This video enabled me to learn how to safely take apart my CN25 to find what was stuck under one of the keys (one of the weights had fallen out). Thank you!
Just wanted to say thanks and that based on this guide I repaired a Kawai CN24B and here are some findings for future reference: - Other models such as the CN24 have 3 contacts to clean underneath each rubber. Same steps apply, but pay attention to the orientation of the strips before pulling them all off! - Removing the piano case from its legs eventually proved optional for the CN24 - The circuit boards with the rubber strips can be removed and attached much easier with the keyboard flipped vertically inside the case instead of upside down, there is much less pressure on the rubber pads. - It is possible to use a pencil on the contacts on both board and rubber, but I didn't test this extensively because I got tired of reassembling and ordered a replacement. - There is a definite trick to reattaching the rubber (or silicone?) strip without breaking the little round pins or losing your sanity. I used the smallest hex bit (inbus) on a miniature screwdriver set. Push each pin not straight but at a 45 degree angle then rotate the bit at 45 degrees all around, applying only a bit of pressure. Push it in vertically after every few rotations and repeat and it should pop through much easier. Do not force and do not use anything with any sharp edges. Repeat until each one just visibly protrudes a bit from the board. - To fully pull the rubber through, instead of tweezers you can gently rub a finger sideways over the protruding bits and let friction pull it the rest of the way through. - Do Not in Any Circumstance use an electric screwdriver to reattach the boards! You WILL over turn the screws and ruin the thread in the plastic bits they go into. So for me, cleaning (multiple times) eventually didn't work out. Each time a different set keys seemed to have problems. More findings concerning replacements: - The rubber strip replacement was discontinued in favor of the full 2 circuit boards including blue translucent strips. This board is called KKB-044 www.synth-parts.com/produkte/gehaeuse-baugruppen/baugruppen-gross/6413/kawai-rh88b-pwb-assy-kkb-044-2 - There are two versions of this board and both apply to a number of models, choose according to the compatibility list. - This replacement board does NOT have the "comedy error" connector so at this point 06:40 it is just left dangling. Indeed the power light on the front doesn't work but all buttons on the sides are fine. There is nowhere to attach it so I'm not sure if it is a manufacturing error or intentional to make the board compatible with more models🤔. Anyway I can live with it, there is another power light on the top as well. Hope this helps someone in the future. It is more of an investment but now the piano has gone from unusable and unsellable to at least this investment worth again. in general I much rather repair something than discard it and contribute to the big electronics rubbish pile.
Hi John - thanks very much for this great tutorial. I fixed the piano with my son - your video gave us the confidence to take on the job. We got a bit stuck on re-assembly, forgot to put the contact strips under the plastic locators, but after playing the video back we could see where we'd gone wrong. The piano works fine now, thanks for your help.
I typically don't leave comments, but this video was a life saver! Middle C went out on Kawai CN25R, I followed the instructions, although not for an identical model it worked for me. Word of caution, be super careful with the cables that connect the two digital boards, I'd doubt you could move them more than a few times before breaking a connection.
Thank you so much for this video. I have a Kawai CN 34 whose action has been breaking in irregular intervals for years, and your video is the one I look up when I try to remember how to take this hellish piece of gear apart. Kawai really are masters of planned obsolescence, and I swear this will be my first and last instrument of theirs.
Damn ... you are so good and so clear with your instructions that I'm eying my Kawai CN 32 and debating whether I can do this myself. It's 2 am and I'm a senior over 70. No local repairmen here in Honolulu. But my music and piano are my life. I'll sleep on it and watch this wonderful clip again tomorrow. You are GOOD! 👍
usually I don't make any comment to videos BUT you really saved my life!!! I had the volume bar full of Pine needles of the christmas tree and I was desperate. but 2 hours and tons of screw after I MADE IT!!! thank you very very much!! i guess with the assistance it will cost me around 100€...(or more depends on how much they would have lied)
Do you know where I can buy the silicone rubber conductor pads? It’s a Kawai PN 100. It’s old. Most of the keys won’t play. I tried the pencil lead trick, but it didn’t help. I think I used the wrong cleaner, and messed up the old pads. I can’t find replacements anywhere!
Just the info I've been looking for!! You're a godsend. Mine's had this problem for a while now, been waiting for someone who's a little more confident taking this model apart than I am so I know how to put it all back together! Thanks mate
Un grand merci John. Votre tuto est vraiment parfait. Grâce à celui-ci nous avons pu aisément réparer une touche qui ne fonctionnait plus. En effet les salissures étaient en cause. Recevez toute notre gratitude 🙏
Thanks so much, John. I'm an experienced piano-tuner, but have ventured into repairing digital piano only occaskeys producing ionally. As you rightly say, getting at the offending contacts is the tricky bit. I just repaired a very heavily used KAWAI CA500 which had the B next to Middle C not sounding at all and several notes producing incorrect volumes. While the lid was off, I replaced a felt strip and made some adjustments to key operations, to quieten them down and to ensure consistency of respective note volumes. Result: Digi-Piano that cost just £40 is probably now worth 5 times that price . Thanks.
