Stuck button

To clean o to replace?
When I press some button they stay in for one/two seconds… :confused:
Which option is better? Is it any difficult to replace button caps?

[mod edit] We need a discussion for this matter.

Oh, this is something else.
If the buttons stay pressed, it’s usually less because of the surface stickiness than a misalignment with the case.
Maybe try removing the buttons with something like 2 plastic mediators. It’s very easy to do. And place them back.

If it doesn’t change a thing and you have the right tools for this, you can slightly desolder (with a desoldering station) and resolder the button so that it is better aligned. I did this already and it’s really easy to do. If you already have the tool and a little bit of experience, that is.

Thank You mate, I’m not confident with desoldering stuff.
The mechanical stickyness is a recent issue. Before had no problems at all with A4 mk2 and og DN.
So I hope removing and cleaning will do the job, but, again not sure how to do it. Now searching for some video or something about same issue (no luck by now)…

No problem.

Is your gear still under guarantee or not?
If so, contact Elektron support.

If not, remove the cap (with e.g. 2 mediators, or maybe a bank card).
You’ll thus access what’s bellow and might be able to do a photo and post it here.

Next stage is removing the knobs then the face plate and clean the what’s underneath the button caps.

Out of guarantee.
Contacted support. They send me a draft order for 2 sets of caps, but they did not tell me anything. So I’m waiting before buying new button caps.
Not at the desk now, so, as soon as I can, will try to remove a button cap and look what’s there.

Yes, don’t buy caps right now. There are chances they are not the problem.
If you told them you have a sticky button, they might have understood the caps surface is becoming sticky, while your problem is more about a stuck button :sweat_smile:

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Well, told them some of my buttons remain pressed, so I guess there was no misunderstanding about my issue. Anyways after I remove one of them we’ll see

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Weird.
Maybe they know something I don’t.

Take cap off to see if it no longer sticks to chassis or is within button mech

Hey, I think @LyingDalai is correct that it’s probably misalignment.

The general idea is that when the circuit board which has the buttons on it is perfectly lined up with the metal face panel, then everything moves really smoothly, but if that connection slips a bit out of place, then they are no longer perfectly lined up, usually by a small amount. You would have to move the board back in place by unscrewing and repositioning.

The board is connected from the rear of the face panel, so if that’s the issue you would need to remove the top panel, carefully prop it up and then loosen the circuit board behind it to move it a small amount and check for resolution. It’s easy, but tedious and you have to make sure you’re up to doing something that requires you to open the machine.

What is the model with the problem?

When I look at the stuck buttons, I’m quite sure is not a chassis alignment issue. Until some days ago I had no problem at all

A4 mk2 (light grey model) and og DN

I’d start with the DN because it will be easier - less things to align.

You can take your phone’s flashlight or something else bright and find one of the buttons which sticks, then look really closely at the edges/corners of it and see if there is any place around that button where it looks closer to the edge of the buttonhole cut out and if there is, that’s probably the side which is rubbing.

You can check any stuck buttons like that, I’d probably do it with the machine off so the backlight doesn’t distract you. They are more likely to all be tight on one side or corner if they are rubbing because the entire board shifts out of place, not just the button.

If it’s not misaligned, then yes probably a mechanical issue but I think that’s less likely.

If it needs alignment, I have some pictures which might help but just verify what you see first before we jump to removing stuff.

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I found running a pick along the gap between the button and chassis had an effect, at least in the short term.
My button surface has been degrading for a while now and button sticking has increased with it so I suspect debris as well as increased stickiness can be a factor.

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Yes. This is by now the best advice for my issue.
Anyways from what I’m seeing inside, I guess it’s an ALIGNMENT problem.

Button caps are quite clean, no need to replace them.
Here a pair of pics just taken before closing.

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You’d have to tell us how they feel when you push them, but I don’t see a problem with the physical buttons based on their appearance.

I saw someone use a trick in a video, I found it to be tedious but might be helpful when aligning a larger amount of buttons like on A4.

The method was to take a business card or some other thin heavy paper, thicker than printer paper but not as thick as cardboard. Cut the business card into strips, and then (with the face panel in place, but loose) slide the paper strips around all 4 flat edges of every button.

While very time consuming and annoying, it’s a simple way to confirm that all buttons are equidistant from the edge of their button cutouts.

The problem with this method is it assumes the holes are perfect and doesn’t account for thickness in powder coat having some variation in and around button holes, so if you use this method, just use it as a rough guide. Tighten only partially, then check to make sure no more button contact (stuck or rubbing) and when you’re satisfied, then tighten the face panel to the PCB more firmly.

When I do it with Digitakt/Digitone I just tighten it partway and hold the board and face panel with my hands and use my thumbs to slide the face a little and check alignment of the buttons by pressing them around the whole thing. It requires more “feel” to do it this way, but it saves me a lot of time.

Without the faceplate buttons are nice – but:
the movement towards down is not plain straight, I mean there’s a very little angle causing some a pair of caps at least to remain stuck for a second.
So if I’d use the method you mentioned I guess I’ll have little luck… But I’ll try as well!

Other method might be to file away the sides of the buttons

No. If the buttons are soldered against the PCB at an angle then it won’t help. I’d do it by feel and try to align it as best you can, but the only real solution is to determine which buttons aren’t straight and then reflow the solder while pressing it from the front. I don’t know if that will do it, but it’s the method which is more likely to succeed.

Did it always have this problem to some extent?

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I get this happening with my OT Mk2 trig buttons too. It’s a somewhat common issue unfortunately.

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Not confident with desoldering…
Issue is recent. Just one factor has changed: temperature of my studio room.
Quite cold these days