Noisy keys

[Stewart]

is it normal to have noisy keys and is it normal to have some looseness in the keys? Hope the keybed is sturdy enough to last for years. 

[AlenK]

I would say yes. My XW-P1 has both but it hasn't got any worse since I got it (in 2013). I normally wear headphones or turn my audio system's speakers up so I don't hear the noise from the keys. 

[Casiofun]

Yes key noise is normal. The keys you use most often will likely make more noise than the rest. 

[Chas]

It's normal, and the keys will still survive and work fine even after a nuclear fall out 

[Stewart]

I love how this XWP1 sounds. Sounds better than my Roland and yamaha keyboards. I'm getting used to the keys and creaky top chassis. Thanks everyone for your support. 

[Xomniasperrima]

Its normal, i modified my second hand XW-P1 using Jokeyman123' s metod (refer to: KEYBOARD MOD DIY by Jokeyman123) 

[Jokeyman123]

If you are handy with keyboard disassembly, and the XW isn't under warranty-it isn't all that difficult to make a few improvements to this.

 

 I forget where my posts about this are-but a few things i remember-and i am still playing mine and it feels much better/quieter.

 

If you can get the top sections off, and it isn''t that complicated, all the screws underneath release the top panels-there are plastic/nylon strips that screw down directly over the ends of the keys where these are fastened to the frame. These screws got loose over time and are easy to get to-check those out first-mine were loose and I hadn't played it that often and it was new.

 

I also put some piano felt strips at the very bottom of the underside of the keys, where these hit the bottom of the plastic case inside. the felt is mounted inside on the case structure and that is plastic and hollow, so makes alot of noise if you are hitting plastic on plastic. There isn't much felt there-it's very thin, I just added some more felt with double-sided sticky carpet tape, and this solved that problem.

 

If you can find my posts here, I think I had posted some pics.The left and tight top assemblies come off, then the center panel as a unit-this is where most of the ribbon connectors are and if you take the XW apart, be careful removing the center section.

 

Hope this helps, it's a very interesting and useful/decent sounding keyboard IMHO-and surprisingly playable with this mod.  I play piano regularly and find these keys not too bad once I made the mods. Not as quick a response a some spring-loaded keyboards but the "chicklet" keys have a nice throw and with the additional felt-I can dig into the keys pretty hard without breaking anything.

[Stewart]

Thank you for the reply jokeyman. My xwp1 still has a 2 year warranty. I'll just deal with the noisy keys. What irritates me is the cracking sound from the top chassis when i pick up the keyboard. I guess it's the way Casio builds it. I'm hoping my xwp1 is built to take it to my live performance. But when the warranty runs out i can put felt under the keys to make them quiet.

[Lee33]

All Casio repair centres do to service these is grease underneath the keys with a thick grease (which require disassembly). They may replace the felt(if fitted) but they generally do not. You can actually see the grease between the keys on my WK-7600 (same keys as MZ/XW series of keyboards). Time will dislodge and thin it so they need redoing in time. But if noise doesn't bother you i see no long lasting negative affects. The rattle if you listen carefully actually comes from the top of the underside of the key, where the keys slide up and down on the locating tang, this is typically where the grease is applied.  Here is a video, it is unfortunately in Russian but is easily followable and the difference is for all to see.

 

[Stewart]

I have a Yamaha psr s500 that don't work and i was thinking of taking that keybed out of it and put it in the XWP1.  I was wondering if that would work. Thanks. 

[Lee33]

27 minutes ago, Stewart said:

I have a Yamaha psr s500 that don't work and i was thinking of taking that keybed out of it and put it in the XWP1.  I was wondering if that would work. Thanks. 

Never tried it but I highly doubt it. The keys are not piano style for a start. The keys also come apart in different sized clusters to the Casio's and almost certainly have a different moulded construction and therefore mechanism that would require significant, perhaps impossible modifications. Its just my opinion based on what i know, i am by no means an expert but i really cannot see it happening...

[CarbonLifeForm]

2 hours ago, Stewart said:

I have a Yamaha psr s500 that don't work and i was thinking of taking that keybed out of it and put it in the XWP1.  I was wondering if that would work. Thanks. 

 

Hi, Stewart, I agree with @Lee33. I repair keyboards as a side job and I have opened up and worked on many a Casio and Yamaha. All I can say is you would have to be extremely lucky for everything to work out and line up. There are so many different factors ... the overall size of the keybed (in all three dimensions), the mechanism the keys use to operate and trip the contact strips, the electronic connection between the key assembly and the main board, etc. The variation among all of these components is immense from keyboard to keyboard, manufacturer to manufacturer. I really don't think anyone is that lucky, but maybe you are!

 

All keyboard makers use their own proprietary approaches (Nord, Roland, Yamaha, Kurzweil, Casio, etc.). Many use Fatar beds but even Fatars are different model to model. In other words, it is highly unlikely the keybed from another CASIO 61-key keyboard, like one of the CTK models, would fit into the XW-P1. Not to mention -- how the keybed transmits velocity and note on/off data might be different than what the main board is expecting to see. Think of how sustain pedals work opposite on Casios and Yamahas due to the polarity the circuit is expecting to see. Plug a Yamaha pedal into a Casio and it sustains constantly until the pedal is pressed, turning the sustain off.

