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(Krome 88) Loud sounds on most keys [SOLVED]

 
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MichelTaupin



Joined: 03 Jan 2021
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 8:14 pm    Post subject: (Krome 88) Loud sounds on most keys [SOLVED] Reply with quote

Hello,

First of all, my apologizes for the bad english, I might not know all the technical terms.

I've been a happy owner of a Korg Krome 88 for more than five years. A few years ago, some of the keys (mostly the black keys) started to play loud notes, no matter how hard I hit them.
For example, I play soft and quiet notes, and all of a sudden, one of them is played as if I hit the key very hard.

With time, more and more keys have been showing this issue, and now, I only have a few keys properly working.
Most of the keys play loud sounds or don't work anymore.

I've tried to disassemble the keyboard and clean each key from dust, but absolutely nothing changed.

I can take it to a repair shop and see what they can do, but I'm afraid this can be expensive.
That's why and I want to know if it's a common issue, and if there is any way to solve it.

Thank you for your help, hope it's been understandable !


Last edited by MichelTaupin on Mon Mar 15, 2021 10:42 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Musicwithharry
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Joined: 23 Mar 2012
Posts: 694
Location: Anamosa, IA

PostPosted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 8:21 pm    Post subject: Re: (Krome 88) Loud sounds on most keys Reply with quote

MichelTaupin wrote:
Hello,

First of all, my apologizes for the bad english, I might not know all the technical terms.

I've been a happy owner of a Korg Krome 88 for more than five years. A few years ago, some of the keys (mostly the black keys) started to play loud notes, no matter how hard I hit them.
For example, I play soft and quiet notes, and all of a sudden, one of them is played as if I hit the key very hard.

With time, more and more keys have been showing this issue, and now, I only have a few keys properly working.
Most of the keys play loud sounds or don't work anymore.

I've tried to disassemble the keyboard and clean each key from dust, but absolutely nothing changed.

I can take it to a repair shop and see what they can do, but I'm afraid this can be expensive.
That's why and I want to know if it's a common issue, and if there is any way to solve it.

Thank you for your help, hope it's been understandable !


It sounds like the key contacts might be dirty or need to be replaced. Cleaning the keys is a good idea, but there is a strip (multiple strips) of plastic with two indentations on them. Those are the contact strips. Sometimes, they need to be replaced or cleaned, in addition to the keys.

Maybe your problem is there in the contact strips. Usually cleaning them will take care of the issue, but sometimes they need to be replaced. Sending your board to the repair shop will certainly be fairly expensive, if only for their high hourly rate.

If you are good enough to remove each key and clean them, then replacing the contact strips are no big deal Smile

Grace,
Harry
_________________
Alesis Vortex Keytar, Alesis QS6.2, Alesis QSR, Alesis SR-16, Behringer Deepmind-12, Ensoniq Avista 7600, Ensoniq VFX, Ensoniq VFX-SD, Ensoniq SQ1+, (2) Ensoniq SQ-R+/32, Korg i3 (2020 Version), (2) Korg Kross 1-61, (2) Korg Kross 1-88, Korg Minilogue XD, Korg Minilogue XD Module, Korg M50-61, Korg PA700, Korg X5DR, Korg Z3, Kurzweil SP1, Lowrey EZP3 (bascially a Kawai), Roland D-05, Roland E-09, Waldorf Streichfett, Yamaha Reface CP, Yamaha Reface CS, Yamaha Reface DX, Yamaha Reface YC
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MichelTaupin



Joined: 03 Jan 2021
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 8:28 pm    Post subject: Re: (Krome 88) Loud sounds on most keys Reply with quote

Musicwithharry wrote:
MichelTaupin wrote:
Hello,

First of all, my apologizes for the bad english, I might not know all the technical terms.

