Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Kawai CA-95 -- sticky black keys after long period of unuse

Hi guys,

so I have been away from this forum for quite a few years and my CA-95 spent a substantial part of that time at my parents' house, barely seeing any use at all. Now that I have got it moved back to me, I am trying to get back into the swing of things. Unfortunately, I have noticed that some keys (predominantly the black ones, but some white ones, too) are a little too tough to actuate. There is an initial resistance to the first press down, but any immediate presses seem to work as expected. Unfortunately, when I leave the affected key alone for a while and then try to press again, it again starts to resist too much.

I am thinking that maybe the keys need some lubrication somewhere, but I have never even thought about getting inside the keyboard and messing around with it. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

On a side note, I am glad to be back here. While I am still strapped for spare time, I did miss my piano a fair bit, so here's hoping I will put it to better use in the near future than I did in the last 3 years or so.

Cheers, Clayman.

Play it for a while, if it dsn't get better you can bring it to a dealer or open it yourself and diagnose. (I assume it is from 2013so out of warranty)

Many helpful people on this forum.

If this were a Yamaha with GH-derived action, I'd say it needs lubrication. But this is a Kawai action so I don't know whether its a lube job or something else.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions, guys. Sometimes with the keys that are most heavily affected, I can kind of hear the mechanism of the key rubbing against something as the key goes down so that makes me think that it may need some lubrication as well. Sadly, though, I live in the Czech Rep. but bought the piano in Germany as barely any shops stock this brand around here. If any maintenance is going to be required, it will probably have to be a DIY job.

At any rate, I have noticed Kawai James still frequents this forum, so maybe he will drop by with an advice.

It could be that something displaced during transportation. I guess if you're planning for a DIY, just open the instrument and see what is the most visible affected key. Hopefully it will be something that you can see very clearly.

Please post pictures! Both of the inside of the instrument in general, and of any adjustment you make. BTW, making pictures will also help you to make sure you reassemble everything correctly....

Hello Clayman, long time no see - I hope you're keeping well.

I would recommend contacting Kawai's distributor in the Czech Republic for advice on having the instrument serviced:

PRAHA MUSIC CENTER spol s.r.o.
Ocelářská 937/39, 190 00 Praha 9, Czech Republic
Tel : +420-226-011 111
URL : http://www.pmc.cz/

Kind regards,
James
x

Thank you, James. Nice to see you again, too. I've been busy, but fine. Thanks a lot for the tip. I think I'll consult with them about the best course to take.

Much appreciated.