A few weeks back, I had setup my Keylab88 at a bar I was playing that night. Somewhere between setup and showtime, the AC failed and farted out a cloud of cigarette ash all over my board. By the end of the night it had worked it's way deep into the keybed and sensors. I lost 2-3 notes, and had two more gigs that weekend. I furiously spent part of an afternoon going through and cleaning out the offending notes (and their adjacent regions). But alas, the other night a few more went... suspect the ash is still in there floating around, finding its way into the sensors. This time, when I opened it up, I took out the entire bed, and cleaned the box as well, then soaked all the keys and rubber sensor pads in soapy water. Since this removed the grease from the joints, I went to an auto shop and got some Silicone grease, which is most likely what Fatar originally uses, and was recommended on most Fatar keyboard forums. So far, so good, fixed the offending notes and nothing new has cropped up. Keeping my fingers crossed. I need to keep better track of which octaves I've cleaned, I've cleaned about half the board by now, so it might be good to take a few hours and clean the remaining half.
My advice: don't be shy to do your own maintenance, these things are actually built like a tank. Unfortunately, keybeds are pretty susceptible to dest and grime. I'm not sure how they could have built it better, TBH. Fortunately, they're fairly easy to service once you get inside, and the parts are well made so they won't easily break while servicing them. Hats off to Fatar for creating a good system, and to Arturia for relying on them.
