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one bad key - waddaya do??


keyper

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I've got a Roland A30 with a bad key - it's waay louder than the others, almost like the velocity sensitivity is cranked - but for just this one key. I'm pretty sure it's a hardware issue because I rebooted set to factory defaults. I picked this old girl up real cheap so it doesn't 'owe' me anything per se but I'd sure like to restore it if I can. Anybody have any experience with these sort of things?
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I've had this problem on numerous brands of keyboards. You have to take the keyboard out and clean the rubber contact underneath the offending key. It's a pain in the ass, but can be done easily enough. Best of luck!
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I'm NOT a tech, but I've always used a dab of 91% isopropyl alcohol (any drugstore will have it) on a Qtip and never had any problems until the next time some dumbass singer or guitarist spills a drink on it. I've had this problem/solution over the years on a Roland RD-250, Ensoniq SQ-2, Kurzweil PC88 and lately a Nord Electro. It's either the high velocity thing you describe or an intermittent connection and that's always the culprit.
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I've used distilled water on a Qtip, I'm never sure that the alcohol isn't stripping the carbon contact off the membrane.

 

I've cleaned both FZ1s, and my Roland A33 key contacts with 100% success.

Gig rig: Motif XF8,Roland A37~laptop,Prophet 08,Yam WX5~VL70m.

Studio: V-Synth GT,Korg DW8000,A33,Blofeld,N1R,KS Rack,too many VSTs

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yeah... a good contact cleaning in your future... BTW i am a tech and never use water or isopropyl... water can sometimes saturate the pad and the oils and such added to the alcohol is just as bad... go to a paint store and get the pure stuff... incedently something else i always did was take the offending keystrip and swap it with one from a low traffic area...
"style is determined not by what you can play but what you cant...." dave brubeck
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Originally posted by delirium:

only one bad key? try avoid bastard... :D

Haarrr!! :)

 

Thanks for the (Q)tips everyone. I've had similar problems trying to clean telephone keypads. Tried mild cleaners and uppity zero-residue sprays - no real solution. Now I buy cheap wireless phones because when they go I have no problem tossing them out. Hopefully the A30 will be easier.

 

One more question: I've had the A30 apart and I'm wondering just how deep into the thing I have to dig to get at the offending part. Can anyone point me at the best angle of attack?

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Hey, I just had my keyboard apart last weekend for the same issue - 2 offending keys. I used typical drug store isopropyl alcohol, but instead of Q-tips, used disposable eyeshadow applicators. They're high density foam, and there's no chance of leaving behind any fuzz.

 

Depends how anal you wanna get I guess.

 

It took 2 hours here, but neither myself nor my computer geek buddy had been inside a keyboard before. I expected to see actual crud on the contacts, but no. I couldn't imagine that the cleaning would make any difference - but voila, good as new! :)

 

Good luck and patience, especially replacing the fragile strip of rubber bins that house the opposing contacts. (if all keyboards are similar..)

"........! Try to make It..REAL! compared to what? ! ! ! " - BOPBEEPER
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