sometime.
technological reinovations Please be careful with your VCR. These things are really complex inside, and they often work counter-intuitively to an audio recorder. TH-camr: 12voltvids does a lot of videos on working with and repairing VCRs. Check out his work, it is very informative and useful. I think, according to him, the best way to clean VCR video heads is to ONLY use a piece of plain white paper. Apparently, the video heads on VCRs are extremely delicate and only the paper is safe. IF the VCR has a separate audio head, my eraser trick will work on that.
It is useful! I'm watching this with an Orla R 510 sitting in my bedroom that I just picked up (for free!) with a couple of dead keys (and one that's sticking up at a strange angle) Im going to open it up and have a look. Now I have some idea of what to look for! Thanks Marcus!
BTW, today I plugged my sq1 Korg sequencer into the Orla R510 Midi in socket, and as soon as I did so it seemed to kill the SQ1 and I haven't had any luck so far getting it to work again. Anyone have an idea of what might have happened or what to try? (I plan to measure the voltage across the midi socket this evening)....
No Sorry my place is quite small and I have lots of jobs need doing already. im sure you will get it working again but if you get stuck feel free to ask anything and if i can help I will.
My Yamaha DX100 has more dead keys than working keys...I have been at a loss as to how to fix it. I will have another look after seeing this. Thanks, Markus!
Markus- im having a problem with my Juno-60. when you press a key it sounds fine but then the note sounds again when you release the key. any help would be appreciated!
I've had to do this myself a few times. Very well done! Since the key action presses town on the plunger at an angle, the two pairs of contacts are made at a slightly different time. This small difference in time will be larger for slow pushes, and shorter for quick pushes, and is what the on-board controller uses to calculate the velocity of the press (this particular keyboard of yours might not be velocity sensitive however)
+Stephan Vermette Hi Stephen. Im not actually sure if there are velocity active voices in this old keyboard but I think the keybed is generic off the shelf for many manufactureres. though all the pads were wied to the controller so maybe there was some velocity controllable sounds on there ?.
Nice. I've had to do that a few times. My D-50 had a couple of notes stop working and a quick cleaning fixed it. My OB-8 keyboard was really bad when I got it but a full cleaning fixed it all. However, if I don't use it for a couple of weeks a bunch of notes stop working until I play them a bit. Just dust I think. Also my Sequential Six-Trak's number pad . The 2 button doesn't work until I press it a couple of hundred times. Then it works fine! Those little carbon buttons are a bit dodgy I think!
Thanks for another wonderful video Markus. I have a dead 'YES' button on my Korg DSS-1. I took it apart to see if it was something I could clean, but it's one of the little box buttons with a nodule sticking out the top. Do you have a video on how to repair this type of button or would it be best to just buy a another part and fix it that way? Thanks for your help. Take care, Sam.
This really helped demystify what might be under the hood of my new compact synth. I’ve been thinking about converting it into a module and using a midi controller with grown up sized keys. Am I correct to suppose I can remove the mini keyboard altogether and use midi controllers with the midi input on the now-modular synth?
Hi Markus, great explanatory video! I have the same problem with my Oberheim OB-8 keyboard, but inside it, rubber plungers are different from Roland keyboards and have just one carbon. Do you know if there are any places to order those type of rubber plungers? Thanks
Thank you so much. I have a midi keyboard with a couple dead keys. I am gonna give it a go and grab the ole pencil eraser and isopropyl alcohol and with any luck my keyboard will be fully back in action. I’ll let you know.
Hi! I have a Casio cgp700 and it’s nearly new but many keys stopped working so I’ve been looking for videos to help me fix it. So I did this cleaning method for the contacts and it works much better but some keys are still not good. Perhaps I didn’t do a thorough enough job? I will retry this. Even though my keyboard and this one are years apart in age, you are correct, they have almost the same stuff on the inside! Thanks, very helpful!
Well done, the JD800 has almost the same rubber contacts btw. I believe your friend was actually 100% right. Over time the emollient in the rubber gathers into little droplets still inside the "fabric" of that rubber. They get bigger as the rubber gets older. Some substances can evaporate and the rubber gets stiff. Some are just sitting on the surface as an oily film. If you got an old rubber contact and your microscope can do higher magnification you can even see those droplets. Once you hit the an old keyboard hard they spill out of that rubber at once and make this oily surface on the board. So it stops working as a result. Same thing if you use specific keys very often. This stuff also happens to remote controls if you abuse the buttons over a longer time. Especially the button for "Program number increase"
+Chip Guy Vids yes you are quite right but in this case there was evidence of liquid on the board above the rubber contacts. But yes I have seen something similar on remotes especially just as you say volume up/down and program up/down always degrade first.
that jig you did at the end was funny! Curious, who's your mate in the photo there on the wall to the left? lovely and interesting video as always sir markus!
