How to Repair Sticky Keys of Digital Piano

I have a roland Ep 9 digital piano and the problem was the keys were very hard to press whenever i started playing and there was a clicking noise while pressing them. These keys use grease to be played smoothly, so i decided to repair it and share it with you because I have heard that sharing is caring......
I hope i could do the justice to teach you how to disassemble and repair in detail.

Step 1: Unscrew the Back Cover of the Keyboard

Unscrew all the screws from the back side of the keyboard an keep all the screws in a bowl or something you find is safe for screws as you will need them while re-assembling.

Step 2: Lift the Cover Like This

Step 3: Now Unscrew the Highlighted Screw on Both Sides

Unscrew these screws on both sides and pull the Blind gently.

Step 4: Remove the Strips Carefully

Gently pull one end of the strip at a time and then second and remember the position of the strip ends.

Step 5: Unscrew the Keyboard

keyboard means here is not the piano itself it is the board where the keys are attached. This part can be separated as follows from the entire piano.

Step 6: Gently Push the Lock of the Keyboard With Your Thumb

Step 7: Unscrew the Pcb

unscrew the pcb and lift the rubber switches and chassis

Step 8: Remove the Key Stopper

there is a key stopper which has no screws but it uses double coated tape. Just remove it as in the image. And while reassembling use double coated tape and press it hard.

Step 9: Remove the Spring of the Keys

Carefully remove the springs of the keys as shown in the image use a tweezer to hold the spring and keep them in a secure box or whatever you find is safe so you don't lose it.

Step 10: Disassemble the Keys

Now Disassemble a white key and as shown in the image you will see old and sticky grease there which causes the trouble of clicking noise and hard to press keys. Remove the old grease with Isopropyl alcohol swabs which i used and apply new grease to make them work smoothly.

Step 11: Reassemble Every Thing

After applying the grease reassemble every thing from end to start and enjoy smooth piano playing.
I hope you will like it.

Comments

[PstSaint]

How do I fix my keyboard Yamaha PSR E 253
it produces an extra note when I play chords
for instance when I play CEG it produces CEF#G
what could be the problem and how can I fix it at home

[m_waqas]

Try to reset it to factory settings by reading the manual, or if it doesn't help than there could be serious problem, I can't suggest anything until I see it for myself

[KichuKey]

I heard that, the normal grease(petroleum product) may damage the plastic , is that correct? could you please explain me
or white lithium grease(petroleum product) or silicon grease(acetone)?
I am using Korg M3 and M50

[m_waqas]

No, Normal Grease doesn't affect Plastic

[Smsgtbob]

I have a Roland EP-9 and most of the key metal weight units have detached themselves from the keys and adhered themselves to various parts of the keyboard. Also will isopropyl alcohol dissolve the hardened 'grease' (it looks and acts more like melted plastic with a purplish hue)? What glue or item do you recommend to reinstall the key weights?

[m_waqas]

Try Silicon adhesives

[santob]

Hello Mo, I have disassembled my EP -9 as directed. There was a red grease adhesive, the consistency of strawberry jam all over. I cleaned this from the keys and all surfaces. There is also a white grease on the black rubber stoppers. I assume this is the lubricant I am to redo. Can you tell me the purpose of the red adhesive?

Also, I have noted that some of the white keys have lost their weights. I think this is where the red adhesive came from. I am seeking a solution to hold the weights in both the Black and white keys.

[m_waqas]

I'm not sure about the red grease because I never found this type of grease on my keyboard but if you are sure it's coming from the weights then you could remove it with hot water and re-assemble the weights using Silicone or any soft adhesive, but don't use instant adhesives, I hope it helps

[Smsgtbob]

I've tried boiling hot water and Isopropyl alcohol and neither will remove the redish 'glue' residue - I'm not sure that it is grease since it just becomes sticky and I csnnot get the key weights cleaned. Any suggestions?

[m_waqas]

Give hot air gun a try

[BrianC470]

Hi, I have a Roland EP 7 II with sticking Keys (formerly owned by Bruce Foxton of The Jam). I have followed your instructions (thanks) and have got to the point where I need to go and buy some Isopropyl alcohol. Whilst I am at the store can you please let me know what grease you recommend so I can buy some of that as well. Many thanks for an informative article.

[m_waqas]

Any grease will do, We just have to lubricate it, even petroleum jelly will work as well and sorry for delayed reply

[m_waqas]

Any Grease will do. We just have to lubricate it you may also use petrolium jelly.

[ZeroG3]

Thanks for this guide!

I just got an old Roland ep-9e digital piano. It sounds great.

But one key (A2) plays much louder than all other keys, as if it's registering a much higher touch velocity than it should.

Do I need to fully disassemble as you show or is there a shortcut to address on key? I'm afraid of causing more problems.

[Sparky347]

I have an EP-7 that had half it's keys not working at all. Followed this guide to disassembling the keyboard and although the keys are held in place by a slightly different mechanism, it's pretty close. I took every key off, cleaned the contacts on the PCB and the small rubber pads, and then used an HB2 pencil to draw on the rubber pads to add graphite so they make contact better. After partial reassembly, I found one key was louder than the others. I had to remove that key, clean and re-seat the rubber pad so that the upper contact (you'll see 2 rubber contacts on the rubber pad per key, the upper one that protrudes farther on the rubber pad is responsible for the softer volume) touched the PCB before the lower contact when the key is pushed.
Keyboard is working 100% now, but the only way to fix the velocity/ sound issue is by completely disassembling.

[sstrom61]

Hi m_waqas,

I recently bought an ep9. I have 8 keys that do absolutely nothing when played. Any thoughts on repair?

[m_waqas]

sorry for delay in reply

tell me the detail of keys, I mean send me pics of the keys which don't make any sound so that I can figure it out.

[sstrom61]

Hi, Thanks for responding. I (emboldened by your post) opened my keyboard and saw the problem was some erosion on the key contact board. I saw a company here in the states sold the same key contact circuit board. I bought the one they had and replaced my faulty one.

Now all those keys work, but all the ones that correspond to that new circuit board play at full velocity no matter how I hard or soft play the keys. At this point, I have no idea what I am doing.

[m_waqas]

this problem occurs when the strips of the contact board are not installed properly try to re-install them on the main board, I hope it will resolve the problem of touch response, because the velocity sensor's circuit has some obstructions and you could also try to clean the strip's ends as well and try to install them thoroughly, and then tell if the problem resolves or not

[mayi3]

hi m_waqas,

thanks for your nice tutorial.

I've recently repaired the sticking keys of my EP-9.

However unfortunately something has caused some corrosion on a small area of the piano's mainboard.

So at this area the blue capacitor and a SMD resistor fell off the mainboard.

While the capacitor was still lying around the little resistor has disappeared untraceable.

The blue capacitor was located at position C15, the missing resistor at position R12 on the mainboard.

I asked Roland support for the circuit schematics but they are not very helpful.

They are not willing to hand it out.

Instead they advised me to bring the keyboard to a local dealer for a (very likely very expensive) repair. What i find very ridiculous, especially when you consider the age worth of the keyboard.

Anyway, i'm stuck here.

so maybe, if not asked to much: could you eventually check the mainboard of your piano and tell me what number is printed on the small resistor at location R12?

So i can buy and solder a replacement resistor.

Many thanks in advance :)

PS: i've uploaded an image of the concerning area of the mainboard. The parts R12 and C15 are located inside the red circle