Really helped so thanks a lot. Few notes; The PCB isn't carbon coated, thats the carbon off the contact, you should clean the PCB with alcohol under the contact area, but _don't_ ever try to clean the carbon contact on the rubber. Just cleaning the PCB brought back all the velocity subtlety and even-ness that was missing. I also wiped the rocker ends and replaced all the lube with silicone grease, and moved all the yellow grease at the key end back into place. Again this made the travel much better, the grease was £8. I also pushed the large edge connector at the keyboard side / end back, but it bowed a bit resulting in a missing contact or two. At first I got multiple/miissing notes until this was pushed back fully along it’s length. Lastly, all the rubber pads have small pip’s or legs that fit into small holes in the PCB. It is really worth going over these three times to make sure that they are all fully through and seated. I had a thin rod that I used on every pip to make sure it was all down totally flat. It took several passes to get right.
Works like a miracle. I used a 8B pencil on the carbon pads. For the keys which were still not working, use a dustfree eraser, blow clean, then apply the pencil again....all worked well. Thanks a lot buddy. Mine is a Korg SP170S
Hi Zany Oriel Rows. A question on your coment, did you use the eraser on the board part? Or in the pads? Because i changed the pad but my key still doesnt work 😔 Thank you
@@SantiTheBarrel I used the eraser on the board. If the tracks are not shining on the board, use the eraser to clean it. If your rubber pad is old, you can clean it with an eraser and apply the pencil. But since you changed your pad, cleaning the pad is not required.
@@lifeissugar Thanks for the tip, this rejuvenated my pads. Instead of drawing directly on the pads, I rubbed the pads on a piece of paper which I drew with the 8B.
Thanks for sharing this video. I have a problem after I reconnected the keyboard. The sounds of keyboard doesn't work. I reconnected cable well. I don't know why it doesn't work. Is there any important point that I can miss or mistake?
Thanks for this! I figured it was either the contacts on the board, or those rubber contacts. I wasn't so sure, but now I am! Thank you. Would be awesome if you provided a link to the product!
Very helpful - the general principles were perfectly applicable to a Yamaha digital piano as well (as it also uses silicone and graphite key contacts). Excellent video.
Ok so I have the opposite problem. Several keys only play a loud dynamic no matter how softly pressed. Would trading out the rubber components inside the module have the same effect? My model the is the SP-170s
There are many boards that can compensate for the key contacts that are higher gain for some reason. But really it would make more sense to replace the rubber or reseat it as the other fellow mentioned... because if it's improperly seated then both of the contacts will trigger at once, creating the illusion of a much harder velocity. And then there is also the practice of tracing the contacts on the key contact board with a number 2 pencil and then wiping off the loose debris or powder from the pencil... trace it many times... the graphite will allow the carbon contacts to work better... and I've saved keyboards that the actual PCB or contact BOARD was very badly damaged... but saved it... after that the only thing left to check would be the traces and the ribbon cables., but that's likely what the deal is.
Cheers! Great explanation and camera work. I am about to try and fix multiple keys on my heavily played sp-170s. This vid gave me the final a-ha needed to jump in!
Thanks! My son's old Korg had 6-7 dead or wonky keys. I bought a set of replacement silicone contact strips for $50, and I was able to get almost all of them working again. It now has 87 out of 88 working keys, plus one extra screw left over 🤣. I know exactly where it goes, but I'm not taking out the other 30 screws again just to put this one back.
‘Be really careful not to snag this wire’ as he snags the wire himself. There’s no better way to demonstrate what not to do except doing what you shouldn’t do. Excellent tutorial by the way. 2 thumbs up.