+Marc Abernathy Thanks for liking the Dad Dance :-). the guy in the picture is my brother who died a few years ago, He was always smiling and never took life too seriously.
Nice job, Markus :-) (And neat tip on replacing the rubber lugs.) Why did your friend hit the keyboard out of frustration? Coz it wasn't working after he dropped his drink in there! People misremember and misreport...
It is better to use a match to push back in the contacts or just ease and press them in with your fingers, in my experiance, using a small screwdriver like that can risk breaking or puncturing the rubber because of the hardness of the metal.
I have a 1977 lowrey key organ the last tenant left it here but 3 of the organ keys on the top row dont work and when I turn it on now theres a persistent humming/feedback noise. Can someone let me know if this fixable? My friend fixes instruments, but how much hours of labor etc? Please it's got the original receipt guy paid almost 3000 dollars in 1977 still has the original receipt and book and chair in excellent condition
markusfuller Well, this one is kind of polite. It only acts up when I want to use it. The one I have has only one screw connecting the bottom and top pieces, so I don't want to attempt any repairs unless I know what I'm doing.
It looks to me like that spill happened a long time ago, since it's had time to create rust. I'd guess the keys were barely still working with the messed up contacts and that rage whack was enough to kill them.
That's how the electronic keyboard knows how strong you are pressing on the key. It senses the Time Difference between the two buttons/contacts on that rubber plunger thingee, and determine how fast keys are being pressed (Thus Velocity Sensitive Key). Faster = Harder, so it knows how hard you are pressing down on the key.
Thanks for this I have a Yamaha SS30 with an unresponsive key and some that aren't reaching full volume so I suspect it's either this or what is explained in your other video. Now to figure out how to take it apart.
Shane Rushton Hi Shane. yes it very often is this problem of dirt under the pads that stops the keys working properly. good luck I hope you get it fixed.
Markus, Love your repair videos. They give me the confidence I need to try servicing my babies on my own. One question though. I'm trying to find pencils with good erasers that don't just leave residue and marks. You mention "Pencil Erasers that are slightly gritty work best". I feel silly asking but would you happen to have a brand I can google? I need to perform this on my Oberheim OBXa and Roland Juno 60. Thanks!
+muco007 Ah yes I do not think I know of any certain brand but normally the best ones are always quite dark looking or dark grey and if you place your thumb near to your ear and glide it along the back of your thumbnail it will make a scraping sound like its very fine sandpaper or glasspaper whereas the very rubbery ones (lighter colour) sound completely silent and feel like soft rubber. I believe you can also buy Pen erasers which are also quite gritty. I would still give the pads a clean with isopropyl alcohol afterwards because if there is just one tiny piece of eraser left on the pads that may be enough to stop the carbon disk in the rubber pod from touching across the carbon on the circuit board. But the fix will last for years.
I have a Roland XP80 that was stored in a non air conditioned room. The adhesive holding the metal weights to the underside of the keys let go and the weights are dropping and sagging down from the bottom of the keys. Would you have a suggestion for a proper adhesive to re-affix them? Id so should I try to clean and start over or just add adhesive and clamp?
the problem with these cheap, crappy carbon contacts is the thin layer of carbon wears off with a lot of playing time, then you don't have a contact any more. and those cheap strips of rubber contacts are ridiculously expensive. higher end keybeds, like they use to use in the korg trinity for example, used metal contacts instead of the cheap rubber. of course, without opening something up, there's no way to know what's in there.
Hello a lot of the yamaha keybeds are quite similar with the rubber contacts under them and a long circuit board the whole length of the keyboard. I would also check if the actual plastic key has not got the small tab broken or bent where it meets the rubber plunger. that happens sometimes.
+Mark G Hi Mark, yes I know Isao had passed away at 84 years old. he was quirky but also very inspiring to me. This year has been quite bad for losing many great musicians and we are only half way through.
I am having trouble repairing a 61 keys Ashbury (kb-200). 1-16 fine 17-32 dead 33- 48 fine 49-61 dead... Those are blocks of 16 keys that are probably connected to some 4 digits address control chip but I have no idea which one it could be. Any clues? Thanks
Thanks for sharing the repair wisdom and techniques. You make it seem simple when it wasn't. Because of watching 2 of your videos I think I'm ready to get into my roland ep7 and see if a simple cleaning can save it. Out of 70ish keys almost half are dead. In the mid to higher end keys there is a row of notes that work for just short of 3 octaves. 3 to 5 highest keys are dead along with 2 octaves of lows with a few random notes in a row that work. Also the power into the keyboard jack needs ample wiggling and positioning for the red power light to stay on. I wonder if I can pry the female plug contacts with a small flat screw driver to make that work better... Excellent video.
Hi Blue Tube. if you have a soldering iron I think the jack socket problem may could be solved by just resoldering the contacts where the socket attaches to the circuit board, because of the slight stresses over time of plugging in and unplugging the movement of the socket against the board can crack the solder joint so finely that wiggling seems to power it on and off. as for your keys - well yes I think you may have a long job to do there but I hope it works out for you. best wishes.
