Problem with Casio on/off not working

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Hello everyone!
I have a CTK-540 Casio. It worked fine for years, then one day I tried to turn it on and it wouldn't come on. Thinking that it was possibly a short in the adapter, I purchased a new one at Radio Shack. It proved that the adapter was not the problem. The guy there told me they did not fix keyboards anymore, but if I took the back off and took a photo they might be able to see if a fuse had blown. I removed the back and nothing appeared fried, plus I could not see anything that looked like a fuse. So I took the keyboard to Radio Shack and a guy there looked at it. He too could not find anything that looked like a fuse-- and nothing appeared wrong except-- he said he could see a tiny bit of rust inside the spot where the adapter plugs in. I just tried to use a piece of sandpaper in it to remove that speck of rust-- however, the keyboard still does not work. Does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem might be and how i might fix it? I'm a middle-aged woman, so please use understandable tech terms/language when responding!!!! Thanks for the help.
 
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happyrat1

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First of all Casio keyboards use REGULATED power supplies. If you used some generic 9 V unregulated adapter from Radio Scrap you may have already blown out the keyboard.

Secondly it's a 10 year old keyboard that's worth about $50 on Ebay in GOOD WORKING ORDER.

My advice is to sell it off on craigslist or ebay for $20 for parts and buy something new for $200.

In the long run it will save you time, money and trouble.

It's just not worth repairing.

Gary
 
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First of all Casio keyboards use REGULATED power supplies. If you used some generic 9 V unregulated adapter from Radio Scrap you may have already blown out the keyboard.

Secondly it's a 10 year old keyboard that's worth about $50 on Ebay in GOOD WORKING ORDER.

My advice is to sell it off on craigslist or ebay for $20 for parts and buy something new for $200.

In the long run it will save you time, money and trouble.

It's just not worth repairing.

Gary
 
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Thanks for your suggestion Gary, but in my current situation, I cannot afford to buy another one, not even a used one-- thus, I find myself trying to repair it. As for the adapter, no matter-- the mere fact that the keyboard was not working prior to the use of the new adapter tells me that the new adapter did not blow out anything.
 
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I hope you repaired your keybord. I have a CTK 555L. It doesn't power on. It may be a fuse. I understand not wanting to sell. The keyboard has been in my family awhile. My grandmother owned it. I hope I can repair it. Music relaxes me.

Najia
 
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I think you should have different help levels. One for people with very little or zero technical ability and others like me who are retired Electronic Engineers or similar. I have a friends Casio WK110. will not switch on. Battery input and Power supply input OK. Removed about four hundred screws to open it up. I now need info on which pins the switch enters the board. Could be a simple switch problem. Unit left on table 100 yards from the beach. I am in Pichidangui on the coast of Chile cannot buy anything electronic here. Can anybody help?
 

happyrat1

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The ONLY help we offer around here is volunteer based from anyone who happens to read these and post.

Secondly if you are a retired Engineer then you should be familiar with typical troubleshooting already and know how to trace a board's circuit without a schematic if necessary.

If the chip numbers have not been erased already then you already have way more information than we have.

If the problem was moisture intrusion then it should correct itself after a few weeks in a dry place.

If the problem was salt water corrosion then you may as well just scrap the board at this point.

You might get lucky if you contact Casio directly and request a service manual.

As for the ability to buy parts and tools? Everyone uses Amazon and Ebay and Digikey and Jameco these days and as far as I know, these as well as other mail order places operate world wide.

If you really feel like getting your geek on then there's always EEVBlog where you'll find nothing but techs and engineers to commiserate with. Remember, we are mostly a bunch of musicians/hackers around here.


Gary ;)
 
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Gary: Many thanks for your prompt reply. In my day a lot of these components did not exist. We had little glass bottles like half a test tube size eith a heater inside!! The schematic info I need is to find which wires of the ribbon wire strip are connected to the on off switch. If not I have to remove another 100 little screws which hold the board down.
This is not exactly "User Friendly". Amazon use a local rep here. I cannot comment on their gross inefficiency.
Cheers
Bernie R.
 

happyrat1

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Understood. They were still teaching vacuum tubes when I went to college as well, though CPU's like the 8008 and 8080 existed as well.

Surface mount junk is really not designed with easy repair in mind.

Most consumer electronics these days are disposable commodities.

Time to pull out your DVOM and start searching for the power bus on your unit man.

The silkscreening on the circuit board should be helpful though. At least these things are a bit self documenting, if not a .lot.

Gary ;)
 
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I’m having the same problem with my Casio wk-1630. After a million screws, I opened it up and see the only thing wrong is some rust in the hole where the power adapter plugs in. As badly as I want to just replace this tiny little part, I might just have to junk it because I don’t even know where to begin to find that exact outlet.
 

happyrat1

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I’m having the same problem with my Casio wk-1630. After a million screws, I opened it up and see the only thing wrong is some rust in the hole where the power adapter plugs in. As badly as I want to just replace this tiny little part, I might just have to junk it because I don’t even know where to begin to find that exact outlet.


This one is an easy solution. Drill a 1/4" hole in a free spot near the jack, get a standard 1/8" phone jack. Rewire the jack and the power supply connector appropriately and Bob's yer uncle.

In a case like this, a simple hardware hack does the trick.

(BE CAREFUL WITH POLARITIES WHEN REWIRING)

Gary ;)
 
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