You're right. I just found a few dribbles of it on the underside of my JV-80 keys. I don't think it was ever runny but instead is sort of like thick tree sap. My studio was a little cooler than the rest of my house and I was able to flick a couple of the streams right off clean. However if I tried to wipe it with something it would smear and become a real mess. Also just like he mentions in the video, it likes to stick to itself.

Nobody but you saw this comment but I did it. It sucked but it was totally worth it and possible, if anyone else has this issue I recommend using something to scrape off the majority of glue and isopropyl alcohol to wipe off the rest. Be careful not to use too much or leave it on because I think it degrades the plastic.

I'm about to undertake this on my JV80, which has been in storage for about 18 years... John, how did you deal with the stopper strip? That's about the only step in the process that I fear.

@@tdm1995 Simply gently warmed it with a hairdryer and peeled it off. Adhesive strip stayed pretty much intact. Pressed it back on afterwards and all was fine.

@@johndove9776 thanks John!! I will be undertaking this project. :-)

Last summer I decided I was going to "attack" the stuck keys on ,y jv-1000, which is essentially the same as the jv-80. I identified the keys that were causing issues ( not all were sticking ) and removed as much of the glue as possible. I aslo had to apply graphite to some of the contacts as some notes were not triggering. I got to where the keyboard was functioning. I had it in a spare bedroom and kept if covered. I went to move it recently to another location and found the stuck keys had deteriorated more than I imagined. Seem that in the room it was in, it was about 3-4 feet from a radiator. Some keys dropped the weights and can't be depressed at all. What a travesty. I have no choice now but to remove all the keys and get rid of this dammed friggin glue. Yes the KB is very old now but I can't believe Roland wasn't ever aware of this because surely they had to have used this glue years before they marketed the jv series of keyboards

What drain cleaner did you use? Did you try Lye?

I have been putting off doing the BIG JOB until I retire. I did something real stupid the last time I had the keyboard out. Without going the "caustic lye" route, I clean off as much residue as possible so that the synth was very playable. I then moved it to another location in a room NEAR A RADIATOR.. ARGGGGGGGG .. about 15 of the upper keys were stuck and it's a good thing I didn't force the keys because this time, the weights actually came loose and were blocking the keys from being depressed. Soon I will take it out again and clean the residual glue and reattach the loose weights but I think I will try your method.I'm assuming that you just applied the varnish around the weight itself and not the entire underside of each key.

While I was playing the KB, I suddenly heard this significant humming, I changed outlets, no extension cords and after a time, the humming came back. Now there is a very slight hum when powering it up from the transformer but nothing could explain the louder hum after about 10-15 min of use. So I investigated. Some people said that the transformer's blades could be vibrating but the trans is encased in varnish to prevent that. Some said that maybe the electrolytic capacitors were possibly blown due to the age but when I checked them visually, they look pristine so when the loud hum returned, I flipped over the KB and removed that cover and suddenly the hum went back to the normal hum from the trans .. hmmm could it be that the cover was vibrating? Well yes because two of the screws that secure the cover attach to the frame of the PSB and they may have been slightly loose. To make things better, I placed some small pieces of rubberized tape along the edges of the PSB frame to isolate it from the back cover. Cover back on and no loud humming since, but I will keep my fingers crosses that was the problem and not the trans or caps 🙂

watch out for 'down the drain';-)

Good luck with the restoration! You might also want to read the other comments as they contain some useful tips.

The thing I'm most worried about is the aftertouch strip. Removing it without damaging it is going to be troublesome. You mentioned some hard to find glue to reapply it. Can you tell me what it is?

The aftertouch strip is actually not a problem, it just stays where it is (at least on the JV-80). You are probably thinking about the stopper strip, which is just a strip of plastic keeping the keys from sliding forward (towards the player) and from coming out of their hinges. According to comments people had luck with just heating the stopper strip and pulling it off carefully and later reapplying it, reusing the existing adhesive tape. The tape used in the JV-80 is "Nitto Nr. 501" according to the service manual. I did not find this exact one online but I think it is similar to current Nitto Nr. 5010P www.nitto.com/eu/en/products/double/078/ . It is simply a thin strip of polyester with acrylic adhesive on both sides. It bonds well to the (probably) polystyrene of the strip and *extremely* well to metal.

