Hi there...
This post (courtesy of Fred Warren) is from an earlier incarnation of the
polysix list. I've performed this procedure on three Polysixes with 100%
results on all of them. I highly recommend it. (Note that I've subtracted
the glue from this fix with no problems.)
The problem with the Poly 6 keyboard is not so much one of dirty carbon
buttons, but with the aging of the rubber stuff that forms the strips. As
they age, they lose their "bounce" and no longer really go down far enough
or hard enough to make contact properly. Replacing the button strips is a
good solution, but they are fairly hard to find. I came up with an approach
to lengthen their lives that works, but has some minor consequences.
What you do is go to a large office supply store (Office Max or Staples in
the States) and buy some replacement eraser rubber sticks that are used in
one of the Japanese eraser "pencils". They come in a three pack, are about
3" long and are white. It turns out that these are the exact diameter as
the hole in the rubber buttons on a P6. SO, pop the keyboard and get access
to the button strips. Put a small amount of a glue into the well of the
button, insert the rubber stick, and cut it off flat with a matte knife.
Fill all the holes and let the keyboard dry. Put it back together and I
expect you will have cured your problem. The only down side that I can see
is that this might increase
the wear on the carbon buttons and the circuit board, particularly if you
really bang the keys, but it will keep the P6 alive for quite awhile.
Eventually you will have to replace the button strips and/or the keyboard,
but that is likely years away.
Good Luck,
Andrew.
"The patch in fig. 2-23 gives the sound of a cracking whip. (Why don't you
try to synthesize some screams to go along with it?)"
- Roland Model 104 Sequencer Manual
----Original Message Follows----
From: "Scott Shingle" <
raydeen@mindspring.com>
Reply-To:
PolySix@yahoogroups.com
To: <
PolySix@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [PolySix] [Poly 6]-Cleaning or replacing the key contacts
Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2001 03:55:44 -0400
Hi. I've got an old Poly 6 that I found moldering in a friends
basement. Everything worked on it except several of the keys have to really
be mashed in order to produce sound, and even that's not consistent. I
finally got up the courage to take it apart to see just what needed to be
changed or cleaned. I got the keyboard unscrewed and removed the contact
board. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the rubber contacts but
it's possible they need to be replaced. Also, I noted that there were
several spots where there could be missing plastic clasps. That is to say
there are grooves under the keyboard where 2 or 3 plastic clasps (to hold
the contact board in place) might have been but weren't. Just curious if I
need to have all the slots filled or if several were left empty when these
units were manufactured. To sum up, I have problems with the keys, the unit
is apart, and I'm not sure how to continue. TIA for any and all advice.
-Scott
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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