Good job. I subscribed as a thank you for doing this. I just was given a Yamaha DGX 620 by a friend cleaning out their shed. It had been in there for about 8 years after one of the kids spilled a Coke in the middle of it. Sure enough when I plugged it in the whole middle section was dead. I have taken apart a few keyboards before. One I performed that same trick you used and had swapped out a broken middle Key and moved it to the end. Others to fix output jacks. So a million screws later I took it apart. Right down to removing the silicon strips and even the middle circiut board. I got it all cleaned up and I tested it after I put the silicon strips back on and it seems to be working. If there's any issue I now know from your video it will probably be those strips as I had to clean them with isopropyl Alcohol. The Coke was all inside about 6 of them. I was just looking up what sort of lubricant I should use and stumbled on your video. I make tutorials for Cakewalk DAW users. A light bulb went on and I think I'll video this as I put it back together because the Yamaha is a bit different than the Korg you took apart. But I'll definetly mention yours and post a link in mine so Korg owners will find it. Thanks once again.
Hello, You mentioned that you bought the rubber Korg but I can't seem to find the rubber being sold by Korg. Could you please refer to the link where you bought the keys from? Thanks for the video
Well, I'm shit scared to take my sp170s apart, but I have f sharp that is super choppy and the key stays pressed down, and the volume is always deafeningly loud no matter how hard I press the key.
It seems Korg UK are no longer prepared to supply such components to the customer. Only approved third-party service techs will be able to obtain them.
Brilliant - many thanks for taking the trouble. Saved me time and money. Also was able to find retailers from China stocking the rubber strips for about $10 each.
Hi... I bought a Korg B2 renewed in amazon, the left speaker sounds like if the speaker is broken but as soon as i press the top part of the case that sounds disappear, maybe a cable is trought the speaker cone and thats why is making that noise... Do you think is hard to fix it?
You just saved my SP-280. I had the top off but the keys were escaping me. I've was a piano tuner technician in my past life, so I knew there was a way and you provided it, so thank you. However... there is an easier way to remove the keys. Instead of a screwdriver I used an exacto knife from the top rear and coaxed the tab outward while applying slight pressure upwards on the key assembly. I actually had to do this as the SP-280 has speakers built in and it wasn't possible to get a tool to pry the back. My issue was clanking keys. Removing the key mechanism and re-tightening cleared the clanking noise and I don't need to buy a new electric piano for my gigs. Not that THAT ever stopped me! lol Thanks again! Great info.
I have this same keyboard but all the sudden I'm not getting the same amplitude out of each key for the same velocity pressed. Sometimes I hear almost nothing, then you press over and over and it gets louder. The keyboard is rarely used but is otherwise mostly used by the kids having fun on it but they don't hammer the keys nor has anything been spilled on it. You didn't really demonstrate what your issue was other than saying it's dead so I assume not working at all. Could I potentially have the same issue and fix as yours or is mine more of a circuit board issue considering it affects almost all of the keys (mostly the black keys)?
I mean there’s 80s digital synths that are still going strong. If you take care of it by not getting it dirty or dropping it it should go strong for a long time.
This is really a well done video, despite if I'll manage to use it to fix my own issue or not! It's well thought, well prepared, well shot, with perfect lighting and audio, and great video angles on the details... bravo!!! (fyi my issue is slightly different from yours though, keys are not dead but instead act "funny" from the pov of velocity... but I'm assuming the source of the problem is the same i.e. the infamous pads, which I'll try to clean before evtl. changing them)
And all you had to do was scribble over the join with a lead pencil. Thanks for showing it though. I should have grabbed the cheap disassembled SP170s for $50au.
This worked perfectly. I took my sp170s apart as in the video. I purchased 7 of rhe rubber contacts from Korg for $40 Canadian. Be careful when replacing the keys. If the strip moves even slightly it won't work. I suggest keeping the wiring connected when putting the keys back to test if they are working.before screwing it all back together.
I recently had a really really really naff Chinese keyboard fail after only 9 months and am actually surprised that the higher end ones use the same rubber buttons. 😄👍
Thanks for the video. The middle C key on my Korg B2 was sluggish to return to the top. Disassembly was just like yours, except it had a wiring harness on the left side and I couldn’t get that unplugged, so the cover had to be somewhat in the way for the whole process. All is well now.
