Sustain pedal issues (Casio PX-310)

[cstringham]

My general question is this: can the sustain pedal input on a keyboard wear out/stop working over time?
Or do certain brands of keyboards only support certain brands of pedals?

My situation: I have owned my Casio Privia PX-310 for 6 years now, used hundreds of times, and have had no problems until now. After setting up and going to play, my sustain pedal was not responding. Tried turning off and turning on, unplugging and re-plugging, and did not solve. I'm unsure of the pedal model as no information is printed on the device. But I know the pedal is NOT Casio brand.

I thought the wires had become detached inside, so I purchased a new pedal (KSP 20) and this pedal was not recognized either. Unfortunately I don't have another keyboard to test these pedals out on, but if the new pedal did not work it leads me to believe the problem lies with the keyboard.

Can this input be repaired? Or would it be better to get a new instrument?

 

[happyrat1]

The KSP20 is a Universal Sustain Pedal. That means there's a switch on it to flip the polarity for different brands of keyboards.

All Casio sustain pedals use a normally open switch.

That means when you step on the pedal the switch should close and make contact.

Easiest way to test a pedal is to hook up the two terminals on the end plug to an Ohmmeter set to about 2 Kohm setting and then watching the display when you activate the switch.

When you press the switch the reading should be close to zero ohms, no more than 10 or 12 ohms tops.

When the switch is open it should read infinity.

If your pedals pass this test then your keyboard is at fault. If that's the case, then it could be something as simple as a cracked or broken input jack or as complicated and expensive to find as a blown buffer chip on the main board.

Either way I'd shop around and look for an audio electronics technician who works cheap to give you an estimate for a repair.

I can't find a used one for sale on google right now and I have no idea what it sold for new, but depending on condition I would estimate a pristine 6 year old unit would sell used these days for between $350 and $450 USD.

Repairing it would be worthwhile if you plan to keep it for a long time and it's still in otherwise excellent condition.

A repair, depending on whom you take it to should run you between $100 and $200.

Whether or not it's still worth that much to you is your decision. I'm simply laying out your options here.

Gary