KVR Audio

pw · Post by pw » Mon Nov 12, 2007 5:47 pm

Over a 2 month period, I have gone from one key intermittently working, to now around 30-40% of the keys not working at all. I pulled the thing apart to clean the contacts with a clean eraser (or rubber, depending on your breed of English), but new keys continue to give up the ghost weekly....

Can this actually be fixed by a pro, or is the keyboard dead? I have read about many contact problems with these pcr models.

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 6:45 pm

if you find a cheap fix let me know, mine has been under the bed for a couple years now for the same thing...my old roland xp-10 has the same problem.

Chuck E. Jesus · Post by **Chuck E. Jesus** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:01 pm

is there an actual metal to metal contact you have access to? i cleaned a 26 yo pro one synth keyboard, and it works good now... i used regular rat shack pot cleaner...i've never opened midi keys before, so i have no clue what's inside...

koolkeys · Post by **koolkeys** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:08 pm

I have a PCR-M50 and it works fine so far. I heard that some models used to have the problem with the keys going out, but I also heard that they had fixed that? I do know that some people said that Edirol replaced their keyboard(or at least fixed it) without any hassle. So you might want to contact them and ask them what they can do.

Brent

tomg · Post by **tomg** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:33 pm

I've got a M30 but I've got no problems yet. OTOH I've had to work on my d5 a couple of times and if it's the same thing, those are carbon contacts and this is what works for me.

Under the keys you'll find a rubber blister strip(s) with one or two blisters per key. These use tabs that are press fit into tiny holes to keep them in alignment with the bottom contact strip.

Carefully pull the blister strip from the bottom contacts. Paying close attention to the tiny press in tabs to keep them from tearing off the strip.

When you get them apart you'll find little carbon contacts inside the blisters. These are the problem. They should look dull black but they probably look shiny because the rubber and carbon has hardened.

Take a common pencil eraser and burnish (rub) the contacts until they aren't shiny anymore. Do the same to the bottom contacts and do all of them while you are at it.

Do not use liquid cleaner of any kind or power tools like a Dremel. If you've got one of those powered drafting erasers those usually work great.

Once the carbon gets too hard this won't work and you'll need to replace the blister strip. They are not expensive.. if you can get a Roland repair center to place the order for you.

The last time I had to do it was maybe six years ago and it's still fine so it holds up.

If you have the time I'd like to know if this works for you. I expect to have to repair my m30 someday and it'd be nice to know before I go in.

Good luck.

Arcvidean · Post by **Arcvidean** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 12:13 pm

One of the keys died on my PCR-50 a couple of years back. Edirol replaced it out of guarantee with no quibbles, it seems to have been a known problem. The new one's been fine since then,so far. I bought the original one back in 2003.
Arcvidean.

itchi23 · Post by **itchi23** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 11:09 pm

tomg: I'm not the OP, but I followed your directions on my own PCR-M50 with a number of dead keys, and after using a fifty cent drafting eraser, all my keys work great.
I was about to get rid of this board and drop another $250 on another controller...Thanks!!

solovox · Post by **solovox** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 11:19 pm

Excellent post, tomg!! Thanks.

marco mohamed · Post by **marco mohamed** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 9:33 pm

i just did it with my pcr m30, it worked great. thanks a lot,

marco

Psygnus · Post by **Psygnus** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 3:12 pm

Just tried it to my pcr-m50.
The contacts seemed to be perfectly clean and well but they didn't work.
Most of the keys that didn't work previously work now but they still need to be pressed slightly harder.
2 of them still don't work but fixing 18 out of 20 is a good achievement!

I think that the blisters are badly constracted from the beginning but if you bought it there's nothing you can do...

Has anyone tried to find replacements for those faulty parts?
I would like to replace them but haven't tried to find any of them yet.

Anyway thanks for the info guys!
You really helped me!

BitFlipper · Post by **BitFlipper** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 4:45 am

koolkeys wrote:I have a PCR-M50 and it works fine so far. I heard that some models used to have the problem with the keys going out, but I also heard that they had fixed that? I do know that some people said that Edirol replaced their keyboard(or at least fixed it) without any hassle. So you might want to contact them and ask them what they can do.

Brent

Mine was sent in a few years ago to get "fixed", but now I am starting to get dead keys. I noticed that if I press the bad key softly, it works, but if I press it hard, it doesn't play.

I guess I'll need to open it up and see if there is something I can do.

BitFlipper

bburtin · Post by **bburtin** » Sat Feb 06, 2010 5:12 pm

Hey guys, thanks for the great tips! I was able to fix the velocity response for 3 keys on my PCR-M50 without taking all the keys off. I just took out the problematic key and the two keys around it, pried up the rubber strip by 1/16", blew compressed air under it to clean things out, reseated the strip, and replaced the keys. Could be a quick fix for someone who only has a few keys that are misbehaving.

Blue Wind Project · Post by **Blue Wind Project** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:26 pm

I had a PCR-80 for about 3 years and had the same problem.

Started off with just a couple of keys, and quickly progressed
to an entire octave and then some random keys further up
the keyboard. I sold it about a year ago on craiglist for
$80.00 I often wondered why they guy would pay $80.00
for a keyboeard that hardly worked, but now I know, he knew the secret.

I need another controller, and I was thinking about another
Edirol, but after reading this thread, I don't think I'll be going
back to Edirol. seems to be a widespread problem.

dodokvr · Post by **dodokvr** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:31 pm

Dead keys on the old PCRs comes as standard. People asked for a refund when it didn't happen because they didn't want to feel left out.
The new PCRs don't have the same trouble.
Now to be taken over by the A-Pro in April.

kaosrise · Post by **kaosrise** » Sun Feb 14, 2010 6:29 am

tomg wrote: Take a common pencil eraser and burnish (rub) the contacts until they aren't shiny anymore. Do the same to the bottom contacts and do all of them while you are at it.

This worked great on my PCR-M30. I thought it was the drivers at first, but when the keys were having the same issue on a Windows XP AND Windows 7 machine, I new it was a hardware malfunction.

I used a pink block eraser(like the one you used in elementary school)to clean the contacts and now its working like new again!

THANKS TOMG!

Edirol PCR-50 Midi Controller: Keys Dying Rapidly