ESX pads hard to trigger

supermel74 · Post by **supermel74** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:40 am

My ESX is about 7 years old and some of the pads need to be pressed harder to get them to trigger. This makes recording patterns in real time nearly impossible. Does anybody know how to fix this or have a link to a step by step tutorial on how to fix it? Thanks.

sohatyi · Post by **sohatyi** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:48 am

I have performed this fix on an emx with totally broken buttons. They're coated with a film of conductive paint which wears off. You need to open her up, wipe the motherboard contacts down carefully with a swab sprayed with contact cleaner and then repaint he button contacts. I found a conductive ink pen does a good job. They call them circuit writer pens. Let it cure for a day, check no flecks have fallen off or are loose and reassemble. While you're in there, perform the knob jitter fix ( baking sheet between the two main boards) to save time later on. A year on and the emx buttons are like new.

supermel74 · Post by **supermel74** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:59 am

Thanks for the complete and informed answer. Hopefully I can make it work for me too.

sohatyi · Post by **sohatyi** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 1:24 am

No problems! I'm happy to answer any further questions. If you've never disassembled an emx/esx before, don't take out the screws next to the screen and the arp, they're hard to get to and you don't need to remove them. Take the hex head screws out, pot, encoder and fader caps off. Keep them in a bowl, remove the faceplate and then be prepared to do plenty of unscrewing. You'll need to unhook the arp's ribbon cable. It just clips into place, just take it easy. The main board comes out with the key oars etc. in a combined unit, you then need to unscrew that part at which point you'll be able to get to the membrane buttons. The coating is near invisible, really only visible if you look at it with light glancing off it. While you're in there, I'd paint all the keys.

supermel74 · Post by **supermel74** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 2:14 am

Great information to know. I'm not sure when I'll get at it, but when I do I'll be sure to post the results here and hopefully take some pics for future reference.

Sclr · Post by **Sclr** » Sun Feb 03, 2013 9:49 am

This stuff works great:
http://sounddoctorin.com/synthtec/parts ... lycontacts
He even has a bit of a tut to show how he uses them. I bought some off of him and i have repaired a ton of old buttons/contacts with these things.

Sclr · Post by **Sclr** » Sun Feb 03, 2013 9:50 am

http://youtu.be/gJarAWE-Uyo

supermel74 · Post by **supermel74** » Thu Feb 14, 2013 11:45 pm

Sclr wrote:This stuff works great:
http://sounddoctorin.com/synthtec/parts ... lycontacts
He even has a bit of a tut to show how he uses them. I bought some off of him and i have repaired a ton of old buttons/contacts with these things.

Are you sure these will work on the ESX?

sohatyi · Post by **sohatyi** » Fri Feb 15, 2013 12:12 am

The contacts on the electribes are quite large. Those dots look awfully small. I wouldn't be able to say either way. It does look like they were meant for slightly smaller buttons.

supermel74 · Post by **supermel74** » Fri Feb 15, 2013 12:24 am

sohatyi wrote:The contacts on the electribes are quite large. Those dots look awfully small. I wouldn't be able to say either way. It does look like they were meant for slightly smaller buttons.

I just ordered them either way. Hopefully it works. I decided to try this solution first just because it seems a little less involved than the one you posted and I usually find a way to mess stuff up that involves delicate work and attention to detail. If this doesn't work than I'll go ahead and order a circuit writer. I'm assuming this is the type you're talking about? Will one pen be enough to do all the contacts?

sohatyi · Post by **sohatyi** » Fri Feb 15, 2013 6:51 am

Yes, that's the pen and I think I used about half of its contents. It really wasn't delicate work.

Sclr · Post by **Sclr** » Fri Feb 15, 2013 7:34 am

They are small. You can use more than one on a pad. I have put them on keys for other synths and for the up down buttons/pads on electribes. They last longer than the pen, paint, contact materials.

Sclr · Post by **Sclr** » Fri Feb 15, 2013 7:37 am

Oh and the outer portions of the strip you get you can cut up to shape. There is a portion like a margin that can still be used.

supermel74 · Post by **supermel74** » Sun Feb 17, 2013 7:32 pm

I've got the ESX opened up. How and where do I disconnect the ribbon cable for the arpeggiator? It seems to be connected in 2 places. I don't want to mess anything up.

sohatyi · Post by **sohatyi** » Sun Feb 17, 2013 8:01 pm

You only need to disconnect the shorter ribbon cable. Open the esx up like a book after that so the top board is facing down to the left of the unit. I'd rest it on something soft.