How to Fix a Dead Key on an Electronic Keyboard

Note won't play? No sound when you press a key on your electronic keyboard? It's probably not making contact with the circuitry, and that's likely a result of dust buildup. A simple cleaning can fix the problem. (This is a Casio CTK-411 keyboard.) For more electronics repair tips, home improvement how-tos, repair help, garden hints, recipes, holiday ideas, fun projects and more, visit the doityourselfstan KZbin channel @doityourselfstan or www.homefrontstan.com.

[@hamzaakca6547]

mine didnt have any dust at all but i still cleaned it. it started working! thank you so much

[@hiddensnowflake5517]

With my type of knowledge with this specific tutorial, I would damage it even more

[@griffo5]

Take it to a pro

[@wertiaaudit5746]

👍

[@tracygalindo9592]

You’re amazing, sir, thanks for the great instructions, you just saved my 17 year old keyboard!

[@Lusianna2000]

Thank you! Just fixed my keyboard's 4 dead keys this way! Super easy!

[@colliecandle]

i would add - BEFORE reassembling, make sure the problematic key/s actually work ! ( otherwise you'll have the tedious and time consuming dis-assembly to do all over ! )

[@ChozoSR388]

I had the same thought; kinda dumb you fully reassemble before you make sure everything actually works and that you didn't bork anything else lol

[@mattbartley2843]

@@ChozoSR388 What's a proper test though? I'm working on a CTK-518, which is very similar to this video. Except those rubber pads under the keys are grey rather than orange. I've been able to improve it a lot, but still not completely. I've found that I can "play" the rubber pads perfectly well, but when I re-assemble the keys, I still have to play some of them hard to make contact. I'll keep trying.

[@janettemolina383]

I just smacked the key then it worked...

[@gth882]

Damn you're lucky

[@vendetta5768]

Lol thanks for the idea it worked for me too

[@datgirlnaee3151]

Janette Molina ayeee thanks for telling me i banged on mine and it started working again :)

[@Pedro-tl7jg]

That was my first instinct too... and it worked for a bit but i got some CORONA time on my hands gotta get to cleaning.

[@nathanmszualapachuau2800]

After your comment i got curious and smacked the key, and it worked🤣

[@Jreos_]

THANK YOU! This helped sooooo much. I was almost going to waste money on a new piano 🎹

[@Unidentifying]

thanks so much, mine was built different but the same cleaning principles applied. (Although the dirt on the rubbers and the circuit that contacted them was minimal, it did fix my problem of one white key not working properly!) It sounds even better now!

[@bugxter]

Thanks! Just what I needed.

[@LionsLambano]

Great video, keyboard back up and sounding great. Thanks!

[@tpgeraghty]

Thank you. We did this and it worked beautifully.

[@faruqhsj]

Great repair technique. Thank you !

[@luisrios4185]

Old video working great in Dec, 2020. Thanks!

[@preciousjames]

Great clear video. Thank you Sir!

[@momoskates3491]

Dude, you saved my life!

[@rroe5718]

Thanks for taking the time to make this very informative video. One question though....you mentioned a little grease on the keys but did not see this when reassembled. Do you know what type of grease and where it goes?

[@Hipp1062]

This helped a lot thank you. It now functions like it did out of the box.

[@robnco1]

Thank you very much can't wait to get it sorted

[@loisshingleton8821]

This method actually works. Thanks for saving the price of a new keyboard.

[@awesomepig6400]

Thank you so much for this tutorial this was very helpful for me and it worked

[@timothypacheco9931]

Thanks! Worked on my Casio wk-110

[@scottiedunnavan3834]

I picked up this same keyboard for $9, this video helped a lot!!!!

[@fishme_]

Lifesaver!! Thank you for this.. i was so disappointed when i thought i had to let go of my keyboard. 😅

[@lydiamoretti3332]

OMG IT WORKED!!! THANK YOU!!!

[@prabeshpradhan7109]

you are a lifesaver !!! thanks

[@geekyadore]

Thank you so much, gonna try this with my keyboard!

[@RememberToLove]

hello, I have two Casio keyboards wk-1800 & wk 1630. Both have the same issue, 8 keys in the upper register only play once. They only play if the touch sensitivity is turned off, but they only play once and then will not play again until the keyboard is turned off & on. On the screen, it shows that they these notes are still being played/ sustained, that is why you can not play them again. I have already opened up the keyboard, vacuumed up all dust & debris in and around keys & wiped down the circuit board. I have also tried switching the pads from other working keys to see if the pads need to be replaced, but unfortunately the problem still exists. I haven't been able to find someone who can fix the keyboard on the island where I live. If you can give me any direction toward fixing the problem, I would most appreciate it. thanks & kind regards.