@@markusfuller Thanks again for your help. That makes sense. Since I'm a guitarist I do have a solder gun from days and guitars gone by. No issues with my newish strat on hand these days. I will try re-soldering the plug. Knowing what I know now there will likely be parts to unscrew to get to the broken solder joint. Add an hours there i guess.... True, it is a quiet a bit of work. Following your tips I might get it all back together. It seemed overwhelming before I watched your videos. I think it will be easier going into it expecting to likely spend 3 to 5 hours on it and having all the tools I might need ready along with a solid work area setup. I will be pretty impress with myself if I save this keyboard so it's good enough for a piano student to learn on. I read that the ep7's don't age well. Even after a successful repair it has quirks like it stays stuck with reverb on as the button seems to not work on some instrument choices. I also notice some keys are louder. I hope the cleaning will balance them too. Glad I discovered your channel.
Blue Tube Yes you sure do need to have some space and a bit of patience but Im sure you will get it sorted, and I hope it will be a good keyboard again.
@@markusfuller Hi Markus. I got in there hopeful and spent almost 4 hours on it and cleaned all the contacts. Visually it all looked good. It was not to hard based on all the guidance I got from watching your videos. I was able to solder the loose power connection successfully too. That problem is solved but sadly the dead keys remain dead. It looks like this key board may not make it. At least not by my repairs. All that I'm thinking now is to donate it to my local thrift shop with a note that a few octaves still work and the problem is unknown. It was worth a try. I guess the saying you win some and loose some applies here. Thanks again for your efforts to help. Much appreciated.
Hey Markus, i've got a Roland PCR-30 with a lot of those dead keys and cleaning them hasn't really help. I've also found someone online selling those rubber contact strips but they were very expensive (in my humble opinion). Do you know of any supplier who sells them for an affordable price? Thanks! Cheers from Portugal
+Luis Correia Hello Luis. sadly I do not know anywhere where you can buy them at a good price, I agree with you that I too have seen them on sale in the past and the price was too high. sorry I cannot help you .my apologies from markus
What melody are you playing at 13:12? Interesting bit about the contacts, will surely remember that one, since these are used in all kinds of electronic equipment!
A lot of the old computer keyboards used to have the same rubber cup design. I remember the old Compaq keyboards coming in for repair in the late 80s (when they cost so much that they were actually worth repairing that is) and a great many of them suffered from "spilt drink syndrome" - easy money for us Engineers!
Yotam Cohen Hi Yotam. you can scratch across the crack to reveal the copper track then solder across it and that will re-join the track. sometimes I add a small piece of wire across the track to to make a more secure solder joint.
I have purchased a Roland Hp700 digital on a yard sale for 20 dlls and 2 keys dont work in the D and F key in the bass key area. I have removed the keys and clean the rubber contact pad and contact in the circuit board and still dont work. Checked the pin connectors and ribbon cables under key contact circuit board and are fully plugged in, everything seems to be connected properly. Even try a new contact pad and still dont work What can the problem be. Im about to give up on it.
I have a Korg Microstation and every 4th key doesn't work when playing the keys in order from left to right. Any thoughts as to what to look for if I open the keyboard and try to fix myself? It's a pity because its a lovely sounding keyboard and it's unplayable. If every 4th key doesn't work, I suspect it's a hardware problem, not software. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Hello Pierre. the keying may be wired as a matrix and if just one of the pins of the cable going to the main board is not contacting correctly then it could knock out several keys. I would be tempted to slightly jiggle the cable etc while the affected key is pressed to see if the unit suddenly makes a sound. but I agree its most likely a hardware problem.
+markusfuller I opened the keyboard up, pressed on all the connections and this seemed to have done the trick. Your videos certainly gave me the confidence to try this out!
THOSE SHORTS!!!! 1983 again
And 1993 again! That UMBRO look.
Keefe my whole wardrobe is about 1993 :-)
John stockton
Yeh, dress code is important. I always wear a dinner jacket and bow tie if I'm repairing an organ
My suspicion- “I got angry and hit it (thereby spilling my beer all over it.)”
Thank you a lot Markus for this video and sharing your knowledge! It made me find the courage to open up my old Korg MonoPoly synth and fix by myself the 16 keys that didn't worked anymore. I just cleaned the contacts with the pencil eraser and a special "contact cleaner" from WD-40. A lot of money saved, the proudness to fix something myself and a lot of music incoming.
Thanks again, great job!
Fantastic demo - thank you. Enjoyed how you made this [seemingly] accessible for enthusiastic amateurs - i feel reasonably confident i'll be able to apply suggested advice.
Thanks to this video I was able to repair a dead key on my synth. I took it apart and sure enough - the same sort of circuit board with the rubber pads on top. I cleaned some gunk off the underside of the rubber contact pad, put it back together, and it works perfectly now. Thank you!
