Poll: Elektron coated buttons

Yeah but it did come to mind, that most people don‘t own a 3D Printer or have the ability to work with those files? :wink: Repairing those caps needs them to be clean of the sticky stuff, which is what people trying to achieve with all sorts of stuff in the first place. Its not that easy.

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The poll shows roughly 1 in 3 people have had problems with their buttons.
Whilst there’s presumably a significant number of voters who haven’t had their device long enough yet for problems to appear.

Seems pretty clear that they should be using a different material.

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I’m yet to hear of anyone’s Elektron device melting under any conditions, so you should be okay.

Which OEM caps are they using? I’m not going to hold my breath for Elektron to address this – they’ve just re-released machines with everything but the buttons changed.

It would be fitting for this thread to be a sticky.

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my statement was obviously ironic regarding the dissolution, the fact remains that what happened to me with the Analog Four MkII is absurd

Remember the Power Handle? That had the potential to set your device on fire and not in a good way :joy:

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Posted these decksaver cover alternatives in another thread. As well as being quality and cheap they have the added bonus of protecting buttons from degrading due to sunlight unlike the official elektron ones.

I voted yes, but for data clarification my buttons didn’t get sticky/goopy. They have however gotten stuck or slowly popped back up. I washed a few of the button caps on my trigs and sanded the coating off the sides of them. Otherwise the surface coating has not gotten goopy etc. I have a 2017 OT mkII.

Sticky Buttons sounds like a good band name.

Walked right into that one. :joy:

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Thanks to everyone that has answered the Poll. I have submitted the data collected to Elektron via their support ticket system. The poll is still live, please read it carefully so you understand what you are voting for, it is very clear.

If I get a response from Elektron I will let people know.

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Did you ever get an official reply?

Just FYI, I would have answered differently to this poll back in Nov 2023 - but as of today, some of the buttons (especially Play, Stop and Page) on my almost unused Digitone (MDF 2019-W34, bought second hand in June 2020) turned slightly sticky. Up until now I thought Elektron had managed to produce soft touch buttons that would not turn sticky. But as it turns out, it’s just a matter of time until soft touch surfaces start disintegrating. :zonked:

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Does anyone have a link to good third party button alternatives or a link to a post that does?

Thanks :pray:t4:

When i complained about them still using the same problematic coating i got this message:

“​I can understand your disappointment.
Elektron is working on a solution for this but we don’t have anything on the radar yet.”

I wonder what makes it so hard to find a better solution but i’m not a product developer. I just hope my new DT2 will work fine a few years before the typical styckiness starts to make the experience more gooey.

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Well, they already had a solution in the MD, MnM, OT MKI and the MKI Analogs but none of those buttons had light coming through them. But if they can find a way to do matte buttons again, it could even be done an optional extra sold through the Elektron.se store, so then everyone can have a choice of buttons.

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No issues here, but I’ve only owned them for a short while now. I think, for people with sticky coatings, it might also have something to do with the composition of your skin moisture. I remember a guy at a former job having ‘rubbed away’ the icons on his rubber phone buttons. The phone wasn’t old or anything, it was apparently his skin moisture that was…well, I guess a bit more acidic or something. Having said that, my MicroBrute (bit aged, but obtained boxed and unused) also has some stickiness from the get-go (known issue with these synths). — Additional note: I always store the Elektrons in a closed off cupboard in my room, so no direct sunlight or big temperature changes.

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No. They never responded to the ticket, nor direct emails.

They have released several machines with the same bullshit button caps, since I posted this poll.

Well, as mentioned, mine was fine for almost 6 years… and my older A4 MkII is still fine, although I touched that way more often. (and they were kept under the exact same conditions next to each other)

That’s very unfortunate. Thanks for letting us know.

Has anyone with 3d printing experience produced alternatives yet? I kind of figured we would have a third party solution by now. If Tonverk shows up with a new button coating, that will be a welcome release. I’m not kidding when i say the button coating has turned me off of stockpiling the newer elektrons… imagine barely using one and have it start to gunk… that’s a kind of regrettable consumer relationship

I imagine it’s hard to change with so many boxes on the market that use the sticky ones. To suddenly change it would be an acknowledgment of a major problem with the majority of the line. That has to be tough to do. And their highest selling boxes have used them, and they ironically (and temporarily) add to the luxurious feel