[@VictoriaHVictoriesOfCreativity]

Thanks for your detailed explanation! Thumbs Up! I'm going to try your suggestions tomorrow on my Yamaha!

[@zenjah]

did it work?

[@candythief8898]

Keyboard sorted... The ribbons felt secure.. Just pressed on them... Now working again... Thank you

[@Pp-ez7yi]

THANK YOU! I will try it right now

[@jctyrtle8038]

Very cool, will try this, can't wait to (possibly) play my piano again!

[@user-ku4rq4xf6h]

Thanks You saved my life

[@DragAmiot]

Thank you man!

[@polly15751]

Thank you!

[@jimcrowell7368]

Thank you very much , key problem fixed :)

[@shaneguy753]

It worked!!!! Thanks

[@ejc491]

Thanks for this video. I think dust is my problem too and will use your video to possibly solve the problem.

[@thealmightyducklord]

Thanks you’re a life saver six of my black keys were out of place

[@garysmith2401]

This is such a useful DVD - I have 2 keys that do not work ie are dead and will definitely try these directions

[@othello7]

This is *great!* but my keys are sticky from lack of grease, what grease do I use?

[@JuliettaRabens]

Thank you for this great information! I just ordered a keyboard arriving today that had some negative reviews about dead keys, so I feel better about potentially fixing the issue if it comes up for me. I wonder if the problem keyboards were in a dusty warehouse? Cheers!

[@georgegates526]

Great video! But my Casio C Z-1 is too old for this kind of repair. I'm not sure if I unscrewed the front panel above the keys that includes control buttons, it may not go back together again. Or I may break a wire in the process.

[@ThoyRikan]

I really like watching your video 😘👍👍👍💯

[@tompastian3447]

Stan, 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 ?

[@envysoph]

THANK YOU!! I haven't played my keyboard because of this problem but now i can finally learn how to play ;-;

[@raudel101]

Lol same

[@omarmostafa7681]

thanks a lot

[@lorahoffman7232]

Thank you, it was a quick fix. Afte removing the middle "C section on my Donner Dep-10, (I lifted off the whole section , instead removing white and black keys seperately) I looked down in the rubber parts and in the bottom of the "C" key the little plug piece had popped out of place and was laying sideways in the hole. I almost made the mistake of trying to remove it, but stopped myself and looked down in the other key hole pads and thats when I realized that it had come up, so I just took a pin and pushed it back in place. It works great now.

[@doityourselfstan]

Awesome! Glad the problem is solved.

[@jonah2wenty6ix]

One of my Black keys works intermittently, when it does work it is the loudest volume, so even pressing gently it sounds like i slammed on the button..? so frustrating

[@aqeylstatik]

Jonah Lol have u found the answer? i recently bought a used yamaha keyboard ez250i. it was all dusty and one of the keyy, hv the same problem as u, everytime i hit it, it sounded so loud all alone. im kinda frustrated on this.

[@jonah2wenty6ix]

No unfortunately I haven't.

[@LordSauronGamer]

I had this problem too with 2 years of usage. However the problem just stopped for some reason.

[@BrooklynRagtag]

This problem has to do with the key contacts. Those rubber things. Either those need to be replaced or the area underneath them needs cleaning.

[@woozihae]

yeah ikr I have the same problem

[@salvadorvillanueva6819]

Thanks! This really saved my Yamaha keyboard!

[@7391CjmlPlus]

hiii..How do to open Yamaha 300 psr....Thank you

[@chevyvantravel9735]

excellent video THANK YOU. mine are sticking and I KNOW IS DUST.

[@pradeepthakur1424]

thank you so much sir. I cud open my yamaha PSR S550 but could not open the key board part which was behaving awful and irritating. after learning from your valuable video i rectified the issue. this was really helpful stuff

[@doityourselfstan]

Glad the video helped!

[@playanythingmusictherapy]

Yo da man. What a good tutorial.

[@helveticfpv550]

thanks!

[@emyoblea793]

Hi Stan! I have a RockJam 761 Keyboard & the middle C has no sound. I watched your video & my husband managed to fix it. Your video btw is very clear & very easy to follow, Thank You! But anyway after playing a few times it went kaput again so my hubby had to open it again & he found that the round rubber thingy, on yours is orange, is broken. Do you know what the name of this & where to get it? I am a beginner & I don’t want to spend anymore on a keyboard. Hoping to hear from you. Thank you!