Just be careful when applying heat directly to the keys. I don't know how much they can take. I wouldn't recommend anything above ~70° Celsius.

Thanks. I don't have experience with removing the stuff from electronics. All I can say is DONT use any alkaline cleaner like sodium hydroxide on the electronics! While these chemicals are perfectly fine for the plastic keys, they are highly corrosive to metals and are highly likely to destroy traces on circuit boards and electronic components. The usual suggestion for cleaning electronics is isopropyl alcohol (IPA) but that will probably not have any effect on the horrible red stuff. As long as the red glue does not pose any functional danger to the electronics, I would probably leave it there. (e.g. Danger would be if it is going to run into keyboard switches, other contacts, or faders.) If it is running into bad places, you could try to remove (most of) it mechanically.

P.S.: If you are desperate to remove the stuff, another commenter had luck with freezing parts so that the glue comes off more easily. Normally, electronics should survive non-extreme freezing, though I cannot guarantee that they will. In any case, you would have to make sure that the electronics are *completely* dried afterwards before powering them again! Definitely DONT heat the electronics. If in doubt, I would err on the side of leaving the glue on the electronics.

I can't find his drain cleaner where I live in California, I read that high concentrations of lye an have even a higher pH than he used so I'm going to try lye. I'll look for the Biscon glue, thanks.

I don't know the US market but you should also be able to buy pure sodium hydroxide (also called "caustic soda" or "lye"), something like this: www.amazon.com/FDC-99-Pure-Sodium-Hydroxide/dp/B013KMNCJU or this: www.amazon.com/Instant-Power-Crystal-Drain-Opener/dp/B07MQBT4HS Please protect your eyes and hands when handling this stuff. If you get it in powder form, mix slowly with cold water because it will heat up when mixing, only *then* add hot water if it is not warm enough yet.

I don't have a formal reference but here are some oversharpened pictures from my JV-80 keyboard where you can see the sequence of the keys if you zoom in at the top: www.dropbox.com/sh/avrwnit07zilvm1/AABMq66NzamAsftdS9PQFvrna?dl=0 If a key is called "CF" it seems to mean it works as a C or an F key, etc. The numbers seemed to be in no particular order on my keyboard. I put them back as they were before. For the weights: I don't know how to get exact replacements. I would just weight some you have and get metal parts of similar weight and shape from somewhere. I don't think it is critical. I know people order a lot of metal parts from mcmaster.com, for example. But I think even some scrap metal will do as long as it is the right weight and placed approximately right.

Hi! The only ingredient you need is sodium hydroxide (lye), plus warm water and patience. The longer you leave the keys in there, the easier the job. It does not affect the keys at all but the lye may be corrosive to the metal weights, so if you care about them, you may check on them now and then.

Sorry to hear that. Some engineers(?) in the 80s caused quite a lot of grief by picking the wrong glue :-/.

Edwin Steiner ...yeah, and that was my most beloved one. Nice sounds still.

Edwin Steiner Still, I’m concerned with KORG KROME and KORG KROSS 2. Both have glued weights too. Still I’m making a search if there’s a problem with those. Nice video.

I don't see anything on Roland's support that has anything to do with replacing the keyboard assembly. I think it's something they will no longer support under any conditions. I think a suit should have been brought against Roland for such shotty work. I will attempt to repair my JV1000 myself. I have disassembled it numerous times that it's a no brainer for me. I actually disassembled it today. Cleaned the metal apparatus of any trace of glue and put all the keys aside. As soon as the weather gets a bit warmer I will do the "soak" outdoors and hopefully be rid of that shitty red glue for good

Did you find a way to clean the board? I'm also having the same problem.

