Buttons responding poorly

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Risc_Terilia
 
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Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2014 11:05 am

Buttons responding poorly

Post by Risc_Terilia »

I bought a second hand x0xb0x a while back and the buttons are intermittent at best ie it often takes several presses to get them to respond. This isn't much of a problem when programming but it makes it basically unusable in a live situation (using the looping, transposing etc.).

What can I do about this? Would spraying some contact cleaner in there sort this out?

Thanks

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antto
 
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Re: Buttons responding poorly

Post by antto »

the tact switches have a "life" .. after many hundreds of time they get pressed - they start failing
the 303 (and 303 clones) are very abused in this department, so that's well known
you could try spraying them, but if i were you - replace the tact switches with new ones

Risc_Terilia
 
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Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2014 11:05 am

Re: Buttons responding poorly

Post by Risc_Terilia »

Ok thanks for the quick reply. Could you recommend a supply of the switches?

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antto
 
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Re: Buttons responding poorly

Post by antto »

the switches from the BOM are really common and easy to find almost everywhere
they are generic inexpensive 12mm tact switches

there are some others, more expensive ones which are "sealed" and have much longer "life"
the switches in my old x0x (which i bought 2nd hand, like you) started failing one by one after i used it a lot.. and i desoldered them, then i soldered sealed switches (from ALPS)
these ALPS switches click less (which is nice) but their "stem" (the square part at the top where you stick the button cap) is just slightly bigger, so the x0x button caps can't quite fit, thus the stems must be filed down from all sides a bit
those ALPS switches also have two plastic legs which are meant for positioning on the PCB, but the x0x PCB doesn't have holes for such switches, so you have to chop them off

there are also sealed switches from OMRON
you can read more about these things here: http://www.firstpr.com.au/rwi/dfish/tact-switches/ (it's oriented towards the 303 but it's more or less valid for the x0x too)

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rv0
 
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Re: Buttons responding poorly

Post by rv0 »

In bold and full caps:

DONT SPRAY CONTACT CLEANER IN YOUR X0XBOX!!!!
It will ruin it.

just replace the switches, they are available form most retailers.

the above mentioned omron and alps sealed dome switches have a slightly bigger stem (the x0xb0x button caps need to be 3.3 mm, while those other switches are 3.8).
You can DIY the switches to fit x0xb0x button caps, but its a very precise and time intensive job. Well worth it because they last "forever" though.
I've spent some time looking at switch suppliers and I havent found sealed dome switch manufacturers that make it with the 3.3mm actuator size.

If you chose "normal" switches, install an internal dustcover to prolong the lifetime, as illustrated here: http://rv0.be/303/x0xb0x/dustc0ver

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