Remember topic on print wearing off buttons

[JohnS (Ugawoga)]

Hi To Everone

I am in the UK and i just really noticed that the forward slash on the Stop Start button has almost gone.
After reading some people had problems i thought i'd mention this.
It is not a big deal, but would it affect the sale price when upgrading part exchange for the latest model when it comes.
I am fortunate as i purchased the Genos on October 9th 2018 from the Tyros Tipsters, Epiano's..
It has a five year guarantee, so i have until October 2022 to do something about as other buttons may follow.
What do you think, put up with it because it is only one button affected.


All the best
John

[Oxford1035]

so i have until October 2022 to do something about as other buttons may follow.

You're doing yourself out of a year's guarantee John 

Kind regards,

Russ

[JohnS (Ugawoga)]

Hi Russ
I do not see that as if any others start fading i could get then done all at once before end date.
I got not quite half a slash on start button that is all.

All the best
John

[mikf]

i think he means you have till oct. 2023 not 2022.
mike

[SciNote]

Are you sure the warranty will cover this?  Often, manufacturer's warranties and extended warranties do not cover minor cosmetic damage.

[JohnS (Ugawoga)]

Hi Mikf

I miscalculated ,sorry.


Hi Sci Note

It is a manufacturing defect in the screen printing and i should of thought that a guarantee is a guarantee.
On the price of a Genos this is not really acceptable
This is what i would expect on a £15 computer keyboard.

I am not too worried about it really , it is just the thought of others that may deteriorate. really a what if situation.

All the Best
John

[Al Ram]

John
I had same problem . . . . the lettering on 2-3 buttons were fading.  I contacted Yamaha in the US and they did approve to replace them under warranty.  The warranty in US is only 1 year !!!

I thought this was not a major problem, basically cosmetic, the functionality of keyboard was not affected.  But I thought this could decrease the value of the Genos if I ever sold it, so, it looked like a no brainer . . . one year warranty and an easy fix . . .  I should change those buttons. 

So, Yamaha gave me a list of approved tech people in my area . . . . There were only two techs nearby. 

Contacted one, went thru the warranty process and the tech ordered new Yamaha parts and replaced the buttons.  Tested everything and it was good.

So far so good, only problem is that after a little while, other buttons were fading, so, i went thru same process again, the tech replaced the additional buttons . . . . tested everything worked fine. . . . however, after a few days some buttons were not functioning correctly . . . . . it looked to me like the tech did not connect something inside properly . . . .

Called Yamaha again, went thru process . . . contacted another tech from Yamaha list . . . . second tech fixed the problem, tested and everything great . . . . . after a while more problems with buttons not working properly and other buttons fading . . . . went back thru same process . . . .  second tech fixed the problem . . . . . tested and everything good . . . . then after a while more problems and tech had to replace not only buttons but a board inside . . . . . . etc . . . . . in the end it took me more than a year and several times going back and forth . . . . for a purely cosmetic problem.

In the end, i was wondering if it was worth it.   If I knew i would go thru all that for a couple of fading buttons i would not have done it . . . . .

I have to say that Yamaha was great in supporting me ...... they were always very understanding even if the one year warranty expired in the several-months process . . . they always approved the work at zero cost to me even with expired warranty.

Things are great now . . . Genos is working great, no problems and faded buttons replaced. 

Bottom line, if you do this, plan ahead . . . . .in my case it took more than a few days . . . . it was actually several months . . . . . . . hope you have better luck and better techs in your area. 

Have a great day.

[SciNote]

Agreed -- This should not be happening after just a year or two on a $5000 keyboard.  I'm glad that Yamaha is doing the right thing and replacing these buttons under warranty, but the warranty only lasts so long, and if they're replacing the buttons with the same parts as original, it's only going to keep on happening, and it will just get worse as time goes on and the warranty has long past expired.

I remember when I would buy advanced calculators back when I was in high school -- on the order of a cool four decades ago -- I would want these devices to look like new for as long as possible, so I would wonder if repeated use of the various buttons would cause the numbers, letters, and icons to wear off over time.  As I took a close look at the buttons, I found that the better-designed calculators put a clear plastic or laminate type material over the buttons, so that the painted numbers/letters/icons would be protected by repeated finger-presses.  Even better, sometimes I saw that the icon was not just painted on the button, but was actually precisely cut into the button and filled with a light-colored plastic to form the icon.  Seems like something like this should have been included with a $5000 keyboard.