OMG. I can't thank you enough for sharing your video. I decided to clear the dust of my beloved Korg Karma only to find one key was not working.
I was so gutted, but then I watched your video and proceeded to take it apart as you showed in your video. it worked !!!!
WOW. Thanks again.
Amazing to see this 6 year old vid.
I just did the same service on a scraped Roland from a very dirty barn under old scraps. Some fine wires were eaten by rats. All keys were muted. It has no adapter. So I dismantled all the keys, rubber contacts strips and boards. I washed them all in detergent with a soft tooth brush. Then I tested it with an old repaired adapter.
The keyboard works like a new piano. Unfortunately, all other voices and features don't work. The volume control is also not functioned. The adapter became very hot because it has a half amperage rating.
I feel like i'm watching an early 2000s how to video from late night bbc mainly because of the shorts..... Great Video btw
+Benkia09 LOL I think those shorts are from the mid 90s.
hahahah when i was watching this made me think of my old geography teacher (mid 90's) that used to go jogging at dinner time at school and he wore a pair of those shorts
well Im from the olden days myself (circa 1966) shorts were short. some even shorter than the ones in this video. but hey fashion is a strange controlling thing that tells people what they should wear it makes people throw away clothes and continually buy new ones just to keep the industry going (see a devil wears prada movie that kind of explains it) Im not a fashionable person. I wear what I choose. thinking about what you said - I was doing some teaching in the 90s. Hmm
+markusfuller spot on with how they make us buy new stuff to stay in fashion im not one to buy into it im a primark fan hahaha
Primark and charity shops are my main source for wardrobe filling also.
Excellent. Thank you. I've got my dad's Yamaha psr-2700 to have a go at so gloves on and preparing the speculum.
Just used this method to bring a dead key back to life on a $1300 Juno I thought was f**ed. Worked like a charm. Used a little bit of 99% isopropyl and a cue tip. Thank you, sir!!!
Thank you so very much for this one! I finally managed to fix my Novation X-Station that had been laying around unused for about four years. The lowest two octaves were dead, but now it works again thanks to your instructions! It was nice to find the very same parts inside! :)
+Ilari Sivil Brilliant I am very pleased you found this video and repaired your Novation. Its always nice to know that someone has bought something back to working order again. Many thanks from Markus
Just keep doing what you're doing, it's great to have the knowledge available!
Thank you for this video! Its one of the most well explained ones on the topic I'd say. :) Attempting the repair of an old Medeli SP-1 tomorrow.
That's great! Such a common problem.
+1 for the shorts.
+justmull Thank You very much :-)
Thanks for the upload man! Saved the day on my VK-7-we owe ya one!
Markus your videos are great source of various tips n tricks,also it is source of vocabulary to improve my English. Keep it up.
+lukasxdddd Thank You very much.
Thank you for sharing your skill and God bless you!
Thanks. I'm about to do my korg sp200 keyboard. It's nice to get others insights and tricks.
I really enjoy your videos, my favorite are the repair videos, I am not really a dude who knows anything about synths nor am I really interested in it, but I do enjoy the little tidbits of history about them, and I enjoy the explanation of the methods you use to repair them, and the process you show. I personally do not think I am gaining anything from it besides entertainment since I do not work in a field where this knowledge is pertinent, but maybe one day I will be doing something, and an "I actually know this" pops into my mind, and just maybe I will realize it is because of these videos. Either way I figured I would leave a comment to voice what I enjoy about your content, and that I do enjoy it. ~Best of luck to your Markus, and I look forward to more content. -- oh and by the by the way I found out about your channel was a reddit post about you going into the Nagra lithium battery power pack.
+†Ulfberh†t Hello Thankyou very much for your comment, It is interesting for me to know the sort of people who watch the videos wether they are into electronics , music , or just out of interest. Thanks for letting me know and I hope one day something I have done will help you out with something you will do. Best wishes from Markus.
Thanks Markus - fascinating and informative as always! Many thanks!
+mCKENIC Thank You. mCKENIC
I really enjoy your videos! I've used your technique on computer keyboards for years. That pencil eraser trick has saved many a circuit for me too!
Many years ago, when Commodore 64 was THE hot item, they had plug in modules for things like a modem or a printer card, games, software and so on. These would get wonky after a while. A good scrub of the contacts with a pencil eraser brought them back!
Believe it or not, when I get a tape recorder that has been in a flooded basement and the heads are total grunge, the pencil eraser can bring them back without harming them.
Thanks for your video. Would love to hear you play sometime.
technological reinovations Please be careful with your VCR. These things are really complex inside, and they often work counter-intuitively to an audio recorder.
TH-camr: 12voltvids does a lot of videos on working with and repairing VCRs. Check out his work, it is very informative and useful.
I think, according to him, the best way to clean VCR video heads is to ONLY use a piece of plain white paper. Apparently, the video heads on VCRs are extremely delicate and only the paper is safe.
