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PX5s clunking keys.


Bouncy Nugget

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I've had this same experience on every Casio i've owned. Anyway, it's getting to be unbearable. Has anyone got experience in taking a Casio piano apart and stopping the keys from clunking? It's not the thud on the way down that is a bother, or even the thud on the way up. What it seems to be is the plastic covers on the keys loosen themselves off of the actual hammer mechanism after a certain amount of abuse (blame Rachmaninoff) and on the way up after being pressed the loosened keys make a rattling noise.

 

The clunking of some keys overpowers the sound of the piano when set at practical volume levels so turning it up is not an option, and this is particularly inconvenient at night time which is when i most often have time to play. I love this keyboard except for this sad fact, well that and the hammer mechanism for some reason not playing repeated notes as clearly as past models :s

 

My keyboard is not under warranty. Advice please!? Thank you!

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You are not-see some of my posts about the PX350 which I think has the same mechanism,  I've voided my warranty trying to solve this problem. i don't think I can help you on this one but here is what I know. Do at your own risk and only if you have much experience with this type of stuff.

 

I have quieted the downward shock by adding an extra piano felt strip under the bottom of the key mechanism I attached to the frame with double-sided foam tape-you could use felt strips that have stickum already but i got more padding by using the thicker foam tape and real piano felt. Has helped alleviate some of the shock that doesn;t exist with a true acoustic mechanism. I have not been able to solve the problem of the loud clunk on the return stroke, it looks like each key needs to be treated individually-a daunting task! And the key mechanism, having several layers of contacts (for multi-sample triggering apparently) is rather delicate and much different from the typical Fatar/Kurzweil/Roland/Ensoniq etc. mechanisms I've worked with (most of which use the same Fatar construct and are no better for noise on the down and return stroke.)

 

Takng the PX5s apart-not sure but if it is like the PX350, almost all screw anchors are plastic, easy to strip or break so requires considerable care. And the full keyboard mechanism is not very rigid when disassembled-does not have a steel frame like some keyboards, which accounts for it's lighter weight, but also requires much more delicate handling. I've done it twice but have even more gray hair now from doing it and i've worked on many other keyboards/digital pianos.

 

Aother possibility might be to fill the keyboard cabinet inside adjacent to the key mechanism with acoustic damping material (similar to speaker cabinet damping material) that will not interfere with or infiltrate the key mechanism-since there is not much real estate inside, this would be difficult-I would have done this already. I'm not sure the results would be effective, I may still try that.

 

I also often practice at night or early AM when quiet is important and I agree, I would prefer a quieter instrument but this is still about the best acoustic piano simulation I've played so far. I am going to attempt another disassembly of the PX350 and see what I can do. if I hit upon any solution I'll post here.  'm Inot sure I understand what is coming apart on your PX5s as I haven't experienced that exactly, it may be a systemic mechanical failure and might need Casio repair. I'd contact Mike Martin and let him weigh in on this one. So my long post might not be what you need after all!

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Well it is a start! I definitely have thought about adding extra padding for the downward noise, but it is the upward clanking that is ticking me off XD I'm fairly certain it is exactly what i said it is, some of the highest and lowest notes don't have the upward noise. I assume this is because i have not been bashing them. So, it seems a reasonable assumption to think the white plastic keys are slipping off of the hammer mechanism. In fact if i wiggle the keys, the loud keys are more loose than the others. I once took a Casio apart which had a broken key, and i found that the keys had a plastic type of frame that sort of sat around the actual metal mechanism and some of these plastic pieces were warped. That might have been the PX330, but i don't remember too well.

 

Either way, what a bummer. Maybe i can just glue the white plastic bits in place? Even then, a little more abuse will undo that effort XD

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Right, the upward return noise is pretty loud. I play piano pieces regularly and quieting this would be a big help-the less close-up distractions the better when playing this as a solo instrument and not within a band setting. I will open the PX-350 up ASAP and check this again and see if I can come up with a solution that could be DIY.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Don't suppose you got around to checking your piano out?