 

Your best approach is as described above -- open it up and regrease everything (use a Teflon based grease; silicone can get sticky). Figure out how to take the keybed apart. Lots of Youtube videos on this. Make sure the keys don't have any casting burrs or other protrusions on them that might be inhibiting the action. Study the mechanism to see how it works and add sticky felt wherever there is plastic-on-plastic contact. It's a big job, especially the first time you do it, but it is not rocket science. If you are near the D.C. area I'd be happy to help out.

 

If that is too much to ask, find a Midi controller you like the feel of and hook that to your XW. I know ... then you have to carry two boards, which sucks. But maybe you make the two-board setup your home rig and you leave the second board at home when you go out and gig.

[Stewart]

I was wondering something else. I saw pictures from another thread of one of  the circuit boards with the output jacks and headphone jack and nothing is really holding them in place. Probably wouldn't take much force to break them. 

[AlenK]

1 hour ago, CarbonLifeForm said:

In other words, it is highly unlikely the keybed from another CASIO 61-key keyboard, like one of the CTK models, would fit into the XW-P1.

 

Everything in your post was great except maybe this sentence, specifically about the CTK models and the XW-P1. The XW models are quite obviously based mechanically on one of the 61-key CTK models that immediately preceded it, which in turn is almost identical (if not in fact actually identical) mechanically with the current CTK-7200. Obviously the speakers were removed. Two wheels were crammed in where one was before. The XW's four knobs and some rows of buttons were added where the left speaker was. A rubber pad was added where the right speaker was. Part of the LCD display was covered up. MIDI DIN connectors were added at the rear. I might have missed something but that's most of it.

 

Consequently, I would be very surprised to learn that the keyboards would not be interchangeable between these particular models, both mechanically and electrically. If you have direct evidence to the contrary I will believe you but I'll still be surprised. It runs counter to what studying Casio products tell us about the company's engineering. 

[Stewart]

The CTK 7200 is going to be next in my rig in the near future 

[Casiofun]

I would think the CTK model keybeds would work in an XW and would likely be interchangeable. Casio doesn't make multiple keybeds  for their products. Lubing the keys will quiet it down.

[CarbonLifeForm]

4 hours ago, AlenK said:

If you have direct evidence to the contrary I will believe you but I'll still be surprised. It runs counter to what studying Casio products tell us about the company's engineering.

 

One of my bandmates has the CTK 7200. I love that board, too. I talked him into buying it to keep him from borrowing one of mine all the time  :-). If I get the opportunity to open it up side-by-side along my XWP1, I will. I have played both back to back and they don’t feel or sound  the same to me. I like the action on the XWP1 much better. It is much smoother and quieter. Of course,  they could be identical in design but just made differently. Production methods may have changed over the years. My XW is a very early one (5 yrs old or so) and his 7200 is nearly new. 

[AlenK]

People have reported a lot of unit-to-unit difference in feel and noise among XW-P1s as well. Some are great, some are not. 

[Lee33]

There is definitely inconsistencies with the key beds with this generation of WK/CTK/XW/MZX Casio's. I don't necessarily think its poor design but inconsistencies in the mass production process. If you have a warranty use it. If you don't and can operate a screw driver with a careful hand it is not too difficult to disassemble and lube the keys up with grease. It restores a more premium feel to the keys over the plastic rattly feel of those without or are well used. It is worth it...

[Stewart]

I have a Yamaha psr-ew400,also i have a Roland Juno DI in my keyboard rig. Had it for almost 7 years and my Roland  keybed also makes noise.  I don't let it bother me. Heck i spend hard earned money on my rig might as well enjoy it 

[Chas]

There is a "looseness" to the XW keybed, though in all the years I have owned mine, it's never bothered me. Conversely, my VZ-1, which is nearly 2 decades older, has a much more solid and substantial feeling keybed. The VZ oozes quality in its construction, though to be fair it was targeted at the upper end of the market on release. Taking into account what it would have cost in today's money, it would likely be 3 or 4 times more expensive than an XW.

 

The point is that the XW's were built down to a price, though bang for your buck, nothing else comes close to what they offer.

[Stewart]

XWP1 is the best keyboard i ever had. I was trying to save up for a workstation and stumbled on this one. Has everything i want and need to compose my own music for 500 bucks. Can't beat that.  

[Stewart]

Update:  I bit the bullet and took my XWP1 apart to fix my noisy keys especially the G4 key because it was making a clicking sound,  and i found the screws for the keys was loose so i tightened them and behold my keys are quiet.  Thanks for all your help with the noisy key problem. 

[Bannon]

Thanks for the video upside I could repair my Ctk 6200 keyboard. Thank you very much guys ❤️😊

[Bannon]

On 1/26/2018 at 2:42 PM, Lee33 said:

All Casio repair centres do to service these is grease underneath the keys with a thick grease (which require disassembly). They may replace the felt(if fitted) but they generally do not. You can actually see the grease between the keys on my WK-7600 (same keys as MZ/XW series of keyboards). Time will dislodge and thin it so they need redoing in time. But if noise doesn't bother you i see no long lasting negative affects. The rattle if you listen carefully actually comes from the top of the underside of the key, where the keys slide up and down on the locating tang, this is typically where the grease is applied.  Here is a video, it is unfortunately in Russian but is easily followable and the difference is for all to see.

 

Thanks a lot for the info