You can avoid dangerous substances. According to comments even hot water may be enough to loosen the glue. I suspect that hot water combined with some alkaline detergent could work quite well if you have enough patience.

@@EdwinSteiner Thanks for your suggestion! I have already started disassembling the JV 80. I tested the electronics and it works. I didn't start with the glue yet. I bought the pipe cleaner, the new glue and the WD 40. Could not find the silicón Grease yet. But I do not understand the necessity of drilling holes and the 6 mm tape. Shouldn't it be enough to glue it? Or just use another similar tape? What is the issue with the tape?

Hi Eduardo! I suggest that you skip the drilling part unless you feel very comfortable with small metal working jobs. I just did it this way because I don't like gluing stuff together and I wanted a solution that allows for easily removing the stopper strip again if necessary. I suggest that you 1.) try (carefully!) heating the stopper strip with a hair dryer, for example, and try to pull it off leaving the adhesive tape intact so you can later simply stick the strip back on (this worked for someone who commented on my video). 2.) If that does not work, clean the strip like I did and replace the adhesive tape with some new double-sided acrylic adhesive tape, either the Nitto I mentioned in another comment or any other that you can get. I don't think it matters a lot.

@@EdwinSteiner Hi Edwin, thank you so much! Your video is super, great!!!! I finally managed to clean the keys. I took the precaution of taking note of each key's code, and their relative position, in order to get them back into the right place. All black keys lost their weights, but 5 white keys have their weights still stuck. I don't know how to get them off. Any suggestions? The keys are very delicate. I am afraid of breaking them.

@@eduardofracassi3113 Well done! For getting the weights off, what seems to help is a combination of: time, high temperature, high pH value (alkaline). I'd try to soak the keys in hot (say 70°C) drain cleaner solution for a day. People also had success simply boiling keys in plain water (I'd still be careful about such high temperatures) or letting them soak in non-hot drain cleaner for a few days. It may also help to pull the weights out with a little hook as I did but don't lever the tool over the plastic! Normally patience is all that is needed. If they really won't come out, you can still use new epoxy over the old one to seal it permanently.

yes, lye will probably work well. just give it enough time to dissolve the glue. some keys not working is likely due to oxidation or dirt in the switches, not the glue. i had some dead keys before and i could fix them by disassembling and cleaning the contacts *very carefully* with isopropyl alcohol and lightly rotating an eraser head of a pencil on the contacts and then dusting off.

@@EdwinSteiner Thank you very much Edwin. I'll pull the circuit board and do the cleaning as you described. I really appreciate your work here. Cheers.

@@EdwinSteiner LYE UPDATE: I highly recommend Lye, I had read that it can have a pH of 12-14 in high concentrations, so I bought 100% lye crystals, mixed a strong concentration: about 1/3 cup (80mL) of crystals in about 1/2 gallon (1900 mL) water and let it sit for about 18 hours, the weights either had fallen out or fell out of 20 of the white keys and 3 of the black keys with no prying, and no visible red glue on them. 2 more white key weights pried out easily. I'm letting the rest sit in a new equally strong solution for another 24 hours or so.

@@EdwinSteiner Lye Update 2 : After a 2nd soak of 12 hours all of the weights either fell out on their own or came out very easily with light prying using a dental pick. So for anyone whe can't find the drain cleaner he used or can't find the pH of common drain cleaners (I couldn't) I recommend lye. Of course you'll want gloves and eye protection.

Heat will make the glue less viscous, so more liquid. It might help you to get a key unstuck but it won't remove the mess. It might even increase the mess by making more of the glue start to move out from under the weight plates. The great thing about the drain cleaner method is that it dissolves the glue so that it's really gone.

Yes, as long as you don't pull the keys, the stopper strip is not strictly needed as the springs hold the keys back. Nice minimalist solution!

It was an off-the-shelf drain pipe cleaner. I think the only really important property is that it is highly alkaline. The product I used is based on caustic soda (sodium hydroxide).