 

Has anyone else got anything to say about this major issue? The best thing i can think of right now is to sell and buy a keyboard of another brand. I'm trying to play Beethoven's Pathetique, 1st movement and the left hand is all rattle and thump. Impossible to enjoy music with the PX5s as it is. :(

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Never mind i figured it out.

 

The first 4 thumps are B5 and the second 4 are A5, then a trill between A5 and B5. Then in the same sequence, 4 notes of F5 followed by 4 notes of E5, then a trill between E5 and F5. E5 and F5 are clearly having problems XD There are other notes like it, and some notes are gradually getting there. Generally the highest and lowest notes have the least noise. If the entire keyboard remained like those highest and lowest notes i would not be fussed, but they don't so here i am :D

key rattle.WAV

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Hello Bouncy, i haven't-I've been trying to troubleshoot a different (non-Casio) beast which has my hair falling out-again. I will listen to your .wav file, good advice as I will be able to compare. People's judgements about noise levels are varied, but if yours is louder than mine, I will be able to tell and get back to you asap. and I'm repeating myself-but most digitals are not real quiet mechanically-the Rolands were the quieter of the bunch I've played. Even the large consoles often use the same simulated hammer mechanisms and are pretty clunky. The quietest are the real grand pianos, but with midi retrofits, but we're talking a different category completely now, with the attendant necessary budget and real estate for a music room, not a viable option for many!

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Whew! Just listened to this .wav.....are you sure your PX5s isn't made of wood? Seriously, maybe my ears are overly-sensitive, but this doesn't sound right at all. Mine was nowhere near this loud even before I put more damping materials. Hope other listeners with PX5s pitch in here. My PX350 is quieter than these but being the same mechanism and plastic case and frame, I don't think it should be much different.

 

Might be time to contact Mike/tech support (Mike is tech support) about this one. Talk about hammer action, this sounds like real hammers! If this is typical and not a malfunction, it would render serious classical playing on a PX5s real tough IMO. Solo piano requires no percussion section tacked onto it!

 

Let me know how this works out. the quieting I'm trying to achieve is way up compared to yours-I'm trying for almost complete quiet which i think i can come close to.

 

Suggestion to Casio on subsequent models (even the WK, CTK series will benefit)-add more felt cushioning at key bottom of the Privias, it will make a tremendous difference to piano players and isn't an expensive modification. Piano felt is not costly. I've checked internals-the existing felt under the PX350 is relatively small and thin, barely enough to damper the shock of keys hitting bottom. Most digitals are the same-lacking in felt padding. Would have saved me alot of work too!

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My px-5s sounds similar with maybe a little less rattling - but that thumping is there.  I hadn't really paid attention to it before, but now I'm zeroed in on it.  Since it's so similar, I'm wondering if it's a design flaw.  It may be part of the reason why the action is so slow (in my opinion).

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The first sequence of notes (A5 and B5) is about how the keys sound before they have been used too many times, though the unused notes are a little bit more quieter but not by much. The second sequence with all the rattling is what every single Casio i've played eventually sounds like (in my experience) after a certain amount of play time. I've owned 4 different Casio models, each of which got to this same stage (some worse than others). My friend owns a PX120 and it also sounds dreadful, exactly like my recording except on every key (granted it is old now).

 

Maybe the problem is that i play classical music? Maybe that kind of music is too vicious for a Casio piano. The demos for every digital piano are always jazz music. What type of music do all of you play? Like i said in an earlier post though, i suspect it has something to do with the white or black key tops loosening from the hammer mechanism. I can physically rattle them on the troubled keys more than the quieter keys. I'm not 100% sure though XD

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I will record the PX350 keys asap and post. I am also planning to get this apart (again). I will take some photos of the mechanism and post those which might help.

