Clacky keys and now the sound of the keyboard is altered - only a few days of warranty left!

[IanB]

True, but it's a difficult balance for engineers to strike. I'm quite interested in military technology, and it's amazing how often equipment gets out into the field and turns out to have weak points nobody anticipated. Tanks that work great in trials whose engines are underpowered in use, whose axles break, and so on.

 

On a more personal note, I'm putting together a synthesizer design at the moment (I've put the first breadboard up on YouTube) and having set the design goal of making it "cheap and simple" it's astonishing the number of variables you're suddenly juggling in your head- "I can do this but it needs this op amp which is more expensive, do I really need it to do that?". It's a glorious opportunity for procrastination! And it's not even a commercial product

 

What we know about consumers is that they're often very price sensitive and how price sensitive they are is called by economists "elasticity". Often people may say they would pay more for better, but when given the choice they go with cheaper. A price hike to pay for better quality may be perceived as a "rip off". Consumers are pretty ruthless in that regard.

 

Of course one option is to make products amenable to simple maintenance and repair- making it easy to replace parts which may wear out like apparently this felt strip. So you don't pay the extra up front, it's spread out over the service life. Unfortunately repair options are in general getting worse as manufacturers attempt to block 3rd Party repair so they can charge large amounts for doing it without competition, and that's a whole other issue. In the old days equipment repair was expected and often circuit diagrams were included when you bought it. My Moog Prodigy's user manual had a complete schematic in it! But with the rise of the cult of Intellectual Property in the 80s, that doesn't happen any more.

 

No conclusions here really, just musing out loud kind of thing.

[ConfusedRedditor16]

3 hours ago, IanB said:

True, but it's a difficult balance for engineers to strike. I'm quite interested in military technology, and it's amazing how often equipment gets out into the field and turns out to have weak points nobody anticipated. Tanks that work great in trials whose engines are underpowered in use, whose axles break, and so on.

 

On a more personal note, I'm putting together a synthesizer design at the moment (I've put the first breadboard up on YouTube) and having set the design goal of making it "cheap and simple" it's astonishing the number of variables you're suddenly juggling in your head- "I can do this but it needs this op amp which is more expensive, do I really need it to do that?". It's a glorious opportunity for procrastination! And it's not even a commercial product

 

What we know about consumers is that they're often very price sensitive and how price sensitive they are is called by economists "elasticity". Often people may say they would pay more for better, but when given the choice they go with cheaper. A price hike to pay for better quality may be perceived as a "rip off". Consumers are pretty ruthless in that regard.

 

Of course one option is to make products amenable to simple maintenance and repair- making it easy to replace parts which may wear out like apparently this felt strip. So you don't pay the extra up front, it's spread out over the service life. Unfortunately repair options are in general getting worse as manufacturers attempt to block 3rd Party repair so they can charge large amounts for doing it without competition, and that's a whole other issue. In the old days equipment repair was expected and often circuit diagrams were included when you bought it. My Moog Prodigy's user manual had a complete schematic in it! But with the rise of the cult of Intellectual Property in the 80s, that doesn't happen any more.

 

No conclusions here really, just musing out loud kind of thing.

All that and planned obsolescence and all that 

[faz726]

I recently parted with a CTK-611 (to a charity shop btw) which I purchased new for a ridiculous price of 75 pounds from Currys in Chelmsford, UK. In the twenty plus years that I owned It, never a clunk, clack or thud was heard from the keyboard bed. After a brief flirtation with a second hand Yamaha I bought a CTK-6200. This quickly developed the dreaded plastic to plastic clunk around c4,c5. Although I solved it with some heavy duty surgery, the piano and strings drove me mad. I've just acquired a CT-X3000 and my life is complete. I may have bought a lemon, only time will tell. My point is, what has changed in the twenty five years between the CTK-601/611 and CT-X series? Apart from the sound engine, not much it seems. Actually, come to think of it, the piano and strings were quite pleasant on that CTK-611. Single stepping was a dream. AND it transmitted a system real time clock. No external storage and only 2.5 watts/channel but a beautifully written User's Guide. Happy days...