I've been a happy owner of a Korg Krome 88 for more than five years. A few years ago, some of the keys (mostly the black keys) started to play loud notes, no matter how hard I hit them.
For example, I play soft and quiet notes, and all of a sudden, one of them is played as if I hit the key very hard.

With time, more and more keys have been showing this issue, and now, I only have a few keys properly working.
Most of the keys play loud sounds or don't work anymore.

I've tried to disassemble the keyboard and clean each key from dust, but absolutely nothing changed.

I can take it to a repair shop and see what they can do, but I'm afraid this can be expensive.
That's why and I want to know if it's a common issue, and if there is any way to solve it.

Thank you for your help, hope it's been understandable !


It sounds like the key contacts might be dirty or need to be replaced. Cleaning the keys is a good idea, but there is a strip (multiple strips) of plastic with two indentations on them. Those are the contact strips. Sometimes, they need to be replaced or cleaned, in addition to the keys.

Maybe your problem is there in the contact strips. Usually cleaning them will take care of the issue, but sometimes they need to be replaced. Sending your board to the repair shop will certainly be fairly expensive, if only for their high hourly rate.

If you are good enough to remove each key and clean them, then replacing the contact strips are no big deal Smile

Grace,
Harry


Thanks a lot for your quick reply.
When I disassembled the keyboard, I indeed cleaned the keys only, and blew compressed air to remove dust, hair, etc.
I've not tried to remove and clean the plastic/rubber parts because I was not sure to be able to put them back in place.

I'll try this and let you know if it changed something.

Thanks again.
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MichelTaupin



Joined: 03 Jan 2021
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 11:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've just tried it, disassembled the whole keyboard and cleaned contact strips, and it doesn't work better. Actually some of the keys that used to work don't work anymore, which is a good sign (imo).

I think I've not cleaned them properly, do you have any recommendation?
I used a Q-tip with a bit of alcohol but maybe I went to fast, this seems to be a very sensitive task.
Also I struggled putting the rubber parts back in place.
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Musicwithharry
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Joined: 23 Mar 2012
Posts: 694
Location: Anamosa, IA

PostPosted: Sun Jan 03, 2021 11:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MichelTaupin wrote:
I've just tried it, disassembled the whole keyboard and cleaned contact strips, and it doesn't work better. Actually some of the keys that used to work don't work anymore, which is a good sign (imo).

I think I've not cleaned them properly, do you have any recommendation?
I used a Q-tip with a bit of alcohol but maybe I went to fast, this seems to be a very sensitive task.
Also I struggled putting the rubber parts back in place.


Did you notice any noise coming from the keybed before you took it apart? Were the keys quiet but just giving full velocity when playing them?

It sounds like the key contact strips may need to be replaced. Maybe taking it to a shop might be a good idea just to see if there is anything else going on, but I think that it may be the key contact strips.

There are a couple of videos to watch to gain a bit more understanding about the keybed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK3r_EHCmps - goes into detail about the contacts, strips, and how they can go bad...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrKHpakj4iU - this is a key weight replacement on a Korg Krome. It shows the keybed and it looks similar, if not the same, as the one in the first video (even though the first video is about a different Korg.

Incidentally, I have (2) of the Korg Kross 88 and I believe these keybeds are identical.

Grace,
Harry
_________________
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MichelTaupin



Joined: 03 Jan 2021
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 12:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Musicwithharry wrote:
Did you notice any noise coming from the keybed before you took it apart? Were the keys quiet but just giving full velocity when playing them?

It sounds like the key contact strips may need to be replaced. Maybe taking it to a shop might be a good idea just to see if there is anything else going on, but I think that it may be the key contact strips.

There are a couple of videos to watch to gain a bit more understanding about the keybed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK3r_EHCmps - goes into detail about the contacts, strips, and how they can go bad...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrKHpakj4iU - this is a key weight replacement on a Korg Krome. It shows the keybed and it looks similar, if not the same, as the one in the first video (even though the first video is about a different Korg.

