Dead key on my synth, please help!

[dominic_909]

Hey everyone. I bought a new synth a while ago and one of the keys did not work when I got it home. I opened it up and noticed that the traces were rotted leading to the contact for that key. I have no way of jumping them because the traces are rotted right to the contact. How would you suggest I fix this problem?

 

[Hero999]

Solder a think piece of tinned copper wire where the trace is broken?

Please post a picture so we can see exactly where it's broken.

 

[tcmtech]

If its new didn't you get a warranty?

 

[dominic_909]

Heh, I guess I should've mentioned that it's an Akai AX-80... I called Akai's customer support and they had no idea what an AX-80 is...
I'll post again with some pics.

 

[tcmtech]

SO have you learned anything about buying cheap junk in order to save a few dollars?

 

[dominic_909]

lol oh, im very pleased with my cheap junk purchases. the synth is still very useful because i usually just midi it up, but it'd be nice to have all the keys working. i find it better a lot of the time to buy cheap slightly broken stuff, it's usually an easy fix and i save hundreds.

 

[tunedwolf]

Draw the traces back on carefully with some silver loaded paint.
You can get this from any decent electronics supplier, or perhaps your local car accessory shop in a pinch as it's quite often used to repair heated screen connections.

rgds

 

[Hero999]

Silver paint is good stuff but it's really expensive. It probably cost more for one tiny bottle of silver paint than the synth.

 

[dominic_909]

Great, that's exactly what I was looking for. Is it really that expensive? I saw a pen filled with silver loaded paint on ebay for $20 with apparently 100 ft of repairs.

**broken link removed**

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Great, that's exactly what I was looking for. Is it really that expensive?

I think he was exaggerating, it IS expensive, but you only need a small amount, which is generally what it comes in. I don't think you can buy pint tins?

 

[tunedwolf]

It is expensive as paint goes, but like Nigel said...it's a tiny thin line so won't require pints of the stuff. Maplin here currently sell a small bottle with 2 or 3 grams of paint in it for £7.99 for example. More than plenty for 20+ repairs of this type.
If the switch current is really really low, and the synth can cope with a fairly high switch resistance, you may even get away with just drawing it on with a good graphite pencil!
Anway...it's food for thought...

rgds

 

[wltomlinson]

the AX-80 is a great old synth...well worth a little TLC.
do you mean a key on the keyboard, or one of the buttons on the front panel?

feel free to join us at Vintage Synth Explorer

the silver paint may well be tha answer.