Hello Ralph! That is unusual and normally cannot be caused just by working on the keyboard. Even if you should have forgotten to reconnect the keyboard, the JV-80 would start normally (with keys not working). I think it is most likely that you accidentally disconnected or damaged one of the connections between the electronics boards in the JV-80 when you disassembled and reassembled it. Make sure all these connections look right and no cables are pinched, etc. Do you get any sound out of the instrument? (If yes, the problem may only be something about the display. If not, there are lots of things that could cause the problem.)

Hi Eduardo! The chance is low but not zero, I'd say. The white keys will probably not cause problems since the glue in them will simply drop down onto the inside of the case. The glue from the black keys could drop down inside the instrument but most of the surface under the keys is closed. You'd have to be very unlucky for it to cause real damage but I cannot rule it out. If some keys don't work, the reason is more likely that the key switches need refurbishing as they did on my JV-80. (Unfortunately I do not have that on video.) The simplest version of the repair is to seal the keys with new epoxy over the old glue as suggested in some comments. I don't think you can clean the keys without disassembling the keyboard. Disassembling is easy but a bit time-consuming. Reassembling is also not difficult. The main hurdle is the stopper strip. Some people had luck with pulling the strip off with heat and simply reapplying it to the existing glue later.

I had my JV-80 in a keyboard stand with the keys tilted down at a moderate angle. The current condition of the instrument is that all of the black keys cannot be depressed. There are a few of the white keys that can be pressed but they do not create any sound. I think at some point after the glue issue started some of the white keys would sound and maybe the black keys were working. Thanks to this video, I may attempt to open up the keyboard to see what is going on. I do not think you can get to the weights/glue in the black keys without opening up the instrument.

@@rjones1357 After successfuly finishing the job, I must say that opening and cleaning everything is the best option. The JV80 works!!!!

I don't remember, probably 1-2 hours or so. The longer the better. I probably was too impatient. Some people got good results by leaving it overnight or even for a couple of days in there, then the weights drop out by themselves. It could corrode the metal weights a bit. If you worry about that, someone suggested first using only warm water to soften the glue, then remove the weights, then use the drain cleaner to get rid of the glue on the keys.

Good luck! Consider checking the comments for tips and experiences from multiple people.

@@EdwinSteiner I certainly did!

Hi nate! Dead keys could also be an issue unrelated to the red glue. I had some dead keys on my JV-80 that I fixed before making this video, so it is unfortunately not recorded. Here are the steps that worked for me: What you need: Q-tips or microfiber cloth pencil with a clean eraser head small quantity of isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol). How to do it: Disassemble the keyboard as shown in the video but additionally unscrew the brown circuit boards covering the keyboard switches. Separate the soft rubber domes of the keyboard switches from the contacts on the circuit board. (Take note of the placing and orientation so you can reassemble them correctly afterwards.) Blow away any dust from all parts. *Gently* wipe both the conductive (darker) pads of the rubber parts and the contacts on the board with isopropanol. *Very gently* rotate the eraser head of the pencil on the contacts. The eraser acts as a light abrasive, removing dirt or oxidation from the contacts. Wipe the contacts again with isopropanol. Let dry and reassemble. If some keys still don't work, you may have to repeat the steps for them. Better to do it twice than to be too aggressive and damage the switches the first time. I show in the video how to test the keyboard switches without reassembling the whole instrument. Good luck!