IF the VCR has a separate audio head, my eraser trick will work on that.
thank you so mush , for all your videos , you helping so many musieans ! hello from France .
I enjoyed watching this! I have an organ with a few keys not working. You were a bug help!. I will dive into it
It is useful! I'm watching this with an Orla R 510 sitting in my bedroom that I just picked up (for free!) with a couple of dead keys (and one that's sticking up at a strange angle) Im going to open it up and have a look. Now I have some idea of what to look for!
Thanks Marcus!
BTW, today I plugged my sq1 Korg sequencer into the Orla R510 Midi in socket, and as soon as I did so it seemed to kill the SQ1 and I haven't had any luck so far getting it to work again. Anyone have an idea of what might have happened or what to try? (I plan to measure the voltage across the midi socket this evening)....
Thanks!
I learn something new with every video. :)
+Joacim Wennerberg ThankYou Joacim
Great video again Markus! Good to see more of that Dad Dancing too haha!
+Clayton Wakefield Thanks Clayton, I said Dad dancing at the end because I remembered your last comment LOL
Killer shorts Markus.
+Sam Millen LOL super vintage to go with the vintage keyboard.
Excellent information and hope this helps me solve a similar issue on my Roland Keyboard......thanks
I really enjoy your videos
+Prestige Potato Thank You
I tried to fix a keyboard before but it didn't work. I tried again, while wearing some ultramarine shorts, and it TOTALLY worked. Thanks Markus!
+Pollux Polaris LOL There you go , its not what you know but what you wear :-)
Great video. Love the repair videos!
+Jay Walt Thanks Jay
Always incredible content😄
Love it !
+Nine Number Thank You
Nice work. Damn heavy organ.
thanks for sharing,man!
psa;if theres any chance of fluids inside your keybed,open it up and clean it! if not,arcs will arise.
Thank you
I do love the shorts Markus :P
Thanks for the DIY video, I got a Crumar Stratus with a few keys not working. This will help me a lot with visualising the work i yet need to do.
+roelvoort wow a Crumar nice. I hope you get it fixed. best wishes from markus
My technics kn2400 has one key dead, G2. Now i know where to look, thank you sir.
I have a Korg KARMA with a few keys not working - I am going to give this a try! Thanks Markus.
another great video. always love them.
+Nick Maynard Thanks Nick
Nice one Markus!!!
As always very well made video.
Thanks Mark for sharing.
+lachopakapura sharon lerner's channel Thank You :-)
+markusfuller I'm going to try and fix my roland jd800 😊
Great I hope you get it working, I love those JD800's i could not afford one years ago when they came out, they sure do sound good though.
+markusfuller I would be happy to send you it but the thing weighs a ton
No Sorry my place is quite small and I have lots of jobs need doing already. im sure you will get it working again but if you get stuck feel free to ask anything and if i can help I will.
very interesting Markus!
+RetroSound Thank You
My Yamaha DX100 has more dead keys than working keys...I have been at a loss as to how to fix it. I will have another look after seeing this. Thanks, Markus!
+mootbooxle I used to have an upright piano with more dead than "live" keys... don't think this method would have worked there. ;)
How could a man with such amazing shorts have such an angry keyboard-whacking friend?
You, sir, are the Lord of the Synth!!!
+Rodney Linderman Thanks Rodney. I have had those shorts a lot longer than that friend.
Markus- im having a problem with my Juno-60. when you press a key it sounds fine but then the note sounds again when you release the key. any help would be appreciated!
That was a good video so simple and got the idea.. thanks.
I've had to do this myself a few times. Very well done! Since the key action presses town on the plunger at an angle, the two pairs of contacts are made at a slightly different time. This small difference in time will be larger for slow pushes, and shorter for quick pushes, and is what the on-board controller uses to calculate the velocity of the press (this particular keyboard of yours might not be velocity sensitive however)
+Stephan Vermette Hi Stephen. Im not actually sure if there are velocity active voices in this old keyboard but I think the keybed is generic off the shelf for many manufactureres. though all the pads were wied to the controller so maybe there was some velocity controllable sounds on there ?.
Nice. I've had to do that a few times. My D-50 had a couple of notes stop working and a quick cleaning fixed it. My OB-8 keyboard was really bad when I got it but a full cleaning fixed it all. However, if I don't use it for a couple of weeks a bunch of notes stop working until I play them a bit. Just dust I think. Also my Sequential Six-Trak's number pad . The 2 button doesn't work until I press it a couple of hundred times. Then it works fine! Those little carbon buttons are a bit dodgy I think!
Thanks for another wonderful video Markus. I have a dead 'YES' button on my Korg DSS-1. I took it apart to see if it was something I could clean, but it's one of the little box buttons with a nodule sticking out the top. Do you have a video on how to repair this type of button or would it be best to just buy a another part and fix it that way? Thanks for your help. Take care, Sam.
