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- Apr 23, 2012
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A few months ago I bought a little-used s/h Yamaha PSR-310 in order to learn piano during my retirement, but the key-action proved to be truly awful - both 'sticky' and squeaky - and there was no way I could ever have tolerated that.
So - I laid the keyboard upside-down on the edge of a bed, with the keys pointed towards me and clear of the bed so that they could be exercised. The bottom cover was duly removed, and it soon became clear that the problem was being caused by the hollow section keys rubbing against what appears to be their grey plastic/rubber internal key guides.
My first attempt at a cure was to paint WD40 onto the inside edges of the hollow keys where they rubbed against the guide, using a fine artist's brush. This worked, but the 'cure' only lasted for 24 hrs.
Clearly something much longer lasting was required, and so I sourced some clear thixotrophic synthetic grease with suspended PTFE micro-particles (Power-Gel 250), which is normally used for lubricating overhead equipment in food-processing factories.
Being thixotrophic meant that this gel would never slump or (even worse) drip when warm, and being synthetic meant that the absence of a petroleum derivative avoided the possibility of causing the guides to soften and swell, which I have sometimes observed when petroleum-based products (e.g. Vaseline(tm)) are brought into contact with rubber.
I found that the easiest method of application was to depress each key (i.e. upwards) and apply a small amount of the gel to the internal sides of each key, just where it rubs against the grey guide - followed by exercising the key, wiggling it gently from side to side to work the grease downwards. A tiny amount of gel is all that is required - something approaching one-eighth the size of a match-head.
With so many keys to lubricate (and, with a transparent gel), it's easy to miss one, so I'd recommend using some kind of marker to plot your progress.
The result has been outstanding - a really dreadful keyboard action has been transformed into a silky smooth one - this cure having lasted now for over three months, and I fully expect it to remain 'cured' for a good 5 years, by which time I hope to have mastered some techniques of 'tickling the ivorys' !
So - I laid the keyboard upside-down on the edge of a bed, with the keys pointed towards me and clear of the bed so that they could be exercised. The bottom cover was duly removed, and it soon became clear that the problem was being caused by the hollow section keys rubbing against what appears to be their grey plastic/rubber internal key guides.
My first attempt at a cure was to paint WD40 onto the inside edges of the hollow keys where they rubbed against the guide, using a fine artist's brush. This worked, but the 'cure' only lasted for 24 hrs.
Clearly something much longer lasting was required, and so I sourced some clear thixotrophic synthetic grease with suspended PTFE micro-particles (Power-Gel 250), which is normally used for lubricating overhead equipment in food-processing factories.
Being thixotrophic meant that this gel would never slump or (even worse) drip when warm, and being synthetic meant that the absence of a petroleum derivative avoided the possibility of causing the guides to soften and swell, which I have sometimes observed when petroleum-based products (e.g. Vaseline(tm)) are brought into contact with rubber.
I found that the easiest method of application was to depress each key (i.e. upwards) and apply a small amount of the gel to the internal sides of each key, just where it rubs against the grey guide - followed by exercising the key, wiggling it gently from side to side to work the grease downwards. A tiny amount of gel is all that is required - something approaching one-eighth the size of a match-head.
With so many keys to lubricate (and, with a transparent gel), it's easy to miss one, so I'd recommend using some kind of marker to plot your progress.
The result has been outstanding - a really dreadful keyboard action has been transformed into a silky smooth one - this cure having lasted now for over three months, and I fully expect it to remain 'cured' for a good 5 years, by which time I hope to have mastered some techniques of 'tickling the ivorys' !
