Hello,
Im new to the forums as well as digital pianos. I just bought myself a very used Roland RD-300. There are a few problems with it, some sticky keys, and one key has been working on and off (but hey, I bought the thing for $200). Does anyone have any easy things that I could do to increase the performance of the keyboard? I was thinking of opening up the case and using some compressed air to get rid of the dust, and then using alcohol and qtips to get rid of any unsightly gunk. If anyone has any better suggestions, or a better product to clean, please let me know. Thanks!

gee... a first post... welcome to the club... as to the RD sounds as though you have a good keyswitch cleaning in your future... it's not too hard if your the least bit mechanical and a little anal about details... it's been awhile since i had one open but the RD series tops are hinged should be 6 screw 3 down each side on the bottom .. some may have a center one as well to hold top stable... still other models have some screws along tha back as well but be careful your not taking the hinge loose... becarefull when lifting the top the first time you may find wires loose and slipped over something it shouldn't..

when cleaning keydecks in general your better off to remove the deck even if it's possible to do inside th unit.. and mute point in those where the switchboard is mounted to the bottom of the deck... now here comes the anal part...really look this puppy over do things like mark the frame the "C's" for reference that sorta thing.. with the possible exception of the top and bottom keys all the "a" are the same...as you take the key's off watch the springs etc... one of the things some manufacturers do is have different springs for the black keys which is one way of evening out the feel on unweighted boards.. so check yours and separate where necessary...

now as for the switches themselvesbecarefull when you pull them up from the board the rubber strips do tear and can sometimes be difficult to find...look the first one you take off over real good.. most are some variation on 2 nippled black carbonized rubber and that's the part we're gonna clean but notice how your's are are they the same size front/back etc some have a definat front make sure you get it straight before you pull the rest off... another point of anality.. as you pull them off lay them out in order it's usefull to know later where they came from.. oh back to the tearing idea.. the reason you watch it is because the things can a. beglued down by whatever we're going to clean... or b. those little nipples that hold them down tend to tear so the best thing to use for cleaning them is alcohol and Q-tips now dont run to the bath and get the rubbing... no go to a paint store and get the hard stuff... the oil/additives in the rubbing will render this useless... so when you look at the swich ya see how it's kinda glazed over?? that's what we're combatting they should look dull and should look obvious to you... i used to be able to tell you what keys you liked to play in based on the apearance of these things... oh and do clean the board as well...

now additional suggestions for reassembly... the biggest is this... the swiches from the center obviously have sustained the most damage so move them out to the low traffic area when possible... 2 biggest problems with reassembly are to watch the mounting of the switches to the board especially with rolands that was a problem those little nubs have to poke through the board and even need a tug from a roach clip to snug them sometimes... and then also when putting the keys back on watch that you dont crush the switch underneath it