@@EdwinSteiner Thanks for the steps. I definitely will try this out👍🏼

Did you O_O

Hi! You can certainly do it for only a few keys if you like and if the glue is really the problem. However, if some keys play no notes or always play loudest (highest velocity), it is more likely that the key switches are the problem. Unfortunately I don't have key switch refurbishing on video, but here is a quick howto (sorry for the format, I copy&pasted this from an email I sent a while ago): What you need: Q-tips or microfiber cloth pencil with a clean eraser head small quantity of isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol). (Seems harder to get due to the pandemic as it is also a disinfectant.) e.g. www.amazon.com/Viva-Doria-Isopropyl-Alcohol-Rubbing/dp/B08NCZ5BPB How to do it: Disassemble the keyboard as shown in the video but additionally unscrew the brown circuit boards covering the keyboard switches. Separate the soft rubber domes of the keyboard switches from the contacts on the circuit board. (Take note of the placing and orientation so you can reassemble them correctly afterwards.) Blow away any dust from all parts. *Gently* wipe both the conductive (darker) pads of the rubber parts and the contacts on the board with isopropanol. *Very gently* rotate the eraser head of the pencil on the contacts. The eraser acts as a light abrasive, removing dirt or oxidation from the contacts. Wipe the contacts again with isopropanol. Let dry and reassemble. If some keys still don't work, you may have to repeat the steps for them. Better to do it twice than to be too aggressive and damage the switches the first time.

@@EdwinSteiner Thanx for your fast reaction bro! I'll definitely will check that out one time. The JD800 is under my bed for 10 years now, lol. Maybe i sell it or use it again. I see high prices for that thing as it's a collectors item ;-)

Dankje Rob, ik heb een XP-80 met hetzelfde probleem, jij hebt ervaring al?

@@PaulWalraven Ja, Gewoon alle toetsen met de gewichten onderdompelen in HG Gootsteenontstopper, een nacht laten staan en dan is die rode lijm losgelaten van toetsen en gewichten. Dan alles goed spoelen en daarna met bison kit die gewichten weer aan de toetsen lijmen. De gewichtjes in de zwarte toetsen hebben soms wat hulp nodig om los te laten (met een kleine schroevendraaier) , maar in principe zouden ze uit zichzelf los moeten laten

I recommend that you take a look at the comment threads to this video since people have come up with some good suggestions since. All the best!

Hi Marcus! I used a small old screwdriver into which I ground a little hook at the tip using a Dremel. It is briefly shown in the video. The hook has the advantage that you can pull on the weights without levering the tool over the plastic, potentially damaging the key. That said, a long (hours to days!) soaking time in warm draincleaner (or just caustic soda) solution is your best bet for getting the weights out.

@@EdwinSteiner hey thank you so much for the response! i will try soaking them in different draino this time, last time it just made the red glue barley move able. i just dont want to damage the weights or keys by using too much pressure

@@couchfromcraigslist9230 Yes, you should not have to yank brutally on the weights. Just a firm gentle pulling to overcome the suction of the glue should suffice. Some people reported the weights falling out by themselves after very long soaking. Be sure to use caustic soda or a drain cleaner based on it (should say "contains sodium hydroxide"). Use a high concentration, it does not harm the keys at all. Use very warm/slightly hot water (unless when mixing with dry sodium hydroxide!). Good luck!

@@couchfromcraigslist9230 You're probably done now but its heat you need to get those weights out! See my other comment on this video for some tips, or in case anyone else sees this video! Thanks Edwin, this video was a huge help!

what was the ratio of your mix please

@@costasdiakos8782 100ml on 1 liter of water

is it harmful to skin? or any means from touching it. thanks

I don't know the exact range of years when this bad glue was used. I read somewhere that it was used in the 90s. If by now you don't see any red droplets under the keys, you're probably fine.

Your XP-80 100% wasnt manufactured in 1986 because it was released in 1996. And "Yes" also the XP series have the glue problem.

Oops! I meant 1996. Thankfully, it has no glue issues so far. My Rodgers organ does, though. Rodgers was owned by Roland when the organ was made so it makes sense.

Don’t bother😞I have one and it will almost certainly have the dreaded Red glue issues 🥴

Apart from the white keys coming in a few obviously different shapes, I don't think that the exact order matters.

It's certainly not economic, especially for a JV-80, which is not really sought-after. However, fixing old stuff gives its own kind of satisfaction and with the experience collected in the many comments to this video, one could streamline the process.