A big thank you to John Holcroft -- following this I was able to repair my Kawai CN34, where a few keys were usually making no sound. It was a little bit trickier, as the green cables joining the keyboard to the rest of the electronics also go through a "ferrite noise suppressor", a little plastic box, that needed to be opened. Once that was done though, I followed the disassembly and cleaning, and all the notes are playing again. Thank you!
I hope I can to do is well as you. The occasional dead note but then later the same note would sound much louder than the other notes. This video was spot on for me. But I don't know how the dust and dirt even hair got under there in the first place.
I’m trying to take the top cover off my KDP80 and I took the 4 screws off but it’s not pulling forward. Don’t want to break it does anyone know if there are extra screws?
Thanks a lot! I repaired my Kawai CN37 using this tutorial. One key (G#4) was sustained without the pedal pressed. Swapping rubber contacts fixed the problem.
in most cases it's not enough. Easy but not enough. And worse, more keys can not even work after. The very best thing to do is to use Loctite 3863, wich is a silver varnish, and to paint (3 layers is nice) the little black graphit contacts in the rubbers. You can see him erase them at 4'51, but if there is no enough graphit on them the contacts will not be good and it will result in velocity differences between your keys or keys not working, as I said before. Trust me, after doing that on my keyboard, I recovered a new one ! And one more thing : it's valid on ALL keybeds because they always use similar rubbers
THANK YOU for this!! It took 3 rounds of taking my Kawai 130 apart and putting it back together again, but I was able to fix it and it sounds great now.
I own Kawai cl26 it has stopped producing sound it switches on if i switch on it after a few days then it works fine for 2-3 minutes and again no sound. does it have a motherboard problem?
Thank you, John. I simply used a piece of dry kleenex and it worked on my Casio Privia 350M. Next time I' m going to use an electrical contact spray restorer. All tips are welcome. Ciao da Venezia.
Thanks for this great video on doing this repair with the ES8 !!!!! One note, I don't think you want to over rub (you certainly did not over do it) the graphite composite tops on the contacts someone (Oli) said as it will damage them and all the sudden the damaged keys will play louder than the rest. I do not know for sure but see Oivier's comment below.
I had a noname chinese piano with same problem, and it was more or less the same setup inside and the contacts were identical, I had to remove ALL the keys just to get to the many screws holding the contact boards (very stupid and cheap design) but in the end it all worked out. Used an eraser on all of contacts and it is good as new. Thank you very much.
I have this kawai. but the right channel works quietly on the speaker outside and in headphones. what is the problem? Maybe somehow you can adjust the balance using hidden buttons? Thanks
thanks so much for this! my yamaha clp-645 was having problems with keys playing at full volume. this tutorial worked well enough for me to fix my yamaha, even though some things inside were a bit different. thank you again, it saved me 200-300 dollars that it would have cost to have a professional repair it.
Thanks a lot! I've been everywhere looking for a repairman, but no such luck. This video gave me the confidence to try myself. I've got the CA-65, which was actually easier, as I did not have to remove the keyboard to access the sensors.
Thank you so much for this video. I had to change the power supply connector and found your video really handy in getting into the insides. I had started in the wrong place until I was lead to check your video out 🙏
Adding to my comment of 1 year ago I found out the reason why my Kawai would not go and it was because of the re-assembly on my part which was not being careful enough following the instructions. Great video thanks to you the piano is like new.
Hi Mike. I have the same problem after trying this fix. None of the keys make a sound but the demo and metronome are fine. Can you share how you fixed it?
@@MeLSL1 Hi Mel, if you go to section 6.30 min,. and look by his thumb you will see a row of little white T shaped holders and when I screwed the board back down my problem was I screwed the board down on top of the white fittings which did not allow the keys to connect to the rubbers. You will see that the board has got to clip into those white T shaped fittings which will allow the keys to connect. I hope this works for you. Cheers Mike
Good pointer. I was scratching my head until I patiently scrolled through the messages and saw yours. Got it all working except for the first 5 keys on the left which were working before. I’ll have a look them tomorrow.
Excellent video. I had this problem with an old Roland digital piano and sort of fixed it along these lines, but your instructions are very clear and helpful. Thank you.
If a note still muted, even despite having cleaned the contact rubbers, personally something that helped me was to scratch the part where it makes contact with a pencil. This completely fixed it in my case. Of course, you also have to verify that everything is clean and connected. Greetings!
@@gotex6639 Because of the sound. If you try to play Yamaha and Kawai, you will hear Kawai sounds much more acoustic. And yes, the keyboard itself is nicer.
I've tried this method on a Kawai CN27 and nothing improved, there are around 4 keys in the 4th octave that are not working as they should. What could be the problem?