[@educatedHQ]

Will this work for a model 140 Wurlitzer? It’s from the 60’s

[@Aratastic90]

Would this potentially work on a kids keyboard that's only half size? Only 7 keys work on my kids one but they love it and it'd be great to fix it if I can

[@johnalvarez9131]

Sir what do you call of the orange silicone like part of it

[@ollismove]

Hey there! I just bought a used Casio CT-770 with 4 adjacent keys not working. Dust doesn’t seem to be the problem here ... rust is more likely. Am I screwed? :D

[@wahoospa1]

Here you go people. My Casio CTK-558 had a key that when depressed it would stop playing if I pressed it again. If I tapped the key it would bounce up and down unlike all the others. All you have to do is turn the keyboard over, remove the big tin plate on the bottom that has about 14 screws. There you will see (on my model) to printed circuit boards. Take the screws out of the PCB and tilt the PCB where you can see the other side of the PCB. Using rubbing alcohol, gently wipe the printed circuit where it makes contact with the little orange pieces that press on the PCB when you press a key. On mine, the one key I had trouble with the orange rubber piece would get in a bind when pressed. I found a rubber grommet in my junk pile and using a razor sliced off the tip of the grommet and that part I cut looked like a very small O ring. I placed that O ring in the orange rubber piece with the little black piece of the orange piece that makes contacts the PCB. Reassembled and now that key works perfect, no bouncing, no problems. Just vacuum dust from around the keys and making it work would just be a stroke of luck. Dust usually effects these types of keyboards when the dust gets under the orange pieces and come between them and the PCB. Therefore cleaning where contact is made usually fixes all the problems.

[@ladyeoin]

I'm not sure this works on all keyboards - the Casio CTK-501 has a fixed top, that is, the entire top is one unit and part of it can't be hinged open without taking the whole thing apart. Any ideas for this scenario?

[@XXTheSolutionXX]

hey after the f# the whole section black and white keys dont work... casio ctk-541 keyboard. what could be the problem?

[@scoobed792]

That's coool i didn't know about that

[@lawsne0nx-dg4mingletspl4y2]

Instructions not clear. My keys wont play, my piano got abducted by an alien, and house exploded.

[@Cass_Rose]

i got penis augmentation

[@f7digitaldesign]

They came and got mine too.

[@nahumgutierrezofficial]

Thanks

[@hakimmovies4090]

could it be that the rubbers are finished n if they wat would I do to maintain them please

[@RedGrape08]

How to fix yamaha p45, automatically play demo songs and i can't remove it even pressin the grand piano button, when I turned off the piano I tried to turn it on but the red light is blinking

[@Alex-ln3sj]

Your video just save me a lot of money I was a bit just to pay

[@dayanidhibatsa3075]

I am not able to do the same with PSR-150, kindly post a video to detach keys.

[@jamespond8079]

I have a ctk-491 Casio piano and when I try to play one of my keys or creates a double when I lift my finger up.any one know how to fix it??

[@petzzz5900]

Sir how to fix my Casio ma150 key broken single key???

[@julmagworld7773]

I just recently had the same issue, 3 keys of my yamaha piano, hope it will work with the same

[@tonyyee218]

Thanks a lot! At least there is hope for my 20 year old Yamaha..i didn't want to get rid of it for sentimental reasons.

[@Sparks3D]

I have similar rubber key connectors, but I think the issues are inside of those rubber pads or beneath them. Anyone have any suggestions of how to take the individual rubber pads off to clean them? It isn't the easy rubber strip like most keyboards, they are like these orange ones that don't look like they are removable. The keyboard I have is a Lowrey Micro Genie v60. Thanks!

[@k_alex]

Honestly, I raelly smacked it few times from below and all keys worked again. But good to know there is a more sophisticated method.

[@azonprdcr4267]

12 of the white keys all the way to the right don’t work unless I play three at the same time, any help?

[@bertotalain8225]

Hello, I have a velocity problem on my M-AUDIO KEYSTATION88 MKII keyboard. The black keys are much more sensitive than the WHITE keys. This boring problem is experienced by many people on the net. Have you noticed the same problem? Do you know the solution to fix this problem? THANK YOU IN ADVANCE ALAIN - ANGERS - FRANCE

[@Joe-pl5fc]

Thoughts on using compressed air for this? Would it be safe or should stick with the vacuum?

[@ryzenoctavian]

Use compressed air, a vacuum can cause a buildup of static electricity which if handled improperly can kill all the components

[@aakashdirar9626]

My keyboard is Casio ctk 1300. It's base keys are not working.it works when three consecutive keys are pressed. Anybody know why is this so? Is it a manufacture defect?