Thank you for this video, it was really helpful. I however after I changed all rubber bands on my Sp170 with new ones , the keys don't respond well, to softer touch they are silent and only make a sound if I hit them louder. Please excuse my english, not a native speaker, but please if you have any ideas share with me. Thank you!
I just got into a Studio 90 FATAR with one dead key (very widely used key-bed). Couldn't find anything much online so I got brave and removed 3 screws on each end, top flips up and if you have the bro deal, it's just that the little spring link that hooks on top in a notch at the back of the key came loose..needle nosed it back in place, -- don't even have to unscrew the key-bed mounts, you're a genius!
My Korg B1 plays normally but keys are getting lots of plastic noises. It used to be quiet when new. Do you know what's the problem and is there a way to solve it?
Thank you very much for this video! I have this korg, and i have a question, maybe you have a solution for my problem. So, The speakers will be muted if the headphones are connected right but then i disconnect de headphones and the speakers don't sound anyway. You know whats the problem?. Thanks
I have a Casio CTK 500. This unit has an automatic shutoff feature in both battery and power supply mode, where if you don't hit a note within about 2 minutes the unit shuts off. I tried to bypass this feature by weighting down a key in the organ setting and turning the volume all the way down. Unfortunately, the unit still shuts off by itself. As long as you play the keys it does not shut off until after 2 minutes. Obviously the automatic shut off feature is a problem if you use this on stage, since you have to turn the unit on and reprogram the setting whenever the unit has shut itself off. Is there a way to keep the unit on ?
Hello! Nice video, it helped me a lot! You said in the video that you use this keyboard as a midi controller, how do you do it? Is there an specific cable?
I had the same problem for about a year more less. Tried to send it to a technician but it was too expensive so I stopped using the keyboard. Now that I want to put in my home studio as a midi controller, I decided once more to fix it, your video has helped me a lot, so I'll probably be fixing it on my own, thanks!
Very good video. I'm not sure it will work with my Yamaha, but I will try it out. At least you go through all the steps required, which others don't seem to do. I'll let you know how it goes.
Nice job .......but please have look at the "print-assembly > wet spot under the middle crossheadscrew < " at 3:30 ; ?? probably leaking (ELCO) capacitor(s) or a leaking batterie on the electronic keyboard assembly ; the ELCO capacitors acid-liquid mostly bite's the print tracks..... Cleaning print-assembly's / "re-cap " all boards, could be a solution. ( check also memory batterie )
Thank you very much Skoopsy, you offer me the chance to rescue my Korg piano ! With new rubbers, it works perfectly again, equilibrate sound again ! And for those who decide doing same thing : use a MAGNETIC screwdriver, it should be easier ;) !! Many thanks ! :)
I saw a video here of a guy who was fixing keys and dealing with the rubber membrane and he brought out a pencil implying he was going to use it. I didn't pay attention as it wasn't what I was looking for but he did clean the membrane with isopropyl and had no problems. perhaps the lead of the pencil was to replace the 'carbo'n as you called it, that was removed from cleaning it with isopropyl?
Sounds about right, I think it will work for a bit but may leave you with problems down the line possibly: Depositing graphite onto the membrane via a pencil will make it conductive again (depending on the graphite to clay ratio of the pencil!), so when pressed the contacts on the PCB will be shorted. However, each time that membrane is pressed up against it, I would guess some graphite will get deposited on the PCB contacts, and some deposited in the gap between them, over time the graphite might build up and create a contact which is always on. Probably easy to deal with as you would just have to clean the graphite off, but replacing the membrane, or painting a decent conductive paint, onto the membrane is going to be a better option IMO
Hello DOC really grateful for this video, nice to see you finally got the Korg working! Could you provide the details for the source for the replacement Korg Keyboard Parts please? Thanks in Advance