John, we all make a few 'mistakes' when pulling things apart, and you are genuine and honest. You did a great job in highlighting the fact that (when any Key is pressed), the air which is trapped INSIDE of the rubber Membrane Contact is expelled. When the same Key is released, the rubber Membrane Contact draws in air. Any dirt or loose particles around the base of each membrane (88 of these),will cause contamination of the electrical signals. Today, I have also stripped down a Roland HP 3000S with a similar problem, ie; Six Keys are completely dead! I wanted to say that the Roland has identical Rubber Membrane Contacts, but there is one major difference. If you examine the top of the rubber membrane, you only see the TWO hollow bores, on the Kawai membrane. On a Roland, there are the same pair of hollow bores - in a north-south line. Also on the Roland, there is also a pair of tiny holes - on the east-west plane, and I can only assume from this, that Roland had decided to place "breathing holes" at the top of each membrane for improved cleanliness. I have learnt things from watching your vid. You use a rubber eraser to clean the PCB contacts, where I have always used Methylated Spirit. I will try this. Underneath the Keys, you will see many diodes. My first job was to check the diodes on the non-functioning Keys. All were OK. Many people wouldn't even consider stripping-down their electric piano, mine is worthless, so nothing is lost! At least I will get rid of 30 years of Crud and filth around those 88 contacts. You did a great job. Greetings from Sydney Australia.
I followed this video to the letter to recondition my kawai cn23 and replaced the cpu board as well as the rubber contacts and the rubber contact boards with new parts from W D Greenhill & Co Ltd as well as replacing the two headphone jacks. The piano was working fine before I dismantled it but when I put it back together the keys would not produce sound although the demo and everything else works. I have made sure all wires are connected
Thanks for the video. I had 1 muted key and was able to "repair" it using a hair dryer on cool air and blowing the dust between de keys without disassemble, but it only worked during some days. It is definitely advisable to make a proper cleaning when this happens.
i was pressed on key too strong and now it doesnt seem to come back and fails to make a sound sometimes, when i press it too hard, ill try to disassembly it and see if this helps, its kind of a new piano, only had 1 year of use from an old lady who was learning, and new model the CN-37, i played my CN-24 for a year, and had like 2 years from a "pro" player and no issues.
I too thank you for this and it makes me ask a related but not specifically related question. We have a 206 and it's started to making a popping sound through the speakers - usually when it is just left on and idle for a bit. Sometimes the sound will go out entirely. But if we restart it, sometimes it will come back, sometimes not. Any ideas about how and where to repair. Parts availability for these keyboards? Should we reach out to Kawai - it's maybe 15 years old or more.
Any idea what might be causing the problem if the keys occasionally sustain randomly as if the pedal is pressed? I’m very familiar with the sticky key issue but I’ve never encountered this problem before
I have a CN27 and it developed these faults after a few months. It was repaired under warranty but a few months down the line needs repairing again. It's been months now and parts are not available. I may try and cleaning it myself as per your excellent video but obviously voiding my warranty. I personally will not touch a Kawai again.
Thanks for sharing this video! I've just dissembled my Kawai ES7 for the very first time. My b1-key has been brought back to life! Yet, I must have messed up some other contacts while reassembling. Some of the keys which used to work are dead now... Nonetheless, I know what to do now:)
first, thanks for the video. what a help. i have a kawai model CN33R and need to replace the contacts on one octave of keys. kawai will not sell parts to the general public, albeit, i have found quite a few people selling contacts for kawai digital pianos. my question to you (since neither the kawai support nor their service departments would tell me) is: are the contacts interchangeable across the model lines? the ones for sale look like the ones on my piano. any help you can give is greatly appreciated. thank you.
Hi John, inspired my your wonderful video, I tackled my Kawai which had keys that do not sound. After cleaning them, the some of the keys still did not work, so I cleaned the contacts again and they still do not work. Can you please tell what I can do next ?
I tried this with a Kawai piano having one key with significantly louder volume. However, using eraser did not change anything (maybe I was too gentle with it ?). I was wondering whether one should use some appropriate (electronic) cleaning agent and whether the problem is more on the circuit board contacts or on the rubber strip side?
Resetting everything to factory settings actually helped, another key became bit louder but adjusting the volume of this individual key (possible with CN25 model) fixed that.
Hi there! I’ve done this last weekend (before seeing the video), since there was juice spilled on the piano. I cleaned the circuit board with acetone and decided to also clean the keys and underneath since it became really dirty and in the damaged spot some didn’t work and some were really loud.. Now after I put it together, all the keys only respond when I press them really hard. Any idea where the fault could be??? I’d really be helped with some advice :)
Hi, I seem to have done some kind of mistake because now the upper half of the keyboard all the A, C sharp and F dont work anymore but I cant figure out what I did wrong. maybe you could help me out?
I don't know but I'd suspect the contacts you see me taking apart at 2:34. Easy to not put back together properly. Maybe disconnect again and check all the wires are in and making good contact.
Hello John I hope you can help me, is there a way to adjust key spacing for Kawai ES110? I just purchased 1 and it was almost perfect aside from key spacing.
I must've done something wrong. None of the keys make a sound now, although the sound still plays when I press the demo and metronome. Can anyone help? Do the rubber strips need to be returned to their original positions or is it ok to switch them around?
If no keys sound then it sounds like an electrical connection problem, not a rubbers problem. I'd check the connection between the keyboard and the main circuit board.
@@johnholcroft74 thanks for answering! I checked the green wires and it's connected just fine. Maybe I damaged it somehow. Is there a name this wire? I'll see if replacing it will help.
I have the same piano. How did the disassembly go? I was concerned when I saw the electric shock warning but figured it only applied if the keyboard is plugged into the outlet.
Thank You very much!!!!! You saved my piano) My kawai kdp-90 arrived with some mechanical noise from two keys. But now its work perfectly, your video hepls a lot!
