Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards How to fix "sticky keys" on a digital piano keyboard

My digital piano is about one year old. I practice for about 2hrs per day on it. In the past month or so one and only one of the keys is exhibiting "sticky key syndrome." G-sharp below middle-C will sometimes stay down when released. I can get it to release by tapping it once.

I'm guessing that some foreign object fell into the keyboard or some dust has built up under the key. I've tried using a good vacuum cleaner with brush attachment on the affected part of the keyboard and "working" the keys up and down. This works temporarily, but the problem comes back in a day or so.

I'm thinking about a next step. Namely, remove the cover and access the keyboard bed. Then use some canned air to blow away any dust, grit, wood chips, dead bugs, or whatever.

Suggestions welcome. I will report back if it works.

I believe the keyboard is still on warranty, but I'd rather fix it myself if possible.

Cheers from Palm Springs CA

What is the brand and model of your digital piano?

Based on other posts I think the OP has a Casio PX130. So a hammer weighted keyboard.

Is it under warranty? If so get it serviced.

If not, then as you say something may have lodged in there preventing the key returning, or there is some mechanical damage, rubbing, misalignment. Hard to imagine the grease has become too hard in one year or so. Open it up, clean it out taking care, diagnose the problem, fix it if possible, then check all other keys whilst there.

If uncertain give Casio a call and get a quote for a service and fix.

Finally, get a keyboard cover and stop eating, drinking, whilst playing.

Ty for the encouragement. Yes, its a PX-130 mounted in the CS-67 console frame with the three pedal unit attached. No, we do NOT eat, drink, or allow animals, near the instrument. Heaven forbid! I will probably get to the repair project later this week. Should not be too difficult to fix this baby.

Whilst under warranty, get them to do it - no risk that way. If you take it apart and mess it up that's a rather different situation.

Good point. Although it seems such a minor problem. Probably just a bit of dust or something. Just needs a bit of cleaning. TY for the suggestion. Maybe I should give the good people at CASIO a call, before undertaking the job.

Something is impeding the operation of the key or hammer. I would call Casio support or take it to one of their authorized repair centers.

More on The Digital Piano Repair Saga. Looked for a repair guy who would fix a sticky key on my CASIO Privia PX-130... we were successful. Online search and follow-up phone calls yielded one factory authorized service store: "The Time Machine" in Montrose CA. Montrose is a 120 mile drive (through LA area Freeway Traffic) from my home. Since it's unlikely they can fix the problem while I wait, we are looking a four such trips including dropoff and pickup. Roughly 500 miles total travel. Plus meals, wear and tear on the vehicle, parking fees, and the cost of the repair itself. Call the total cost of repairs and travel $200+$400 = $600. Which is the price we see advertised for a new PX-150. Hence....

It seems the best option is to purchase a new PX-150 and throw the sticky key stricken PX-130 into the dumpster. Amazing but true.

Given this situation, perhaps it is indeed wise to go to Step 1: Attempt to fix the problem myself at home. If the PX-130 dies on the operating table, we proceed to Step 2: Pay for a newer better model with the cash saved.

Note to future generations: Buy stuff that's repairable by the owner-user.

Nothing in consumer electronics is user serviceable. Been that way for years. So, never buy anything? Haha. UL listings are similar. Once you go and modify or repair something that is UL listed, you risk voiding that listing. Not always the case, but it can happen.

Then again, to the right person, everything is user-serviceable.

Don't throw the keyboard in the dumpster. I doubt you're serious about that but heck, you could sell it on Craigslist or eBay for a decent price even with a sticky key. Maybe even open it up yourself but as alluded before, there is no one cause or cure for a sticky key. But you might surprise yourself by identifying the problem. From there, you just need to order a part or two (best case) but you'll never know until you investigate!

If you do take it apart, be sure and take plenty of photos along the way of what goes where, and label all like-sized screws and where they go.

Thank you for the practical tips and encouragement. I don't fear hardware, but some stuff is just inaccessible without special tools and the manufacturers repair manuals. We shall see how it goes in practice with our PX-130.
Stay tuned for Episode 3: The Smackdown!

I spent several years on a sailboat, cruising the west coast of Mexico and Central America.

It's amazing what you can fix yourself, when there's no alternative.<g>

. Charles

If it's under warranty, deal with the service folks.

If it's not, this isn't brain surgery. I've opened up many keyboards sometimes just to have a look inside and other times to replace a broken key.

If you feel uncomfortable about opening up the keyboard have a friend who has a little more experience work with you.

Update DEC 4 2013

Tonight I fixed the sticky key problem buy removing all the screws from the bottom of the keyboard assembly.
Shook the loosened assembly vigorously for a few minutes aiming to dislodge any dust, flakes, deadbugs, or whatever was causing lowG# to intermittently stick. When low G# was played sometimes it would continue to sound after release. That's what I mean by sticking.
The shaking worked, I put the screws back but used only about half of them to prevent over tightening the assembly and compressing the key action. After mounting the keyboard on the C-67 stand and reconnecting the pedal bar, USB, and power. I found the keyboard works great and no sticking behavior for the low G# key.

Looks like we have an initial success here. I will update if anything else interesting comes up. Otherwise consider the problem solved.

Thanks for all the comments,

Lelax

Here we are one month later and the sticky key problem on my CASIO PX-130 has not reoccurred. So it seems that the simple fix mentioned in the previous post has been successful. No sticky low G sharp. Another thing about the PX-130 case bottom is the presence of an array of small 2" x 2" hatch doors that open access to the lever weight and stop portion of the action of various segments of the keyboard. I'm guessing that these small ports or hatches are there to permit access to the action for cleaning and repair. I suppose one could use a vacuum cleaner attachment to get in there and remove dust and crud from the interior. Visual inspection did not yield any evidence of dust or anything else that would require cleaning. So I buttoned it up and got the instrument back in action. If anyone has any inside info on these access ports I would like to hear from you.

I should mention that I use the Privia PX130 as a USB MIDI keyboard for the Pianoteq / Bluthner piano simulation software. There are a ton of adjustments needed to get optimal musical piano simulation results. These include Pianoteq software settings such as dynamics, room acoustics, analog audio level, and others. Further, the analog amplifier and speaker system settings are also critical to get best musical grand piano sound of sufficient quality. I like to start with the Bluethner player settings and hook up the analog audio and speaker system then proceed by trial and error to get the best sound out into the room. That being said, the Pianoteq instruments and Bluthner package are pretty good using the default settings. The D4 player is also decent, as is the Bechstein player. It's also possible to really horrible sounds if anything in the chain is messed up.