V5 buttons are unresponsive and/or difficult to trigger

Hi folks. I’ve been following the zynthian project for a few years and I’m excited to have finally purchased and built the v5 kit.

All seems to be working as expected except that my buttons seem quite unresponsive. Sometimes they take many presses to register or need to be pushed at a specific angle or I need to push and then wiggle them around, etc.

I watched a youtube video of a zynth v5 and it looked quite snappy and responsive – not at all like what I’m experiencing. My encoders and touch screen work smoothly and the UI responds fast to those input methods.

I just took apart the enclosure, took another look at the buttons and pcb and nothing looks off to my untrained eye. I made sure to reseat the securing/orientation nubs in the 8 holes on the pcb and put it all back together. It seems a touch better now, but it’s still annoying and difficult to use the buttons.

Any tips or ideas to improve their performance?

Thanks and thanks for all the amazing and hard work that has gone into this project.

hi @aaron.oz - This post might give you some info-ideas:

You really shouldn’t need it yet - maybe you got a marginal silicone pad or your control board has gotten oxidized. The traces under the pad buttons should be nice and shiny. You could check if the pad buttons are conductive as they should be with an ohm-meter AKA DMM - Digital MultiMeter. I don’t know what’s normal - I’d guess under 5 ohms.

It really seems like you got a bad control board or silicone keyboard. It’s rare but not imposible. I will send you a replacement ASAP

Excuse the inconveniences

3 Likes

It happens. I appreciate the offer to fix it as quickly as is in your control. Thanks.

1 Like

The new control board and buttons arrived today. Took 15min to swap them in and the zynthian is snappy and responsive now. Thanks again for the prompt replacement parts.

4 Likes

Don’t forget to send some noise!! :wink:

1 Like

It might take me a bit, but I will definitely give it bit back by posting something.

This is happening to my V5 too. Is there anything I can do by dismantling the buttons, or is it likely another faulty keyboard?

Hi @kramlie !
When did you buy the kit? Has been always like this or did start to happen suddenly?

Hey @jofemodo!

It has been like this since day one. I placed the order on 21st Nov 2024.

Hi @kramlie !

It looks like a faulty control board too. Now we are out-of-stock, so i can’t send you a replacement for the control board, but as soon as we receive the new batch, i will ship one to you. Please, don’t hesitate to ask me for it once we start selling V5.1 again.

Regards!

Cool, thanks @jofemodo!

Just FYI for new users just as myself:
This type of switch assembly can be a bit stiff in the beginning. After a few days of use it’s already much better. At least in my experience. It’s common - I have seen this on other gear as well.

This was my experience too. After about a week it loosened up and the buttons I use regularly feel good.