Do you know how someone could fix their Kawai keyboard if the speaker is making very loud scratchy noises? The noises happen whether or not any keys are pressed and often drown out the sound of any notes. Any insight would go a long way since I'm not sure where to begin. Thanks so much!
Mine is having the same problem. It's a KSP-10, about 24 years old, and you can't even turn it on, it pops and bangs so loudly. My husband is going to replace the amplifier board to see if that helps. I also have a couple of dead keys on it, and on my Kawai organ. Hope hubby can fix both.
hi, did you solved the problem ? in my first es8 some notes sometimes went at full volume... the seller replaced it with a new one, after a few months i have the same problem
Two years on from making this video I found more keys were failing. I followed the steps in this video but that didn't completely fix them. The problem wasn't dirt but that the rubber contacts weren't fully working. I think the contacts on the rubber wear away slowly over time. I replaced them and it snapped back into life. I got my replacement rubber contacts for about £10 per strip of 12 from the UK supplier WD Greenhill: www.wdgreenhill.com
Sorry to hear this. I've not yet tried to repair mine per your video. If you have the rubber replacement part number that would be useful for us in the States should we want to clean and replace in the same operation. Thanks.
Same here. Usually, the key(s) don't play after being struck very hard. Within minutes, an hour, or a day, the key(s) makes sound again. I now have a key that hasn't made a sound for over a day. I fear the worst.
i have been watching other videos... cleaning is not enough some time because the carbon that is in the contact part has wore off.. so what you do.. is draw over the contact part of the circuit with a soft carbon pencil.. this carbon will repair the missing carbon and work properly .
If you get your hands on electronic schematics and know how to soder then you can try and do it yourself:) Check out electonic geeks on YT for reference, I’m sure there will be plenty of those to consult.
John, thanks for the detailed and methodical instructions. BUT- could you have avoided removing the last PCB (with the contacts to clean) by simply removing the banks (octaves?) of keys as needed? I have just one loud key, and I'm hoping to minimize my intrusions to clean that one key pad.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
This video enabled me to learn how to safely take apart my CN25 to find what was stuck under one of the keys (one of the weights had fallen out). Thank you!
I'm glad to hear you have success. I commented above 3 years ago but haven't got the courage to do the cleaning until recently.
Just wanted to say thanks and that based on this guide I repaired a Kawai CN24B and here are some findings for future reference:
- Other models such as the CN24 have 3 contacts to clean underneath each rubber. Same steps apply, but pay attention to the orientation of the strips before pulling them all off!
- Removing the piano case from its legs eventually proved optional for the CN24
- The circuit boards with the rubber strips can be removed and attached much easier with the keyboard flipped vertically inside the case instead of upside down, there is much less pressure on the rubber pads.
- It is possible to use a pencil on the contacts on both board and rubber, but I didn't test this extensively because I got tired of reassembling and ordered a replacement.
- There is a definite trick to reattaching the rubber (or silicone?) strip without breaking the little round pins or losing your sanity. I used the smallest hex bit (inbus) on a miniature screwdriver set. Push each pin not straight but at a 45 degree angle then rotate the bit at 45 degrees all around, applying only a bit of pressure. Push it in vertically after every few rotations and repeat and it should pop through much easier. Do not force and do not use anything with any sharp edges. Repeat until each one just visibly protrudes a bit from the board.
- To fully pull the rubber through, instead of tweezers you can gently rub a finger sideways over the protruding bits and let friction pull it the rest of the way through.
- Do Not in Any Circumstance use an electric screwdriver to reattach the boards! You WILL over turn the screws and ruin the thread in the plastic bits they go into.
So for me, cleaning (multiple times) eventually didn't work out. Each time a different set keys seemed to have problems. More findings concerning replacements:
- The rubber strip replacement was discontinued in favor of the full 2 circuit boards including blue translucent strips. This board is called KKB-044
www.synth-parts.com/produkte/gehaeuse-baugruppen/baugruppen-gross/6413/kawai-rh88b-pwb-assy-kkb-044-2
- There are two versions of this board and both apply to a number of models, choose according to the compatibility list.
- This replacement board does NOT have the "comedy error" connector so at this point 06:40 it is just left dangling. Indeed the power light on the front doesn't work but all buttons on the sides are fine. There is nowhere to attach it so I'm not sure if it is a manufacturing error or intentional to make the board compatible with more models🤔. Anyway I can live with it, there is another power light on the top as well.
Hope this helps someone in the future. It is more of an investment but now the piano has gone from unusable and unsellable to at least this investment worth again. in general I much rather repair something than discard it and contribute to the big electronics rubbish pile.
How do you remove the kawaii digital piano from its legs
Hi John - thanks very much for this great tutorial. I fixed the piano with my son - your video gave us the confidence to take on the job. We got a bit stuck on re-assembly, forgot to put the contact strips under the plastic locators, but after playing the video back we could see where we'd gone wrong. The piano works fine now, thanks for your help.
I typically don't leave comments, but this video was a life saver! Middle C went out on Kawai CN25R, I followed the instructions, although not for an identical model it worked for me. Word of caution, be super careful with the cables that connect the two digital boards, I'd doubt you could move them more than a few times before breaking a connection.