This really helped demystify what might be under the hood of my new compact synth. I’ve been thinking about converting it into a module and using a midi controller with grown up sized keys. Am I correct to suppose I can remove the mini keyboard altogether and use midi controllers with the midi input on the now-modular synth?
Hi Markus, great explanatory video! I have the same problem with my Oberheim OB-8 keyboard, but inside it, rubber plungers are different from Roland keyboards and have just one carbon. Do you know if there are any places to order those type of rubber plungers? Thanks
Thank you so much. I have a midi keyboard with a couple dead keys. I am gonna give it a go and grab the ole pencil eraser and isopropyl alcohol and with any luck my keyboard will be fully back in action. I’ll let you know.
Those are some crunchy sounding drawbars :) Enjoyable as usual
+Michael Bauers yes they have metal ball bearings on springs that clatter along a ridged edge.
great vid . Thanks !
Thank you mark
+Maicon Oliveira Thank You
Hi! I have a Casio cgp700 and it’s nearly new but many keys stopped working so I’ve been looking for videos to help me fix it. So I did this cleaning method for the contacts and it works much better but some keys are still not good. Perhaps I didn’t do a thorough enough job? I will retry this. Even though my keyboard and this one are years apart in age, you are correct, they have almost the same stuff on the inside! Thanks, very helpful!
Great work, Markus! Your videos always interesting and cool.
Those speakers on the left - Wilson Audio?
yes they are Wilson puppy watt 5
What a cool thing! It`s very expensive in my country.
I never paid full price for mine, I would never have been able to afford the full cost of them.
Well done, the JD800 has almost the same rubber contacts btw. I believe your friend was actually 100% right. Over time the emollient in the rubber gathers into little droplets still inside the "fabric" of that rubber. They get bigger as the rubber gets older. Some substances can evaporate and the rubber gets stiff. Some are just sitting on the surface as an oily film. If you got an old rubber contact and your microscope can do higher magnification you can even see those droplets. Once you hit the an old keyboard hard they spill out of that rubber at once and make this oily surface on the board. So it stops working as a result. Same thing if you use specific keys very often. This stuff also happens to remote controls if you abuse the buttons over a longer time. Especially the button for "Program number increase"
+Chip Guy Vids yes you are quite right but in this case there was evidence of liquid on the board above the rubber contacts. But yes I have seen something similar on remotes especially just as you say volume up/down and program up/down always degrade first.
that jig you did at the end was funny! Curious, who's your mate in the photo there on the wall to the left?
lovely and interesting video as always sir markus!
+Marc Abernathy Thanks for liking the Dad Dance :-). the guy in the picture is my brother who died a few years ago, He was always smiling and never took life too seriously.
+markusfuller That's sad. Glad you remember the good times
Useful video. Many users including me, have issues on the Akai mpc pads (no velocity sensitivity) . Do you think there is any DIY solution ? Thanks
great video once again ty
Hi i have a triton workstation wete a few keys sounds much louder than the others...could u knw wat problems r they??
Nice job, Markus :-) (And neat tip on replacing the rubber lugs.)
Why did your friend hit the keyboard out of frustration?
Coz it wasn't working after he dropped his drink in there!
People misremember and misreport...
This video reminds me of the channel 8BitKeys, love the vids where you repair things - wish I had the skills :)
+Nathan B Hi Nathan anyone can fix things, Its great that youtube allows us to show each other how to do things.
It is better to use a match to push back in the contacts or just ease and press them in with your fingers, in my experiance, using a small screwdriver like that can risk breaking or puncturing the rubber because of the hardness of the metal.
@markusfuller Is there a way to fix a cracked circuit board? I have a dead key and it's right nead the crack that I found
I have a 1977 lowrey key organ the last tenant left it here but 3 of the organ keys on the top row dont work and when I turn it on now theres a persistent humming/feedback noise. Can someone let me know if this fixable? My friend fixes instruments, but how much hours of labor etc? Please it's got the original receipt guy paid almost 3000 dollars in 1977 still has the original receipt and book and chair in excellent condition
Excellent video. It makes me want to open my 505 again, and see if I can clean the Tempo pot, so it doesn't spaz out.
+Michael Smith Oh I had that problem with an old boss drum machine. if you just breathed near it the tempo would suddenly double its speed.
markusfuller Well, this one is kind of polite. It only acts up when I want to use it. The one I have has only one screw connecting the bottom and top pieces, so I don't want to attempt any repairs unless I know what I'm doing.
It looks to me like that spill happened a long time ago, since it's had time to create rust. I'd guess the keys were barely still working with the messed up contacts and that rage whack was enough to kill them.
Awesome video Markus!
My auld Roland U20 is gonna thank you in a very near future I think!
+MrKayMrKay Brilliant I hope you get it sorted out.
