# Cleaning a MIDI controller



## choc0thrax (Oct 11, 2006)

About a year or so ago I spilled Coca Cola all over my M-Audio Radium and it went down through the keys inside. So anyways for a while now my keyboard has been full of ants and the ants on the keys while I play has lost it's charm. I'm moving very soon and refuse to move these ants with me into a new apartment. Any tips on how to clean inside? I see where I can open it up but are there any do's and don'ts when cleaning in there? If I can't clean in there for whatever reason i'm just going to set it on fire. Probably beat it to pieces with an array of baseball bats tied to barbed wire for good measure.


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## midphase (Oct 11, 2006)

try not to use a solvent type of cleaner such as Windex since it might damage the soldering connections.

Go to Radio Shack (or the Canadian equivalent) and get yourself some contact cleaner, a compressed air can or two, and some lint-free brushes.

If the inside looks complicated to disassemble, take a digital photo or two or three to help you when you're reassembling it all.

Keep the screws in different containers so that you know what goes where.

One time I tried to disassemble my m-Audio Keystation Pro 88 and it was a nightmare, I ended up reasssembling it without completing the work since it was so hard to figure out how to correctly disassemble it. Hopefully your keyboard is easier.


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## Scott Cairns (Oct 11, 2006)

Try pouring more Coke on the ants. Maybe the acid will kill them.


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## tobyond (Oct 11, 2006)

Scott Cairns @ Wed Oct 11 said:


> Try pouring more Coke on the ants. Maybe the acid will kill them.



Or even better, pour beer down there and get 'em drunk, then they'll be easier to catch.


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## choc0thrax (Oct 12, 2006)

Thanks Midphase. I would've probably been tempted to use Windex on it because I love cleaning the ants with chemical stuff like that. Even if I break it it's not a big deal. Very often when playing it a note will keep playing after i've taken my finger off the key and I have to find the key and hit it again to turn it off.


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## Scott Cairns (Oct 12, 2006)

Thanks Midphase? Thanks Midphase?! Pouring more coke on the ants was a GREAT idea. (Pouring beer wasnt bad either) :lol:


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## ComposerDude (Oct 12, 2006)




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## choc0thrax (Oct 12, 2006)

Scott Cairns @ Thu Oct 12 said:


> Thanks Midphase? Thanks Midphase?! Pouring more coke on the ants was a GREAT idea. (Pouring beer wasnt bad either) :lol:



The thing is to kill ants I had already planned on setting them on fire and beating them to death with that array of baseball bats and barbed wire as I mentioned earlier. I think the coke would be overkill.


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## Brian Ralston (Oct 12, 2006)

What about turning the compressed air can upside down when you use it and freezing the ants as they try to flee?


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## choc0thrax (Oct 12, 2006)

There might not even be ants in there when I open it. I don't know if they live in there or just come and go throughout the day. I've noticed they use the usb cable to climb up to it. They're also all over my desk and I use a hairdryer on them in like 15 minute intervals to clear the desk. Last year they had set up a base on my desk in my Crimson Tide dvd case and I didn't even notice until one day I go to open it and it looked like something from a horror film in there...ended up throwing the case in a schoolyard. I'd get an exterminator but i'm moving out anyways, not my problem anymore.


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