 

I can say with some experience, the mechanism inside does look somewhat delicate, some type of hard nylon-looking plastic and it has several sensors for each key at different levels of the keystroke.  I haven't owned/played my PX350 for very long-only a few months and now I'm concerned that over time with the comments I'm seeing, this mechanism may be frail enough to rattle itself apart, which is what I think I'm hearing in Bouncy Nugget's PX. 

 

Again-lack of what I feel is insufficient padding under the keybed can only lead to damage from the key being put through a pretty serious impact if one plays anything beyond mezzoforte which is why I added more felt right away but it still isn't enough, it's still clunky and I'm adding more.

 

I play classical, jazz, older "barrelhouse/boogie" heavy left-handed patterns with octaves/full chords in the right hand (New Orleans stuff) and wanted something I could keep my piano "chops" up and if this keybed is prone to failure, I will make it happen soon. That would be tough as it means I still haven't found the best digital axe for serious playing without a real grand piano. I'm also hoping Mike Martin might notice our posts and give us some feedback on this. Gotta go for now.

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So i have the PX5S in pieces right now, and i still cannot seem to find the source of the noise. It comes from just beneath the key where you place your fingers. I First suspected it was the the area in which the plastic key tops hook onto the hammer mechanism, but even with the key taken off, if i press on the hammer itself the noise is still present. I cannot see any obvious point of contact though? I've tried padding many areas in and around the hammer mechanism, and i even took the mechanism out completely but i still cannot figure it out :s

 

I still feel like it has something to do with the affected keys having looser key tops, but i'm not smart enough to figure it out XD

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Thanks, Joe!  Bouncy Nugget, if you need any further help, let me know either at my post about the PX350 or PM. I've had to improve the material I used to stick the felt-on-felt, but the difference in the feel and noise level is quite pronounced-I was playing for an hour plus last night and key noise is practically inaudible now. it is a tricky mod, but if you study my post, I think it might help. I've added extra info to help with the mechanics of it all and if you've gotten this far and you are confident you will not ruin your PX5s, it's definitely worth the trouble. There is definitely a softer "feel" to the keys now at key bottom, which was hurting my hands when practicing for any length of time. Again, proceed at your own risk!

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I will give extra padding a try. Heck, even if it doesn't get rid of the noise from those particularly clunky keys i can still enjoy having a quieter keyboard in general. I'm worried though, as i mentioned i attempted to pad those specific keys to no avail.

 

I'll update this thread when i get around to aquiring the parts required for the mod, and of course the motivation to unscrew everything and get my hands greasy again lol

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Anyway, i got around to taking the PX5s apart and adding more felt in all the same places as Jokeyman did. The keys sound a little bit more muffled but all those same strange clunking noises are there. I've checked around the mechanisms of the keys that are the main problem and there is no visible difference from the normal keys.

 

As i mentioned too, even if i take the key tops of and hit the mechanism with my finger i can still here the problem even though much less loud. I do believe most of the problem is related to the frame, as Jokeyman had mentioned i believe. Once i screw the bottom casing onto the PX5s everything gets a lot louder.

 

I suppose in short of padding the entire inside where the frame and the case might make contact, then i don't think there is any quick fix. I'm annoyed at this point lol

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What's your keyboard rest on, a frame or flat surface? I wonder if it makes a difference.

For a while it rested on a regular X-frame keyboard stand. These days it rests on a Casio CS-67 stand. It makes no difference, the noise is definitely coming from inside the keyboard and it definitely occurs when the key bounces back up (the hammer mechanism bounces on the bottom felt strip).

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I have just bought a PX 5S and will shortly be posting a review of what I think is an amazing instrument. However, I also worried about the release-key/bounce noise after a couple of weeks with the PX 5S. I rang Casio in the UK and they were very helpful/responsive. They got me in touch with a support person/contractor who offered to come to my house with another instrument and do a comparison. Since he lived close, by chance, I visited him. His PX 5S had the same noise, so I imagine it is inherent to the design. 

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