I bought perfect push ups and kept them near the shutters which were always shut, that finish became a crud magnet and eventually I had to throw them away because of how gross it got. Ah well. When my push 2 and SL MKIII tot away I will have to buy a new one.
Bad design indeed
same issue here. like some have said, it seems to be related to heat. mine was next to a window over summer and the exposed rear of the unit is now a mess of sticky dust and fingerprints.
Could be something covered in the guarantee, I guess.
Direct sun, but also sweat can be factors for the gear to quickly deteriorate…
I think this is happening slowly to my Qunexus; the casing is starting to look like it had a beer spilled on it…
We should have a science lab challenge on who can keep their rubberized finish looking good the longest.
My Push 2. Born November 12,2015
I find that this kind of sticky transformation happens to some of my stuff when I don’t use them over a long period of time. Headphone cords, wacom pen grip, computer mouse etc. And I don’t store them in direct sunlight or anything like that.
i asked my wife about this (she works at a place that makes silicone molds etc), and she thinks it happens eventually anyway, but heat can speed up the deterioration process.
Untested - But you might be able to restore it with rubber restorer aerosol, the kind of substance which is used to restore printer rollers and tape pinch rollers, two brands that I know of are AF Platenclene or Electrolube RRR.
How toxic is that stuff?
Really? The push button’s are deteriorating?
I’ve had mine for 10 years and it’s fine… Stage2 or original?
Not too sure, you should be able to find out from the datasheet for the product before buying it though.
Should re-iterarate again though I have not tried it personally on this type of problem, so it might not cure the problem, I have used it on rubber products in the past (tape pinch rollers mainly) and had good results, it revitalizes them.
Mines about 3 years old. I use it all the time, however, I seldom ever touch the areas where it’s gotten sticky. I think I agree with the theory about heat. The pattern of damage on mine definitely aligns with that in my environment (ie there are some sticky areas that are shielded from sunlight, but would still get warm (but not hot!) on a summer day. I contacted Ableton. Waiting to hear back.
This thread is making me worry about the coating on the Digi* / mk2 buttons… hopefully they don’t suffer the same fate.
oh shit, I have two pairs of AIAIAI headphones; the older pair hasn’t shown any signs of this yet, but I’ll have to keep an eye on them! I remember the cable on an old pair of Sennheiser canalphones I had got really gummy after sitting in my desk drawer for a few months.
I can’t say for sure, and admittedly, I’ve only owned my MPC Live for a few weeks now; however, I read a reply on one of the forums, from one of the Akai reps, addressing a user question about chipped paint, and his answer suggested that the surface on the MPC Live is merely a matte-finish paint on plastic. And from the looks of the pics the user posted, it certainly did look like nothing more than a thin layer of paint. So, hopefully, it won’t suffer this fate…
Cheers!
Off topic but my monoprice 1/4” cable shielding cracked in a room where there was a good amount of sun coming in.
Same issue here. Glad to read on this topic. I couldn’t find much online.
That said I stumbled upon this, that says washable sticky lint rollers work wonder to remove the filth on sticky parts:
And cover your push with a cloth after use. Light seems to also have an incidence.
Edit: Washable roller in action : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHgV2g691o8&feature=youtu.be
I always thought the rubberized parts went to shit from dust build up. It’s interestig to learn heat plays a major factor.
I have had great results with cornstarch for my little phatty pitch/mod wheels. It binds to the sticky stuff and it rolls right off the wheels.
Might interest some folks that you may still be able to get upgraded replacements for the LP mod/pitch wheel section that have improved pitch spring and are better weighted ( also a bit more rugged I think). I had the older ones replaced as I sent mine in for CV output mod and stiffer voyager key springs. It was $50 to have both installed, it might be something you can do at home though and possibly cheaper to order without installation…
It depends on what the manufacturer values and which raw material was chosen for the rubber keys. For reasons of cost, natural rubbers are not used for such products. These are probably TPEs (thermoplastic elastomers).
In order to obtain the rubber-like properties, plasticizers must be added to the plastic. Over time, these plasticizers can emerge from the structure of the plastic chains and remain on the surface as an adhesive layer.
TPEs are particularly susceptible to hot water, water vapour, oils, fats, alkalis and alcohol.
In addition, UV stabilizers are added to slow down the glibbing and embrittlement of the keys. As mentioned before, it depends on the quality of the raw materials and additives.
We carry out ageing tests
for our articles and I can say that as a manufacturer of plastic products it is really difficult to guarantee consistent quality over a longer period of time.
We only purchase the raw material with certificate and fill it into the material hopper of the injection moulding machines. But which components the manufacturer of the raw material really mixes with me is difficult for me to understand. We only use simple plastics such as polyamide and know the properties very well.
But with TPEs, the proportion of additives is extremely high and therefore difficult to estimate.