My aging MK1 Octatrack, Rytm, and A4 each have at least one sticky button on them, and it’s time I did something about it.
With my OT I’ve tried desoldering, disassembling, and adjusting the most annoying switches, but now I think it might be more effective if I simply lubricate them with silicon.
Before I potentially make things worse, does anyone else have advice for this?
I’m not sure about lubing but you could try some DeOxit if its metal parts?
This has worked for me with skippy encoders in the past.
I’d always put this down to misalignment of the case holes with the buttons. If you take the steel case off the buttons should operate properly - so it is a very slight catch on the case is the problem. Marginally widening that hole might be better …
They are sticky from aging, or eating ribs while jamming?
I’m afraid the silicon lube might not work with the plastic of the buttons.
It could result in some damage
See also:
IDK what the buttons are made of on the MK1 but on the MK2 (I’ve got an A4MK2 and a Digitakt) the plastic has a soft touch which in my experience doesn’t do well with silicon lube. Have someone at Elektron confirm the material used and refer to this table.
I solved my sticky buttons (by sticky I mean buttons misaligned with the casing and catching on it) by nudging them a little with toothpicks over the course of a night (the operation has to be redone from time to time but it mostly works).
It’s possible that misalignment of the buttons with the faceplate could be causing them to stick. But if that’s the case, I’m not sure how it explains why it’s more of a problem now than it used to be.
Thanks for the links @Normalogic. According to the datasheet for the switches (at least for those in the MK1 OT), the plastics used are POM and PBT, so I think silicon or krytox should be safe to use.
They are sticky from aging, or eating ribs while jamming?
My OT is close to 6 years old now, so… both?
The misalignment of faceplates causing button sticking is more of a mkii problem I believe.
So you’ve probably tried 70% isopropy alchooll and Q-tips or alchool swabs.
I had sticky button on octatrack , electron sent me some and I swapped it , I also swapped a button as it’s stopped working. .
If you’ve already tried desoldering , might as well buy new buttons and drop them in.
The switch was still a bit sticky when it wasn’t in octatrack , . I didn’t see anything obvious on the inside of the button , and they’re tricky to open up , most likely get damaged.
This was mk1 octatrack buttons
Finally got around to taking a look (removing faceplate, etc). I sprayed a bit of contact cleaner on the problematic switch, replaced everything, and that seems to have sorted it out.