That's how the electronic keyboard knows how strong you are pressing on the key. It senses the Time Difference between the two buttons/contacts on that rubber plunger thingee, and determine how fast keys are being pressed (Thus Velocity Sensitive Key). Faster = Harder, so it knows how hard you are pressing down on the key.
i have yamaha pSr-e433 here in ma home and all of E and Bflat is not working what du think is the problem?
Thank you for doing this video. My Korg Mono poly has a few dodgy key. I'll have to look into it, and see if that's the same problem. :)
+ThomasGrillo Thanks Thomas . I hope you manage to fix it.
+ThomasGrillo Hi Thomas, you are the master of the Theremin, why do you need to fix the Mono Poly ?. is it just for backing ?.
Thanks for this I have a Yamaha SS30 with an unresponsive key and some that aren't reaching full volume so I suspect it's either this or what is explained in your other video. Now to figure out how to take it apart.
Shane Rushton Hi Shane. yes it very often is this problem of dirt under the pads that stops the keys working properly. good luck I hope you get it fixed.
hello sir, i cleaned one of mh contacts and still no sound, any ideas as to what else it might be? thanx
Merci beaucoup 😀
Markus, Love your repair videos. They give me the confidence I need to try servicing my babies on my own. One question though. I'm trying to find pencils with good erasers that don't just leave residue and marks. You mention "Pencil Erasers that are slightly gritty work best". I feel silly asking but would you happen to have a brand I can google? I need to perform this on my Oberheim OBXa and Roland Juno 60. Thanks!
+muco007 Ah yes I do not think I know of any certain brand but normally the best ones are always quite dark looking or dark grey and if you place your thumb near to your ear and glide it along the back of your thumbnail it will make a scraping sound like its very fine sandpaper or glasspaper whereas the very rubbery ones (lighter colour) sound completely silent and feel like soft rubber. I believe you can also buy Pen erasers which are also quite gritty. I would still give the pads a clean with isopropyl alcohol afterwards because if there is just one tiny piece of eraser left on the pads that may be enough to stop the carbon disk in the rubber pod from touching across the carbon on the circuit board. But the fix will last for years.
reminds me of one of those old Elka synths
I watched your video and am going give it a try
I have a Roland XP80 that was stored in a non air conditioned room. The adhesive holding the metal weights to the underside of the keys let go and the weights are dropping and sagging down from the bottom of the keys. Would you have a suggestion for a proper adhesive to re-affix them? Id so should I try to clean and start over or just add adhesive and clamp?
you could try new adhesive and clamp. I think maybe hot glue could be a probability as long as it stays solid at warm room temperature.
the problem with these cheap, crappy carbon contacts is the thin layer of carbon wears off with a lot of playing time, then you don't have a contact any more. and those cheap strips of rubber contacts are ridiculously expensive. higher end keybeds, like they use to use in the korg trinity for example, used metal contacts instead of the cheap rubber. of course, without opening something up, there's no way to know what's in there.
Just found your channel!
It ....it even has an floppydrive in it ((O.o)...I bet someone spilled some beer on it :D
I got a newer Yamaha Model: #PSR275 with a flaky middle C key. What would you suggest? what does that keybed/contacts look like? any tips?
Hello a lot of the yamaha keybeds are quite similar with the rubber contacts under them and a long circuit board the whole length of the keyboard. I would also check if the actual plastic key has not got the small tab broken or bent where it meets the rubber plunger. that happens sometimes.
My Akai XR10 drum machine has dead rubber pads. Cleaning did not help. Any ideas?
Hi Markus, another great video. Thanks. On a sad note, had you heard that Isao Tomita died late last week? Real shame. M
+Mark G Hi Mark, yes I know Isao had passed away at 84 years old. he was quirky but also very inspiring to me. This year has been quite bad for losing many great musicians and we are only half way through.
Another good vid from ya ,,,
Thank You very much 1948freetoplay I notice you are a tyros player also :-) do you know the organaut channel ?.
I am having trouble repairing a 61 keys Ashbury (kb-200).
1-16 fine
17-32 dead
33- 48 fine
49-61 dead...
Those are blocks of 16 keys that are probably connected to some 4 digits address control chip but I have no idea which one it could be. Any clues? Thanks
Thanks for sharing the repair wisdom and techniques. You make it seem simple when it wasn't. Because of watching 2 of your videos I think I'm ready to get into my roland ep7 and see if a simple cleaning can save it. Out of 70ish keys almost half are dead. In the mid to higher end keys there is a row of notes that work for just short of 3 octaves. 3 to 5 highest keys are dead along with 2 octaves of lows with a few random notes in a row that work. Also the power into the keyboard jack needs ample wiggling and positioning for the red power light to stay on. I wonder if I can pry the female plug contacts with a small flat screw driver to make that work better... Excellent video.