Thank you so much for this video. I have a Kawai CN 34 whose action has been breaking in irregular intervals for years, and your video is the one I look up when I try to remember how to take this hellish piece of gear apart. Kawai really are masters of planned obsolescence, and I swear this will be my first and last instrument of theirs.
Damn ... you are so good and so clear with your instructions that I'm eying my Kawai CN 32 and debating whether I can do this myself. It's 2 am and I'm a senior over 70. No local repairmen here in Honolulu. But my music and piano are my life. I'll sleep on it and watch this wonderful clip again tomorrow. You are GOOD! 👍
And? Did you dare? Did it turn out? I found it strenuous (a lot of crouching around) but it turned out well!
usually I don't make any comment to videos BUT you really saved my life!!! I had the volume bar full of Pine needles of the christmas tree and I was desperate. but 2 hours and tons of screw after I MADE IT!!! thank you very very much!! i guess with the assistance it will cost me around 100€...(or more depends on how much they would have lied)
Do you know where I can buy the silicone rubber conductor pads? It’s a Kawai PN 100. It’s old. Most of the keys won’t play. I tried the pencil lead trick, but it didn’t help. I think I used the wrong cleaner, and messed up the old pads. I can’t find replacements anywhere!
I know this was posted a long time ago, but I still want to say thanks for this video. It helped me fix my squeaky keys on my piano.
Just the info I've been looking for!! You're a godsend.
Mine's had this problem for a while now, been waiting for someone who's a little more confident taking this model apart than I am so I know how to put it all back together!
Thanks mate
Un grand merci John. Votre tuto est vraiment parfait. Grâce à celui-ci nous avons pu aisément réparer une touche qui ne fonctionnait plus. En effet les salissures étaient en cause. Recevez toute notre gratitude 🙏
Thanks so much, John. I'm an experienced piano-tuner, but have ventured into repairing digital piano only occaskeys producing ionally.
As you rightly say, getting at the offending contacts is the tricky bit. I just repaired a very heavily used KAWAI CA500 which had the B next to Middle C not sounding at all and several notes producing incorrect volumes. While the lid was off, I replaced a felt strip and made some adjustments to key operations, to quieten them down and to ensure consistency of respective note volumes.
Result: Digi-Piano that cost just £40 is probably now worth 5 times that price . Thanks.
A big thank you to John Holcroft -- following this I was able to repair my Kawai CN34, where a few keys were usually making no sound. It was a little bit trickier, as the green cables joining the keyboard to the rest of the electronics also go through a "ferrite noise suppressor", a little plastic box, that needed to be opened. Once that was done though, I followed the disassembly and cleaning, and all the notes are playing again. Thank you!
I hope I can to do is well as you. The occasional dead note but then later the same note would sound much louder than the other notes. This video was spot on for me. But I don't know how the dust and dirt even hair got under there in the first place.
I’m trying to take the top cover off my KDP80 and I took the 4 screws off but it’s not pulling forward. Don’t want to break it does anyone know if there are extra screws?
Thanks a lot! I repaired my Kawai CN37 using this tutorial. One key (G#4) was sustained without the pedal pressed. Swapping rubber contacts fixed the problem.
in most cases it's not enough. Easy but not enough. And worse, more keys can not even work after. The very best thing to do is to use Loctite 3863, wich is a silver varnish, and to paint (3 layers is nice) the little black graphit contacts in the rubbers. You can see him erase them at 4'51, but if there is no enough graphit on them the contacts will not be good and it will result in velocity differences between your keys or keys not working, as I said before. Trust me, after doing that on my keyboard, I recovered a new one ! And one more thing : it's valid on ALL keybeds because they always use similar rubbers
I cant find it ( loctite 3863) can you tell another alternative. Please.
THANK YOU for this!! It took 3 rounds of taking my Kawai 130 apart and putting it back together again, but I was able to fix it and it sounds great now.
Is it possible to replace piano mother motherboard into other piano?
I own Kawai cl26 it has stopped producing sound it switches on if i switch on it after a few days then it works fine for 2-3 minutes and again no sound. does it have a motherboard problem?
You’re awesome John! That is exactly the tutorial I needed to take the pencil out of the digital piano. Thanks soooo much!!!!!!👍👍👍👍
Thank you for this video. I used it to take apart my CN25R fix a stuck key, and this was supremely helpful!
How did you repair the stuck key please ?
Thank you, John. I simply used a piece of dry kleenex and it worked on my Casio Privia 350M. Next time I' m going to use an electrical contact spray restorer. All tips are welcome.
Ciao da Venezia.
Thanks for this great video on doing this repair with the ES8 !!!!!
One note, I don't think you want to over rub (you certainly did not over do it) the graphite composite tops on the contacts someone (Oli) said as it will damage them and all the sudden the damaged keys will play louder than the rest. I do not know for sure but see Oivier's comment below.
I had a noname chinese piano with same problem, and it was more or less the same setup inside and the contacts were identical, I had to remove ALL the keys just to get to the many screws holding the contact boards (very stupid and cheap design) but in the end it all worked out. Used an eraser on all of contacts and it is good as new. Thank you very much.
