Manufacturers need to be shamed and called out for using this material. It undermines the quality of what is otherwise a great product. Itās a poor design choice to continue to use this rubberized coating.
Iām sure every manufacturer that does use this material has a bunch of customer support requests about how to deal with the stickiness. Now the question remains, do the manufacturers actually care enough to deal with the root cause, or is it another opportunity to sell replacement parts for profit for years to come?
I live in the tropics, so it seems the additional heat and humidity shorten the life of this coating. The stickiness reveals itself after 4 years in my home studio.
Itās not just Elektronā¦ I have sticky knobs from Arturia synths, Zoom recorders, Moog mod and pitch bend wheels, first gen Ableton Push 2ā¦ itās all a sticky mess after 5 years in this climate (without direct sunlight).
I think the industry needs to be shamed and called out for continuing to use this material. They know itās trash but still keep making products with it. Itās insulting to have to buy new rubber coated replacement buttons simply because I live in a warmer climate.
Iāve read the forums and spent hours attempting to clean this sticky stuff from my gear with less than successful results. God, not even the manufacturers can offer a proper solution how to deal with it other than replacing the parts all together. Itās maddening.