Hi Blue Tube. if you have a soldering iron I think the jack socket problem may could be solved by just resoldering the contacts where the socket attaches to the circuit board, because of the slight stresses over time of plugging in and unplugging the movement of the socket against the board can crack the solder joint so finely that wiggling seems to power it on and off. as for your keys - well yes I think you may have a long job to do there but I hope it works out for you. best wishes.
@@markusfuller Thanks again for your help. That makes sense. Since I'm a guitarist I do have a solder gun from days and guitars gone by. No issues with my newish strat on hand these days. I will try re-soldering the plug. Knowing what I know now there will likely be parts to unscrew to get to the broken solder joint. Add an hours there i guess.... True, it is a quiet a bit of work. Following your tips I might get it all back together. It seemed overwhelming before I watched your videos. I think it will be easier going into it expecting to likely spend 3 to 5 hours on it and having all the tools I might need ready along with a solid work area setup. I will be pretty impress with myself if I save this keyboard so it's good enough for a piano student to learn on. I read that the ep7's don't age well. Even after a successful repair it has quirks like it stays stuck with reverb on as the button seems to not work on some instrument choices. I also notice some keys are louder. I hope the cleaning will balance them too. Glad I discovered your channel.
Blue Tube Yes you sure do need to have some space and a bit of patience but Im sure you will get it sorted, and I hope it will be a good keyboard again.
@@markusfuller Thanks!
@@markusfuller Hi Markus. I got in there hopeful and spent almost 4 hours on it and cleaned all the contacts. Visually it all looked good. It was not to hard based on all the guidance I got from watching your videos. I was able to solder the loose power connection successfully too. That problem is solved but sadly the dead keys remain dead. It looks like this key board may not make it. At least not by my repairs. All that I'm thinking now is to donate it to my local thrift shop with a note that a few octaves still work and the problem is unknown. It was worth a try. I guess the saying you win some and loose some applies here. Thanks again for your efforts to help. Much appreciated.
thank you! I'll be opening my Yamaha PSR!
Could you please fix my Jp8000 synth. I think it's a dust problem.Dead keys. Notconfiedent to do it myself.
How can i replace contacts on a dead key? Some keys are dead and its bcoz the contacts on the board peeled off..yamaha P70
Hey Markus,
i've got a Roland PCR-30 with a lot of those dead keys and cleaning them hasn't really help.
I've also found someone online selling those rubber contact strips but they were very expensive (in my humble opinion).
Do you know of any supplier who sells them for an affordable price?
Thanks!
Cheers from Portugal
+Luis Correia Hello Luis. sadly I do not know anywhere where you can buy them at a good price, I agree with you that I too have seen them on sale in the past and the price was too high. sorry I cannot help you .my apologies from markus
What melody are you playing at 13:12? Interesting bit about the contacts, will surely remember that one, since these are used in all kinds of electronic equipment!
+Kallenator1988 Hi I just randomly played a few chords. I cannot even remember which chords they were now.
+markusfuller Ahh, well it sounded awesome.
A lot of the old computer keyboards used to have the same rubber cup design. I remember the old Compaq keyboards coming in for repair in the late 80s (when they cost so much that they were actually worth repairing that is) and a great many of them suffered from "spilt drink syndrome" - easy money for us Engineers!
hey mark how would you fix it if the PCB would have had cracks? you said it would have been an easy fix, just wondering how? nice vid mate
Yotam Cohen Hi Yotam. you can scratch across the crack to reveal the copper track then solder across it and that will re-join the track. sometimes I add a small piece of wire across the track to to make a more secure solder joint.
I have purchased a Roland Hp700 digital on a yard sale for 20 dlls and 2 keys dont work in the D and F key in the bass key area. I have removed the keys and clean the rubber contact pad and contact in the circuit board and still dont work. Checked the pin connectors and ribbon cables under key contact circuit board and are fully plugged in, everything seems to be connected properly. Even try a new contact pad and still dont work
What can the problem be. Im about to give up on it.
my ab keys are all out any thoughts?
What would you have done if the board had been broken? Soldered it back together and soldered wires over the breaks?
+Ace Sul Hello I would have soldered wires across the tracks.
I have a Korg Microstation and every 4th key doesn't work when playing the keys in order from left to right. Any thoughts as to what to look for if I open the keyboard and try to fix myself? It's a pity because its a lovely sounding keyboard and it's unplayable. If every 4th key doesn't work, I suspect it's a hardware problem, not software. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Hello Pierre. the keying may be wired as a matrix and if just one of the pins of the cable going to the main board is not contacting correctly then it could knock out several keys. I would be tempted to slightly jiggle the cable etc while the affected key is pressed to see if the unit suddenly makes a sound. but I agree its most likely a hardware problem.
+markusfuller I opened the keyboard up, pressed on all the connections and this seemed to have done the trick. Your videos certainly gave me the confidence to try this out!
Great Pierre. its always good to have a go at repairs yourself. Im pleased you got it working. best wishes from Markus.
Good job..
Please how to repairing rubber contact