Does SX900 need periodical service/cleaning?

[jaebea]

I bought my SX900 in Sep19.  Absolutely an amazing instrument!  I have noticed lately that 2 of my keys are sometimes misbehaving.  A right hand D will sometimes sound like a D and an Eb together.  Then sometimes a left hand G playing in the auto chord mode will also sound like 2 notes together.  Quite nasty when playing live worship at church!  Has anyone else had this issue?  I have a digital auto harp and every now and then, I have to open it up and clean the contacts with a little alcohol.  Does this sound like a service issue (and not a defect)?

[Graham UK]

Good advice is when not playing always keep keyboard covered to eliminate dust.

[jaebea]

I have cats so my keyboard is always covered.

[Toril S]

Have you tried a soft reset by holding down the rightmost white key while powering on the keyboard?

[andyg]

The keys in modern keyboards are of the rubber/carbon strip type. Each key's contacts should be physically separated from each other by the width of a semitone and unable to move closer unless the strip is somehow deformed. Dust or grease getting into a contact pad will usually either result in an intermittent or silent key, or one that plays with maximum velocity, regardless of how the key is pressed. I can't think of any way that a single key pressed down could trigger two notes, but I haven't looked inside yours!

I can't comment on your particular case but, back before lockdown, I went to see someone who had a similar problem. It turned out that their hand positioning was less than optimal and as they played a key, they would occasionally just catch the black key on one side of it.

So I'd keep the keyboard covered, do the soft reset and double check your hand positioning. If you can, see if you can deliberately make it happen repeatedly, so you can see if there's something obvious happening, or if there's a pattern to it.

If all else fails, it does sound like a key contact problem, albeit one I've not come across before.

And to answer your initial question, no, the keyboard doesn't need any periodic maintenance. Keep it clean and it should be just fine.

[jaebea]

I am not familiar with a soft reset so I will try it.  Keyboard is always covered - first with foam then a blanket on the stand.  It is a favored place to sleep for my many cats.  And when I use it (several times a week) and I'm finished, I always cover it back up for protection.  I know I have a hand positioning issue, mostly the left hand.  I noticed when I hit a key, it wouldn't sound, and remembered I had the same problem with past keyboards. So what was the constant in all those scenarios?  My hand.  I was hitting the key too high.  Maybe my right hand is doing the same since it sounds like a white and black note being played together.  I will take note of my right hand next time I play.  Thank you all for your suggestions!!

[Toril S]

Keep in mind that the soft reset will not delete your files, but can effect some settings, for instance auto power off/on.

[Robert van Weersch]

Don't know about the SX900, but I've had Yamaha keyboards since the late 80s and I never used a cover, never did any maintenance (no moving parts, so why would you?), have them plugged in the power 24/7 and haul them from home to rehearsels / gigs (in a soft cover bag) a few times a month. Never had any errors related to usages. I once had an error with a LED in the first week I got my T5, but that was production related.

[jaebea]

I have six cats that share it as their bed during the day.  I play in the evenings and once a week, all my gear is packed up for church.  It is safer with some padding and a blanket on it during the day.

[SamJoel Mathew]

My yamaha sx700 is stuck on logo screen.I don't know what to do.I think it is something related to deleting from favourites.The keyboard is absolutely new.I came to know that many owners of this keyboard have this same problem.Any fix? old reply

[meyrick]

Hi jaebea. You say you cover with foam then a blanket, and it is a favourite place for yours cats to sleep. I will guess the foam is of neoprene, As to the blanket, I'm not sure of its construction. However, cats have claws, is it possible the cat has put a claw through the blanket and foam and a very small piece of foam has lodged between the keys, thus causing a semi joint between the two? Just a though and worth a look.

[Toril S]

Cats on the keyboard, that is a new one😀 You better teach them to play!😀😀😀