Fantastic video! Thank you so much! I used a toothpick that was a bit dull to reinstall the rubber bits. Fixed my 5 very loud keys. Thanks again!
I have this kawai. but the right channel works quietly on the speaker outside and in headphones. what is the problem? Maybe somehow you can adjust the balance using hidden buttons? Thanks
This is exactly the information I was looking for, John! Thank you so much! Kawai piano that plays some keys very loud.
thanks so much for this! my yamaha clp-645 was having problems with keys playing at full volume. this tutorial worked well enough for me to fix my yamaha, even though some things inside were a bit different. thank you again, it saved me 200-300 dollars that it would have cost to have a professional repair it.
Thanks to this Video I was able to take apart my CN43, altought must admit getting the display and sound buttons of the Keys was a pain in the ass ^^
Thanks John , I am now about to dismantle my Kawaii CN37B with your help . Wish me luck.
Thank you very much! Your video helped to disassemble my cn39 and repair the rubber band!
Not the same model, but I believe I could clean mine as well. Thank you.
Thank you for the guidance, I had a bunch of keys on my RockJam Xfinity that didn’t work and now it’s as good as new!
My one left speaker is not playing any sound any suggest what I should look out for when opening it up.
This is exactly my issue and why I looked for such a video as yours.
Thanks a lot! I've been everywhere looking for a repairman, but no such luck. This video gave me the confidence to try myself. I've got the CA-65, which was actually easier, as I did not have to remove the keyboard to access the sensors.
Thankyou very much John, you helped me fix a dead key on my kawai es6. The rubber is a pro tip!
Thank you so much for this video. I had to change the power supply connector and found your video really handy in getting into the insides. I had started in the wrong place until I was lead to check your video out 🙏
Adding to my comment of 1 year ago I found out the reason why my Kawai would not go and it was because of the re-assembly on my part which was not being careful enough following the instructions. Great video thanks to you the piano is like new.
Hi Mike. I have the same problem after trying this fix. None of the keys make a sound but the demo and metronome are fine. Can you share how you fixed it?
@@MeLSL1 Hi Mel, if you go to section 6.30 min,. and look by his thumb you will see a row of little white T shaped holders and when I screwed the board back down my problem was I screwed the board down on top of the white fittings which did not allow the keys to connect to the rubbers. You will see that the board has got to clip into those white T shaped fittings which will allow the keys to connect. I hope this works for you. Cheers Mike
Good pointer. I was scratching my head until I patiently scrolled through the messages and saw yours. Got it all working except for the first 5 keys on the left which were working before. I’ll have a look them tomorrow.
Excellent video. I had this problem with an old Roland digital piano and sort of fixed it along these lines, but your instructions are very clear and helpful. Thank you.
If a note still muted, even despite having cleaned the contact rubbers, personally something that helped me was to scratch the part where it makes contact with a pencil. This completely fixed it in my case. Of course, you also have to verify that everything is clean and connected. Greetings!
Thanks man, I would have given up at some simple hurdles but your video showed me how easy it was. Problem fixed!
Thank you very much, John! This video helped me to fix my Kawai CN-29
You already have to repair your cn29? I can’t decide to buy the Yamaha ydp 165 or the kawai cn29
@@gotex6639 If you ask me, I would choose Kawai.
Thank you for the fast response! Can you tell me why the kawai? Is it true that the keyboard is smoother?
@@gotex6639 Because of the sound. If you try to play Yamaha and Kawai, you will hear Kawai sounds much more acoustic. And yes, the keyboard itself is nicer.
Where can I buy the conductive rubber?
My kawai es110 got urinated by my cat and it was too late when i noticed it when i try play it sounds out of tune is there any way to fix it
I've tried this method on a Kawai CN27 and nothing improved, there are around 4 keys in the 4th octave that are not working as they should. What could be the problem?
can you help with how to remove the cover on a kawai mp 370 digital piano.? it looks like hinges but will not budge.
I have to replace an A key on my Kawai ES-1? Go for it? I hope it's simple compared to what you've done here. Thanks!
Any idea where i can buy contact rubbers?
John, we all make a few 'mistakes' when pulling things apart, and you are genuine and honest. You did a great job in highlighting the fact that (when any Key is pressed), the air which is trapped INSIDE of the rubber Membrane Contact is expelled. When the same Key is released, the rubber Membrane Contact draws in air. Any dirt or loose particles around the base of each membrane (88 of these),will cause contamination of the electrical signals. Today, I have also stripped down a Roland HP 3000S with a similar problem, ie; Six Keys are completely dead! I wanted to say that the Roland has identical Rubber Membrane Contacts, but there is one major difference. If you examine the top of the rubber membrane, you only see the TWO hollow bores, on the Kawai membrane. On a Roland, there are the same pair of hollow bores - in a north-south line. Also on the Roland, there is also a pair of tiny holes - on the east-west plane, and I can only assume from this, that Roland had decided to place "breathing holes" at the top of each membrane for improved cleanliness. I have learnt things from watching your vid. You use a rubber eraser to clean the PCB contacts, where I have always used Methylated Spirit. I will try this. Underneath the Keys, you will see many diodes. My first job was to check the diodes on the non-functioning Keys. All were OK. Many people wouldn't even consider stripping-down their electric piano, mine is worthless, so nothing is lost! At least I will get rid of 30 years of Crud and filth around those 88 contacts. You did a great job. Greetings from Sydney Australia.
