I have a key on my Motif 8 classic that’s been acting “sticky”. When played it often doesn’t spring all the way back up, but stays partially depressed.

I’m pretty comfortable working on electronics, computers, etc so I figured I may take it apart and get a look at the keybed from the inside to see if something is actually broken, or if there’s just some gunk stuck there that I’m not aware of (nothing has ever spilled on the keyboard, but it’s feasible some hair or an insect could have found its way in there). It’s a studio keyboard and has never been moved in years, so it wasn’t damaged on the road or anything.

I’m not sure though how to take the keyboard apart - there’s a ton of screws. Can anyone who’s opened up their Motif before give me a little advice? Should I take out all the screws on the bottom, or just those along the edges? Anything else to look out for or be particularly careful about once I get it open?

If someone doesn’t have technical advice but has had a key on their Motif repaired before, any idea of the approximate cost involved would be helpful too.

Thanks!

- David

I believe I saw a repair video for a Motif on YouTube. The guy was showing how to replace broken keys, which is probably what you have. Have replaced a few myself. Ordered them from Yamaha.

Marc

David, I believe I paid something like +/- $16 ea. + shipping.

Marc

Thanks Marc :)
I searched everything I could think of on YouTube and couldn’t seem to find anything (well plenty of the “outside” of the Motif, of course haha). Any chance you might have bookmarked that video, or know what search terms you might have used to find it?

If not, you mentioned you’ve replaced some keys yourself… did you have to remove all of the screws from the bottom, just those on the edges, or something else?

Thanks for your advice.

- David

David, I also took a peak at YouTube and couldn’t find it. Sorry, no bookmark. I sent you an email with more info.

Marc

Hi Marc, thanks :)
I checked my email settings on this site and it looks like I had an email set here that I no longer have access to (I’ve been away from the site for a few years). Any chance you can resend what you sent? I’ve updated my account now with a current email address.
Thanks!

- David

Thought I’d mention… I tried taking the bottom panel of the Motif off, and though I removed all the screws around the outside (but not the inside screws that are peppered all over the bottom of the keyboard), I can’t get the bottom panel to budge even the slightest bit. I’m hesitant to remove all the screws in the middle since I’m not sure if they’re holding something in place on the other side. It appears to me that once I am “able” to lift up the bottom panel, it should take the front metal lip (e.g. the very front of the keyboard) along with it, since I can’t find any way to detach it.

Grrr wish Yamaha had given a diagram of the inside or something in the manual, or even steps to replace a key (after all, we’re musicians, keyboards go on gigs/etc… bound to get broken some time and need emergency replacement of a key on a weekend or something haha).

Thanks for your help Marc :)

David, just sent you another email with details. Let me know if you receive it.

Marc

Hi Marc -

Thanks very much… yes I received your message and will give it a try. If I succeed, do you mind if I re-post your instructions here, in case someone down the line is looking for this info? (I was amazed how little I was able to find about repairing Motifs on Google).

Again, thanks for your excellent help :)

- David

So far so good. I removed all of the bottom screws (including those on the removable RAM-access plate) and was able to get the Motif open at that point. I flipped it over so it was sitting right side up again, and lifted the top of the case (like the hood of a car).

I ran into trouble getting any keys out no matter what I tried, so I decided to remove the front metal lip piece entirely so the front of the keys would be exposed. This required removing the screws on the bottom, as well as the 2 on the inside brackets holding the metal lip to the front. After doing this, getting the keys out was pretty simple (I inserted the tip of a small screwdriver at the back of the key, lifted slightly, and carefully pushed the key forward (towards the front of the keyboard) to unhook it.

I discovered that the key in question has a chipped piece of plastic right at the back/top, which is what was causing the key to be off balance and rub against the adjacent key. Also the metal tension spring/piece was tweaked out of position just a bit (probably as a result of the off balance key pushing on it wrong), which was enough to cause the key to lose its ability to snap back up after being pressed. Lastly almost all of the mechanical grease was somehow missing from the front-most area that the key sits on, so I carefully migrated just a tiny bit from a few other keys. I adjusted and wiggled the spring until it seemed to do the trick, and switched the key for an identical D key from the top of the keyboard to try it out with a non-broken key. Works perfect :)

Next stop is some super glue to fix the chipped plastic, and I should be back in business. I think though that I will leave the keys switched and use the repaired key at the top octave, since I’m less likely to play hard up there, and thus if the glue isn’t perfect it will be less likely to re-break. Although (besides the the chipped plastic) the key looks the same as the other keys, I’m hoping there’s not some other problem with it I’m not yet aware of. If so I might have to just buy a replacement key.

Again, thanks for your help :)

Thank you so much for posting how you took it apart. I have the same problem with a key sticking and slowly coming back up. Now I have an idea of where to start looking, thanks again!

I had to do some replacement on my Classic a few months ago. If you are not removing the battery, make sure you try to isolate as much as you can. Many keys seem to fit the Motif such as the Korg M1, DX7 and of course another Motif if you are lucky. I suggest any shop that rents or repairs key board. My price was ten dollars each but make sure you show up with the old keys. Bargain for the joy that I am getting.

I read the instructions on this, found a couple of keys that were sticking. Was able to get them out just fine. I now realize that “gunk” on the keyhook part, is actually grease.

I dabbed underneath with a little WD-40, this may have been a mistake, now when I put everything back together, those keys no longer send midi data or make sound when i press them.

Think i messed up?

Here’s a link to the key removal video by Salsamac:

http://www.ritmosdelcaribe.com/

Click on video, then miscellaneous videos and you’ll find it.
This video is for the ES8 but all the boards are similar. I don’t think “a little” WD40 would cause problems but recheck your work and make sure the key is installed correctly.

Kevin