Help needed! Worn out button diy fix/replacement for Yamaha synth?

[frankthefunky1]

Just a thought here,

will conductive grease help this situation? or some other sort of conductive coating?

[PRH]

I wonder if something like this might do the job:

Caig Laboratories Caikot Conductive Coating, Key Pad Repair Kit, 1g | K-CK44-G (KCK44G) | Caig Laboratories

[MarkF48]

The black on the buttons is of a carbon based composition and just may need some cleaning to get off any residue. I have on my workbench a can of DeOxit contact cleaner which has worked well for similar contacts on the keys of an old Korg synth. Spray a little on a Q-Tip an gently wipe the surface. Also do the circuit board side where the contact would meet up. I would stay away from conductive grease.
The contact area on the circuit board I'm used to seeing gold plating. It looks as if yours has something else deposited on the area.

Not cheap, but one of the better contact cleaners I've come across....
Amazon.com: Hosa Cable D5S6 Deoxit Contact Cleaner Spray: Musical Instruments

[MarkF48]

Oh.... I remembered something I was going to put on Craigslist....

[frankthefunky1]

thanks for the replies fellas

I'll give the contact cleaner another try. if that doesn't work, I'll give the conductive coating a run tomorrow. Hope I can find some in the city

@Mark LOL - that's a trip. Now you said, 'was going to put it on Craigslist.' Does that mean you are going to, just haven't yet? Or you've had second thoughts and are now not going to because you love it too much? lol

Like I said in my original post, it's obviously not the sluttiest piece of gear out there but it's not a bad little synth.

Curious to hear of your experience with it

[rolandk]

Do you have a local repair shop? They might be able to source new buttons directly from Yamaha. I worked as a synth repair tech a few years ago and that was a very common repair. Yamaha has excellent customer support so it's worth a shot.

[MarkF48]

Below is a link where you can order Yamaha parts direct. I ordered some rotary encoders a while back. Prices I thought were reasonable. Possibly the PSS-480 may be a bit old or consumer based to get parts for, but certainly worth a try...
https://www.yamaha24x7.com/YamahaOMS...ges/Login.aspx

If you don't already have it, you can get the service manual at the site below. A lot more than you likely need, but it has a parts list with part numbers.
Service manual, eprom result list | ElektroTanya | Service manuals and repair tips for electronics experts

Do a search for PSS-480. It will open a second window and towards the bottom it will show "Processing" and then...

"Click the preview picture to see bigger size.
The preview is worse quality than the original pdf.

This file is downloadable free of charge from the site: Get Manual
(You are not logged in, only 2 downloads per day possible for you.)"

[frankthefunky1]

thanks for all the help folks

I got in contact with a local electronics shop, and they have a 'button repair kit.' It has three components:

1. Cleans the previous conductive coating off.
2. Primes the rubber for a new coating.
3. A new carbon/silver based coating.

So, I will contact Yamaha to see what they say. Also, there is a local synth repair shop, so I'll contact them as well. Will weigh this against the repair kit and see what the best option is. Will post how it goes.

Thanks again for all the input!

frank