Does the e25 version have the same rubber coating?
I live very near Sweden, don’t smoke, sticky buttons. Your argument makes no sense, there’s no such thing as a “Sweden climatic conditions” when these conditions vary greatly even between regions of Sweden itself 
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My DT is the only one uncovered in my studio, it’s also the only one with sticky buttons so go figure 
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Okay, I guess that theory is out the window! Thanks for weighing in
It doesn’t mean there’s no merit in the hypothesis, it just means there’s more to it than just that 
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I can’t comment on if it’s “the same” since it’s at least a different color so a different batch. But yes, my e25 ST does have soft rubber on the keys and knobs. My suspicion is that different batches of the same rubber will degrade more or less readily than others. Thus, some people may have an instrument for a lot longer without any issues.
In fact, I’ve never experienced this on any other color of rubber beside black. Anyone else have the same experience with other colors?
The buttons on my Syntakt are getting sticky. I’m trying to decide whether to order replacements from Elektron, which will likely suffer the same fate, or get 3rd party buttons that I found from Trapdog on Etsy.
From their blurb on Etsy:
Our buttons are printed, painted and engraved in-house
Matthias operates out of his Birmingham-based workshop in the UK, and Robert operates from his workshop in Meath, Ireland.
They’re not cheap (€89 with delivery and tax in EU), but they don’t have the rubber coating so should last for years. The reviews are good, though they’re mostly for buttons for other devices. I didn’t see mention of them on this forum. Anyone have any experience with them on an Elektron device?
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If you clean yours well and clear coat with a spray can, you will get the same result and save a lot of time and money.
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Cleaning the buttons with water and soda made them even more sticky. Then i tried rubbing them with iso alcohol. After 2 hours i soaked them in iso and washed all the paint and rubber down. It was a freaking mess.
Doesn’t really look great but it’s ok. And i’ll never have to worry about sticky buttons anymore. Yay! 
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Does the led shine through the whole button now?
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I did similar to my 1-16 buttons, but used sand paper to remove all gunk and coating, but then re-spayed the buttons…I’m not sure it looks any better, it is unique & special to me though 
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That’s the part that is not so great. But definitely usable.
First i thought i would get a new set of buttons from Elektron. But now i think i’ll save the money and keep using it with this new “mod”.
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I just got my digitone out of storage and the buttons have all gone sticky.
Was the best way to remove the sticky coating by rubbing it with a cotton rag?
What does this look like in the dark? (I’d be interested in a pic, but also a description since photos usually aren’t very representative for things like leds. Does it look cool? lol)
From my experience :
- don’t use alcohol, it will destroy the black coating
- use water and soap
- I couldn’t find a cloth that would not leave small particles (so, make it worse)
- So, use your fingers to remove the dirt on every cap. It will take several minutes per cap.
- Then you’ll find the result to be far from perfect
- then put some baby powder, it will look a bit brighter but at least not sticky to the fingers
- Then in the end, reach support and pay 40€ for them to send a new set.
- Wait a few years
- repeat
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Is it possible to just put the digitone through the dishwasher? Of course I’d unplug it first, I’m not an idiot after all.
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Yeah of course it is absolutely fine 
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I’ll try to make a photo later at night. I think it looks cool. But you can’t read all the numbers and icons easily. No problem for me because i know the DT inside out.
I’ll never buy a new set of buttons because now they feel nice and i won’t have to deal with the problem ever again. Unless some buttons break or something.
Nice
Has anyone had any success with using something to stabilise the rubber? I wonder if clear varnish would work?