Thank you so much, it was so helpful although my CN34 looks a little different inside ( cables)
I followed this video to the letter to recondition my kawai cn23 and replaced the cpu board as well as the rubber contacts and the rubber contact boards with new parts from W D Greenhill & Co Ltd as well as replacing the two headphone jacks. The piano was working fine before I dismantled it but when I put it back together the keys would not produce sound although the demo and everything else works. I have made sure all wires are connected
Thanks for the video. I had 1 muted key and was able to "repair" it using a hair dryer on cool air and blowing the dust between de keys without disassemble, but it only worked during some days. It is definitely advisable to make a proper cleaning when this happens.
i was pressed on key too strong and now it doesnt seem to come back and fails to make a sound sometimes, when i press it too hard, ill try to disassembly it and see if this helps, its kind of a new piano, only had 1 year of use from an old lady who was learning, and new model the CN-37, i played my CN-24 for a year, and had like 2 years from a "pro" player and no issues.
I too thank you for this and it makes me ask a related but not specifically related question. We have a 206 and it's started to making a popping sound through the speakers - usually when it is just left on and idle for a bit. Sometimes the sound will go out entirely. But if we restart it, sometimes it will come back, sometimes not. Any ideas about how and where to repair. Parts availability for these keyboards? Should we reach out to Kawai - it's maybe 15 years old or more.
I don't know if I can fix my keyboard psr 185 with some of the steps
Any idea what might be causing the problem if the keys occasionally sustain randomly as if the pedal is pressed? I’m very familiar with the sticky key issue but I’ve never encountered this problem before
What stage would you need to get to to remove coins that have dropped between the keys?
Question how do you get the piano off its stand
Aka it’s legs
I have a CN27 and it developed these faults after a few months. It was repaired under warranty but a few months down the line needs repairing again. It's been months now and parts are not available. I may try and cleaning it myself as per your excellent video but obviously voiding my warranty. I personally will not touch a Kawai again.
Bonjour merci pour cette vidéo, j'ai un kawai 260 avec un bruit de larsen, comment puis le démonter ? Merci
Thanks for sharing this video! I've just dissembled my Kawai ES7 for the very first time. My b1-key has been brought back to life! Yet, I must have messed up some other contacts while reassembling. Some of the keys which used to work are dead now... Nonetheless, I know what to do now:)
what makes the contact points be conductive?
Thank You very much for your video. You helped me disassemblying my piano. Take care :)
first, thanks for the video. what a help.
i have a kawai model CN33R and need to replace the contacts on one octave of keys. kawai will not sell parts to the general public, albeit, i have found quite a few people selling contacts for kawai digital pianos.
my question to you (since neither the kawai support nor their service departments would tell me) is: are the contacts interchangeable across the model lines?
the ones for sale look like the ones on my piano.
any help you can give is greatly appreciated. thank you.
Tell me some problems about daed keys
Hi John, inspired my your wonderful video, I tackled my Kawai which had keys that do not sound. After cleaning them, the some of the keys still did not work, so I cleaned the contacts again and they still do not work. Can you please tell what I can do next ?
I tried this with a Kawai piano having one key with significantly louder volume. However, using eraser did not change anything (maybe I was too gentle with it ?). I was wondering whether one should use some appropriate (electronic) cleaning agent and whether the problem is more on the circuit board contacts or on the rubber strip side?
Resetting everything to factory settings actually helped, another key became bit louder but adjusting the volume of this individual key (possible with CN25 model) fixed that.
You saved me a ton of time. Very thorough!
Thank you. I was able to cleaned mine after seeing you disassemble it.
Hi there! I’ve done this last weekend (before seeing the video), since there was juice spilled on the piano. I cleaned the circuit board with acetone and decided to also clean the keys and underneath since it became really dirty and in the damaged spot some didn’t work and some were really loud..
Now after I put it together, all the keys only respond when I press them really hard. Any idea where the fault could be??? I’d really be helped with some advice :)
Hi, I seem to have done some kind of mistake because now the upper half of the keyboard all the A, C sharp and F dont work anymore but I cant figure out what I did wrong. maybe you could help me out?
I don't know but I'd suspect the contacts you see me taking apart at 2:34. Easy to not put back together properly. Maybe disconnect again and check all the wires are in and making good contact.
My Kawai piano digital is suddenly off and it dont want turn On anymore, is the problem from the Fuse or something? Thank u Sir
Hi John. Thanks for this great video! Helped me to fix the middle C key on my Kawai C-34.
I have to replace an A key on my Kawai ES-1? Go for it? Was this difficult? Thanks!
@@peterschultze9124 Hi. Thanks to the vido it was fairlyeasy. Go ahead!
How did you remove the top cover. If I remove the 4 top screws, the cover try to pull the back plate with it.
Nevermind, it was just sticking. Brute force was the answer.
Well, a bigger problem is that the metal railing is overlapping the long PCBs, so I can't turn them over
Thanks so much! It was so helpful to repair my kawai CN24
I think it's the dirt in the keyboard or not
Hello John I hope you can help me, is there a way to adjust key spacing for Kawai ES110? I just purchased 1 and it was almost perfect aside from key spacing.