[vbdx66]

@faz726So why didn’t you keep it as a second keyboard?

[faz726]

A very good question, Vinciane. Why I got rid of it I'm still not sure. Lack of space. Seemed a good idea at the time. Still at least someone, somewhere is getting some pleasure from it.

[Jokeyman123]

One of the major design differences is simple-older keybeds usually used a spring-action keyboard, with individual springs and a basically more "robust" key and spring for each individual key. Now that many manufacturers have "dumbed down" their key designs-for cheapness and more rapid manufacturing obviously-they are designing keys attached together in a cluster-not just Casio is doing this. So chances are greater that when one key goes bad, it will affect the other keys connected together. And if one key in that cluster works loose-since these are joined as a cluster with a few screws-the others will also be working their way loose. When re-assembling these screws, if you have to do it yourself-I use "Loctite" on the threads-which doesn't permanently cement the screws in place-but prevents the screws from slipping out of place through vibration. And you can still remove screws without doing any major damage if you use the Loctite type compounds. Some manufacturers do this from the factory as I have seen in some of the keyboards and other electronics I've had to repair. 

[vbdx66]

Hi guys,

 

So I sent the keyboard for repair on March 12 and contacted the repair shop yesterday to ask for some news. Here is what they answered me in an email today (translated from French):

 

“Hello,
 
After a period of observation and testing in order to identify the problem, we ordered parts from the manufacturer at the end of last week.
 
Upon receipt of these, we will repair your keyboard.
 
 
We are at your disposal for any further information.
 
Best regards,”

 

So I hope that this second time round and after two years, they will eventually be able to repair my keyboard!

 

I have asked them to give me a description of the method they will use to fix it.

 

Vinciane

[vbdx66]

Hi guys here is a short update:

 

Still no news from my keyboard, it has been in the repair facility for a month and a half now. 

 

Since my CT-X800 was taken under the warranty scheme, I’d like to know whether I am entitled either to get a new keyboard or a refund from Casio if they’re unable to repair my faulty keyboard.

 

N.B.: I am located in France. Nikken, the official local Casio keyboards repair facility, told me they contacted Casio and communicated my request to them, but since then I have got no news whatsoever either from Nikken or from Casio.

 

Any clues about what I should do? I don’t have any keyboard for the time being and I’d like either to get my CT-X800 repaired or replaced, or else to get a refund from Casio which would enable me to buy another keyboard (which I cannot afford for the time being).

 

Is there a contact address in France to which I could send an official complaint letter to Casio?

 

Thanks for helping,

 

Vinciane

[Casiofun]

This is what is listed for France: 23 Avenue Carnot - Immeuble ILIADE - Bâtiment A 91300 Massy, France

Phone: +33-169-19-2060.

Can't tell if they do repairs or if this is a sales office. It is listed as the French corporate office. Since this an extended warranty you probably need to get your answer from the repair facility. Casio's warranty is only for 1 year. They probably have a parts facility that parts can be purchased. In the U.S it is Pac Parts. Not all parts are in stock some have to be ordered. After looking some more looks like Nikken Techno is the authorized repair facility for France.

[vbdx66]

@CasiofunThank you so much. Where did you find the above address? Is it right if I address my letter to « Casio »?

As for Nikken of course I know them, this is were I sent my keyboard for repair.

[Casiofun]

VBDX66 you should contact the company providing the extended warranty on your keyboard. They would be responsible for the repair and any refund due to. You could write Casio if you want to but not sure who at Casio you would contact. I would think Casio would be out of the equation due to the warranty being expired. I am sure they know about the noisy keys on their keyboards. They read these forums or have the information passed on to them. Noise normally does not affect the actual performance it is just annoying to some that play them.

[vbdx66]

Thanks for helping. This business is a bit confusing and I have other, more important problems to solve. I hope that the spare parts will eventually arrive. I called Nikken today and they said it was a matter of 2 to 3 weeks. I hope that they will be able to fix the keyboard. This has been lasting for so long that I can afford to wait for a couple of weeks more.

[RogerBannister]

@vbdx66what was the eventual outcome of this? 🤔