Sluggish Pitch wheel return on PX5s

[roneddo]

Hello, Has anyone experienced a pitch bend wheel that's sluggish snapping back to the center position, and might anyone have a suggestion on how to remedy? It's been like this since I bought it, but I've only now ventured into music where I could use it and it's really a drag. I've compared it to other Privia's in the stores mine is noticeably slower. Thank you for any help you might offer.

Ron

[Choppin]

Yeah.  I think the snap back on mine as well is very slow.  It's not wear and tear as this was something that bothered me when I bought it almost 3 years ago now.  Don't know of an immediate remedy but there are some that have opened up their PX-5s to do modifications for various reasons (tying the potentiometers to pedals, adding padding to the keys, etc.) .  Of course this would violate the warranty.   You could also build your own joystick or modulation wheel externally using something like this

 

http://www.doepfer.de/we.htm

 

Or you could purchase an inexpensive midi controller.

[Bangledrum]

This is basically my problem on my new PX5S - my pitch wheel bends upward just fine, but bending down, it doesn't spring back, and furthermore, it "locks" downward so after that it returns to about a quarter-tone flat, until I've jiggled it for a while back into place, when you can hear it snap back.

 

I've taken the white end panel off to look at it, and there's a small window through which I can see the pin getting caught on the groove it's supposed to go into. I can't see much more, so I'm not sure if there's a spring missing, but it certainly feels like that. Any advice?

[Jokeyman123]

Yes-sounds like the spring slipped off its end, so it is still responding in one direction and not the other. If you can disassemble the end cap to bet to the spring-look to see how it is mounted. You may simply need to reseat it properly-or if part of the frame holding the spring is broken, may have to use a little JB weld to get it back where it's supposed to be. and it may have been installed incorrectly at the factory. It happens.

[Bangledrum]

On 23/07/2016 at 8:54 PM, Jokeyman123 said:

Yes-sounds like the spring slipped off its end, so it is still responding in one direction and not the other. If you can disassemble the end cap to bet to the spring-look to see how it is mounted. You may simply need to reseat it properly-or if part of the frame holding the spring is broken, may have to use a little JB weld to get it back where it's supposed to be. and it may have been installed incorrectly at the factory. It happens.

Thanks for the advice! I managed to get the white end-cap off but there was black plastic plating that I couldn't quite get off - I think it was part of the bottom casing. I couldn't quite get the top off any other way without doing some major unscrewing, and at that point I chickened out, so I'ma give Casio a ring and see if they have any advice/ free repairs

[Jokeyman123]

I've only disassembled my PX350 (and my PX575 and XW-P1-OK and a few others I confess!) so I can't say specifically regarding the PX5s-there is a post around here (I'm looking for it now) that shows a PX350 completely taken apart for a custom paint job. There may be a few screws not so evident that will get you access to that end cap inside. With the PX350 there were 2 buried screws up underneath the inner frame that allowed me to lift off the left speaker compartment completely without having to take apart everything, took me awhile to fugure that out. Maybe the PX5s has some similar structure. Look at this post-its the PX350 but there are similarities.

http://forums.musicplayer.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/2546355/And_so_it_begins_Paint_project

 

[Bangledrum]

This is a real necrobump, but I never worked up the nerve to open my keyboard up and solve this til now. I suspect it's too simple a fix for a pro to bother posting about, but too scary for a newb to attempt - I had to start cracking open gear for my job over the last few years so I got over myself and jumped in! I'll detail just in case anyone else has a similar issue - I suspect something similar might be the root of some people's wheels failing to return completely to zero.

 

I followed this guide (https://proteo.me.uk/2018/08/diassembling-a-casio-priva-pro-px-5s/) while opening it up which was really helpful. On looking at the pitch wheel, both springs were in place, they're not really set up in a way where they can come off, but instead have a fork either side that pulls it back to zero. On mine, the "down" fork had slipped off the metal plate holding it, hence not returning. For some reason, only the "up" fork has a saddle to hold it on, I think it's a design problem rather than damage.

 

It refused to stay put where it should, and the whole wheel was able to wobble side-to-side, so I unscrewed the wheel. As you can see, it sits on a D-shaped potentiometer, and was able to slide slightly loose. I pushed it firmly back onto it and reassembled, and it now doesn't wobble from side to side, and the spring fork is "stuck" in the middle as it should be - so the wheel is working as-intended for the first time since I bought it!

 

I assume this was either a quality control error, or it was damaged in transit before I received it. I don't blame Casio for it at all, but I was warned not to trust the PX-5S to be as resiliant as a more expensive stage piano (which is generally fine for at-home use) and I guess that's what happened here.

 

This fix was very easy and self-evident for the most part. I wouldn't advise anyone open up their piano if they aren't confident, because it's easy to do more harm than good if you don't know what you're doing, but if you're handy with electronics then this is very simple!