Incidentally, I have (2) of the Korg Kross 88 and I believe these keybeds are identical.

Grace,
Harry


No I didn't notice any sound, I've seen it's a common issue with these keyboards but I don't seem to have it. The keys are smooth and I don't hear anything.

Anyway, thank you for your quick reply, and thank you for the videos, it was very insightful. Especially the first one, it is indeed the same keybed.
I think I'll take it to a repair shop and see what they think.
Just to be sure, you're talking about contact strips. Does that mean the rubber part or the green board below? Because that's the part I cleaned, and I don't see how the rubber part could be damaged. In the first video, the guy replaced the rubber part, but the old one didn't look damaged either.

Thank you again for your help and have a good night.
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MichelTaupin



Joined: 03 Jan 2021
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 7:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hello,

I've just tried to clean it again, now some keys are working better, but some of them are not working anymore.
So I think I'm onto something.

I've cleaned the green board below the contact strips with alcohol until the q-tips came out completely white, so I don't understand what I have done that makes some keys not working anymore.

Is it that sensitive to dust?
Do you think replacing the rubber strips could change something?
I'll try it again but any piece of advice would be appreciated!
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Musicwithharry
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Joined: 23 Mar 2012
Posts: 694
Location: Anamosa, IA

PostPosted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 7:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MichelTaupin wrote:
Hello,

I've just tried to clean it again, now some keys are working better, but some of them are not working anymore.
So I think I'm onto something.

I've cleaned the green board below the contact strips with alcohol until the q-tips came out completely white, so I don't understand what I have done that makes some keys not working anymore.

Is it that sensitive to dust?
Do you think replacing the rubber strips could change something?
I'll try it again but any piece of advice would be appreciated!


It sounds like the contact strips need to be replaced. It sounds like they are not making good enough contact with the PCB anymore.

The first video I linked to, at around 3:48, shows the pcb and the contact strips and the carbon that is in the strips (underside on the two buttons) and the carbon on the pcb.

I wish I could help more, but I imagine that if you take the keyboard to a repair shop, they might replace the contact strips first anyway to see if that fixes the issue. You can order the contact strips from Korg, I believe. I also get my parts from partsisparts.net

I am not sure if they ship overseas or not, since I am in the US. I am not sure of your location...

Grace,
Harry
_________________
Alesis Vortex Keytar, Alesis QS6.2, Alesis QSR, Alesis SR-16, Behringer Deepmind-12, Ensoniq Avista 7600, Ensoniq VFX, Ensoniq VFX-SD, Ensoniq SQ1+, (2) Ensoniq SQ-R+/32, Korg i3 (2020 Version), (2) Korg Kross 1-61, (2) Korg Kross 1-88, Korg Minilogue XD, Korg Minilogue XD Module, Korg M50-61, Korg PA700, Korg X5DR, Korg Z3, Kurzweil SP1, Lowrey EZP3 (bascially a Kawai), Roland D-05, Roland E-09, Waldorf Streichfett, Yamaha Reface CP, Yamaha Reface CS, Yamaha Reface DX, Yamaha Reface YC
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MichelTaupin



Joined: 03 Jan 2021
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 8:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ok I think I could replace them by myself, and considering the price, it's worth trying, even with one set only.
If it turns out to be unsuccessful, I'll take it to a repair shop.

I'm in France and from what I saw, it shouldn't be much of a problem to buy some.

Thank you again for your help and your quick replies, it is much appreciated, I won't miss to give you feedback when it's done.
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MichelTaupin



Joined: 03 Jan 2021
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Mon Mar 15, 2021 10:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi,

I just wanted to let you know that I finally received the new contact strips for my Krome 88. I replaced them all and the keyboard works just fine!
I have to admit I didn't believe it, but it solved the problem completely.

I had to pay $55, shipping included, so it was quite cheap.
Thank you again for your help, you made me save a lot of money. And it's such a pleasure to be able to play again!
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