Does this apply even with my Yamaha P70?
Is the process similar for cheaper hammer-weighted digital pianos? Or does it really depend on the model?
I must've done something wrong. None of the keys make a sound now, although the sound still plays when I press the demo and metronome. Can anyone help? Do the rubber strips need to be returned to their original positions or is it ok to switch them around?
If no keys sound then it sounds like an electrical connection problem, not a rubbers problem. I'd check the connection between the keyboard and the main circuit board.
@@johnholcroft74 thanks for answering! I checked the green wires and it's connected just fine. Maybe I damaged it somehow. Is there a name this wire? I'll see if replacing it will help.
I got a CE220 from Kawai where all the F and A keys are dead. I'll open it up and let you know how it goes.
I have the same piano. How did the disassembly go? I was concerned when I saw the electric shock warning but figured it only applied if the keyboard is plugged into the outlet.
Hi I need help with my kawai es3
I have some keys developing scratches for some reason. Do I have to disassemble everything to replace just the keytops??
Sounds like one of William Gillock's musical compositions.
Did someone tried it on kawaiES8 ?
Thank You very much!!!!! You saved my piano) My kawai kdp-90 arrived with some mechanical noise from two keys. But now its work perfectly, your video hepls a lot!
Do you know how someone could fix their Kawai keyboard if the speaker is making very loud scratchy noises? The noises happen whether or not any keys are pressed and often drown out the sound of any notes. Any insight would go a long way since I'm not sure where to begin. Thanks so much!
Mine is having the same problem. It's a KSP-10, about 24 years old, and you can't even turn it on, it pops and bangs so loudly. My husband is going to replace the amplifier board to see if that helps. I also have a couple of dead keys on it, and on my Kawai organ. Hope hubby can fix both.
@@francosby8885 Please let me know if that fixes the problem. Also could you help me understand why chaning the amplifier board would fix the problem?
Hi. Does this tutorial to the Kawai E6? Thank you!!!
Thanks for your tutorial ; is it applicable to a Kawai ES8 as well ? thank you
hi, did you solved the problem ? in my first es8 some notes sometimes went at full volume... the seller replaced it with a new one, after a few months i have the same problem
Thanks for this video. Please help me: in the 6:42 minute I need to know what this connector is for?
on my CN25R model, that part was disconnected by the factory. I am not sure what it does.
Two years on from making this video I found more keys were failing. I followed the steps in this video but that didn't completely fix them. The problem wasn't dirt but that the rubber contacts weren't fully working. I think the contacts on the rubber wear away slowly over time. I replaced them and it snapped back into life. I got my replacement rubber contacts for about £10 per strip of 12 from the UK supplier WD Greenhill: www.wdgreenhill.com
That's very valuable information, and I have taken details, should I need them. Thanks again.
Thanks for the video!
Do you know where I can get the amplifier board? My Kawai needs one, it is just like yours
thanks for the link Bud, i have a 2yr old ES110 recently got ants inside and cant seem to find a replacement contact
Sorry to hear this. I've not yet tried to repair mine per your video. If you have the rubber replacement part number that would be useful for us in the States should we want to clean and replace in the same operation. Thanks.
My kawai cn22 dig piano sound sudden low not working full sound just playing litle bit .so plz let me know any one wht i do ?
Hi John, thanks for this. I think I'l try this with my CA67 🎹
After how long did you first experience problmes with the piano?
Hi John
I've seen that you used a rubber to clean the contacts.
why?
I have an Mp7 that some keys sometimes do not play
It is a quick and easy way to do basic cleaning of electrical contacts. If you google you'll find other things you can do if they need more work.
Same here. Usually, the key(s) don't play after being struck very hard. Within minutes, an hour, or a day, the key(s) makes sound again.
I now have a key that hasn't made a sound for over a day. I fear the worst.
Will this work for keys that randomly go out of tune too? It’s so frustrating! I have a Kawai Digita Piano 260. It’s pretty old.
Thank you!!! My epiano is working now. You made my day
some keys dont work on mine, i cleaned one that doesnt work and still no sound, need help thanx!
i have been watching other videos... cleaning is not enough some time because the carbon that is in the contact part has wore off.. so what you do.. is draw over the contact part of the circuit with a soft carbon pencil.. this carbon will repair the missing carbon and work properly .
ruclips.net/video/rHOYktmxhZI/видео.html
That is very useful. Thank you so much!
I have a Kawai LH-2 digital piano/Organ and it can turn on but the keys aren't sounding at all. what should I do ?
natasha phagwah lmao... did u plug it into to a speaker?
Really useful video! I have a Kawai CS3 and would love to add a ‘line in’ port to it. Any ideas how that might be accomplished?
If you get your hands on electronic schematics and know how to soder then you can try and do it yourself:) Check out electonic geeks on YT for reference, I’m sure there will be plenty of those to consult.
John, thanks for the detailed and methodical instructions. BUT- could you have avoided removing the last PCB (with the contacts to clean) by simply removing the banks (octaves?) of keys as needed? I have just one loud key, and I'm hoping to minimize my intrusions to clean that one key pad.