• From: Edmonton AB Canada
  • Registered: 2008-07-15
  • Posts: 712

Topic: Help! Road case foam attack!

Hey there,

Finally got my wonderful craigslist deal in the mail this morning. A Roland JX-10 SuperJX in road case, A PG-800 programmer and 3 full M64C cartridges for $600 US.

BUT foam from the f***ing road case brittle off and was covering parts of the keyboard and got into some of the keys and s**t. The foam comes off easy enough but leaves a sticky residue.

Everything looks perfect which ticks me off a little more. There's no dings. All the printing on the buttons are perfect and haven't rubbed off. I fired it up and played a few keys and it sounds fine. It just has black crap all over it.

So how do I clean it up and keep it in otherwise perfect shape? A tech at work gave me some 99.9% Isopropyl alcohol to use. He said go get one of those compressed air cans and blow everything out and then rub it all down.

An audio tech said to use vinegar or soap and water. Will this damage, oxidize anything?

Tried googling but can't really find what I need.

Also is it worth cleaning out and refoaming the road case? It's massive. Or should it just get chucked in the garbage?

The PG-800 and M64Cs were in another box and were mint. PG-800 even came in its hilarious over the shoulder bag.

plikestechno's Website

  • beem
  • The Methuselah
  • Offline
  • From: Erotic City
  • Registered: 2008-07-07
  • Posts: 15,327

Re: Help! Road case foam attack!

I use Isopropyl to clean all my crap, worked fine for me so far.. Tried to rub your finger on the residue?.. Sometimes if its sticky it just rolls into a ball and comes off.

CRACKED BY MR. Z...

beem's Website

  • From: detroit
  • Registered: 2008-07-24
  • Posts: 69

Re: Help! Road case foam attack!

whoa!  i encountered the same problem about three years ago.  i brought a bunch of gear in an old hard case to a gig.  when i opened it, everything was covered in sticky black crumbles.  we couldn't play the show because all jacks and midi ports were totally covered.  i took it home and thoroughly vacuumed everything.  i definitely would not blow it out with compressed air.  you're more likely to push it further into the components.  the alcohol might work on surfaces but i don't recall ever needing a special cleaning agent to get it off.  good luck...

  • From: Edmonton AB Canada
  • Registered: 2008-07-15
  • Posts: 712

Re: Help! Road case foam attack!

what kind of vacuum did you use? just a home one with an attachment or what?

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  • From: Edmonton AB Canada
  • Registered: 2008-07-15
  • Posts: 712

Re: Help! Road case foam attack!

Should I also just turn it over and let stuff fall out? Maybe give it a little shake?

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  • beem
  • The Methuselah
  • Offline
  • From: Erotic City
  • Registered: 2008-07-07
  • Posts: 15,327

Re: Help! Road case foam attack!

No, dont do that under any circumstances!!

Or.. well, yes

CRACKED BY MR. Z...

beem's Website

  • From: Edmonton AB Canada
  • Registered: 2008-07-15
  • Posts: 712

Re: Help! Road case foam attack!

So yes, or no BMX? I'm not picking up the humour over the internet. I want to clean up this sucker tonight.

plikestechno's Website

  • beem
  • The Methuselah
  • Offline
  • From: Erotic City
  • Registered: 2008-07-07
  • Posts: 15,327

Re: Help! Road case foam attack!

Just do it

CRACKED BY MR. Z...

beem's Website

  • Registered: 2008-07-12
  • Posts: 46

Re: Help! Road case foam attack!

I would just spot test before hand with the Alcohol. I have also found Glass cleaner (Windex) to be very good for cleaning crap off external cases.

  • From: Edmonton AB Canada
  • Registered: 2008-07-15
  • Posts: 712

Re: Help! Road case foam attack!

Spot tested with alcohol and vinegar. Like the vingegar better for the metal, may use the alcohol for plastic buttons. Vaccuming was a big help as well. Now its just time to get rid of the sticky.

plikestechno's Website

11 Reply by Poodle (edited by Poodle 2008-08-29 06:01:16)

  • From: gothenburg
  • Registered: 2008-07-07
  • Posts: 326

Re: Help! Road case foam attack!

to remove sticky nothing beats White Benzine (or what's the proper name for it in english). it's a tiny bit toxic but if you need heavy artillery this is your weapon. i also use it when i clean computer chips ets and it beats isopropanol easy.

  • Registered: 2008-07-07
  • Posts: 663

Re: Help! Road case foam attack!

Just be careful with alcohol, it dries out rubber parts (rubber is often used to keep the dust away from faders and pots, and it's also often used for touch-membrane buttons).
I had sticky shed on my reel recorder and what I did was take it apart and clean everything with a toothbrush and some water and dishwashing soap. I don't know how I would clean a synth tho... Probably the same way.

Brian Chinetti's Website

13 Reply by plikestechno (edited by plikestechno 2008-08-29 08:59:18)

  • From: Edmonton AB Canada
  • Registered: 2008-07-15
  • Posts: 712

Re: Help! Road case foam attack!

Vacuum on lowest setting with brush plus vinegar plus 4+ hours of work and the thing is good as new. Well everything was functioning to begin with but now it's not gunged up.

Yeah I tried a bit of Isopropyl initially but after a quick swipe on the metal faceplate decided against it. Heard that it dries things out too.

Vinegar did the perfect job. Best part about the JX-10 is six screws pulled and you can lift the hinges so I vacuumed the inside too. Only used vinegar on the exterior. Other best thing about the JX-10 is actual buttons not membrane.

Had fun playing Vangelis meets Stockhausen for an hour after. Great dual mode. With the PG-800 I love the damn thing already.

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