[@aamgbrendan44]

Will this method help keys that play by themselves without me touching them?

[@DaveinDenver01]

Good vid! I have similar problem... but the G abruptly stopped playing in any octave. Yamaha YFP-70

[@thevibranteyepc8594]

I have the exact same keyboard. And every G and Gflat stoped working.

[@valeriemoran6289]

An added thought - you can attach a stocking or pantyhose over the vacuum nozzle so only the dust gets sucked up into the vacuum.

[@doityourselfstan]

Great tip! Thanks for sharing!

[@StrongRuler]

Currently no video on KZbin about this problem i have with my Casio CTK 560L keyboard, my volume buttons won't work and the keyboard is stuck on max volume. Can anyone in the comments help me with this?

[@habdelka5139]

One question please, i bought my Roland Piano HP603, i was playing through my headset, and felt warm so i took off my jacket and suddenly i heared very weird noise through the head set, quickly i realized that it happened because of the static electricity from the jacket, i switch off the piano. I put it on again, and i couldnt say whether there is a damage has happened, am worrying a lot in general, and am wondering if really (this happening) my winter jacket could really damage the piano because of the static electricity? I feel the ambient 3D sound is no longer strong as before, also other tones.

[@mitchjohnson4714]

Thanks so much. On my keyboard, its two keys per octave, in every octave. That's clearly not just a contact issue. Am I screwed?

[@onepercentile]

I think that might be due to a bad ribbon/wire strip connection or a trace on the contact board is broken. Check the embedded carbon/copper strips of copper connecting the different octaves.

[@TomyIneXtriCable]

Wow! Thank you so much! OmG! Amazing! Seems like tomorrow I'm gonna finally fix my keyboard! Yaayy! 🎹🎹🎹✨💖🙏🙌😸✌🏠🎀☄️✨

[@TomyIneXtriCable]

Oh, Also! Your tutorial is awesome! ✨🙏🙌🙏✨

[@doityourselfstan]

Thank you so much for your kind words! I try hard to create videos that are concise and easy to understand.

[@tacetnoite]

I have a CTK-1100 casio, the key F5 does not work, or it glitches without me touching it, 1 day before that happened, the key seemed to get sensitive, i barely would touch it and it would play, today i tried it and it just would not play at all, how do i fix this problem?

[@Serviexpress]

One key is not working on mine, I got exactly the same model and I did the cleaning, but same key still not working I decide to re-weld the resistance next to the keys, now a full section of keys doesn't work, how can I get a diagram to fix it well, this tutorial only works if is dusty, but doesn't help if the issue is Electronic, thanks in advance

[@geraldhenrickson7472]

Um...I am thinking the method used to remove the keys is model specific as my Yamaha PSR-280 keys attach nothing like this. My brothers keyboard is also different than either. My neighbors is nothing like yours or mine. Other than getting in there to clean, there are no similarities in constructions. Thanks for the video though as it does giveone the confidence to forge ahead...with care

[@albertperez7930]

Always test BEFORE reassembly!

[@freein2339]

3 keys too loud on technics kn6000...how do I fix this...

[@sounddoctorin]

If the contacts are worn out rather than just dirty, get my contact disks and you're usually all up and running again. We've never bothered making stick on contacts repair for the concentric ring type contacts (eg. Kawai K1, Kurzweil K1000 etc. ) because these always seem to clean up. They never 'wear out'. But others like polysix etc. do. Always replace both contacts on dual contact switches for velocity sensing and they're only a mil or so thick so they've always worked fine on typical dual cylinder contacts

[@dimataja4669]

thank you ^_^

[@seanlappin9782]

my little brother threw my keyboqrd on the floor it is an sk500 and it turns on but nothing comes up ,how would you fix that?

[@raythewolbear1798]

What happens if you have a specific key or two triggering on its own every few seconds?

[@rushilakkal3696]

good man

[@asifeentertainment422]

Thank you sir. *-----Q-----*

[@shahiraakthar5409]

please help me my keyboard is mq -5400 you keyboard that the sound ia like the horror and like organ how to fix it not working like a melody sound ...

[@mehar_midha]

Mine is having a strange problem. The keys play properly in chord mode but stop working in piano mode. Pls help.

[@diavolosoup1902]

So I have a ctk 2100 and I removed the cover and got it back together now every ninth key is dead please heelppo

[@itz_-apollo-_7494]

I have 1 key that does not work but to get to it I have to take of a wierd black part!what should I do?