Yamaha p80 sustain pedal always on

[Guitarking]

Hi everyone

My Yamaha p80 has a sustain pedal probem: when a sustainpedal (or a jack plug) is inserted, sustain is always on (no matter if the pedal is up or down). Ive tried another pedal, ive tried reseeting the keyboard to factory default, ive switched the plolarity on the pedal, but to no avail.

Maybe anyone has a solution? Thanks

[The Elf]

Some sustain pedals are TS and some TRS. Try both and see what happens.

(I would place a small bet that you are using TS and the keyboard expects TRS.)

[BJG145]

I'm giving you a gold star for that.

[Guitarking]

Thanks i ll try that but this very pedal used to work correctly on the keyboard

[BJG145]

The manual notes that power should be off when connecting/disconnecting, and shows a TS pedal. From Googling, TRS isn't compatible. Which is yours?

[forumuser931182]

I have a P140 and it definitely uses a trs pedal ( and the schematic does show this requirement ).
I tried measuring across the sustain pedal plug with a multimeter but there doesn’t seem to be a simple switch action going on - nothing becoming or leaving short circuit ). Suffice to say you may have to try with another Yamaha sustain pedal or maybe the socket might need a spray of contact cleaner ( or you may have an internal fault ).

[forumuser931182]

Ah yes there is something special about this pedal.
“ The FC3 is only compatible with keyboards with half dampering capability “ from Yamaha.
Apparently it contains a switch and a pot.
So for the P80 you definitely have to use this model pedal for it to work.

[forumuser931182]

Sorry to waffle on but the P80 mightn’t have this ability and may use the simpler FC4 pedal.

“The FC4 is a conventional switch, Normally closed, contacts open when the pedal is pressed down

Tip – N/C Contact – Inner conductor in cable
Sleeve – N/C Contact – Shield in cable”

If you plug in a standard jack lead ( not connected to anything ) the sustain effect should operate.

[Guitarking]

I ve tried several pedals and the all act the same: sustain always on. Even one pedal with a polarity switch.
Also tried inserting a ts and trs jack cable going nowhere, same...

[forumuser931182]

Well potentially that would point to the socket being dodgy. Without a pedal plugged in the socket would be performing a “make” operation and no sustain would be occurring. When a pedal is plugged in it should take over this “make” operation until it is depressed, opening the circuit with a “break” and causing the piano to sustain.
Handy with multimeter and soldering iron?
(Would be handy to see a schematic to confirm)

[Guitarking]

Handy enough to give it a try;-).
Do you mean clean the input?

[BJG145]

Looks like a TS input. If a TS pedal doesn't work the input is bust. Cleaning it might be worth a go. (Contact cleaner and a few well-aimed jabs?)

[DGL.]

I also believe that in the manual for my E403 when I had it it stated that it detected the pedal type on bootup, hence why it needs to be connected beforehand.

[James Perrett]

I also believe that in the manual for my E403 when I had it it stated that it detected the pedal type on bootup, hence why it needs to be connected beforehand.

If you mean the PSR-E403 then it appears to continually detect the type of pedal that is connected to it. If you leave the pedal pressed down for too long the keyboard decides that it should switch to the opposite polarity and it stops sustaining. This is a big problem for our son as he likes to create music that relies on the sustain pedal being pressed for long periods which doesn't work on the E403.

[Guitarking]

Thanks!

About contact cleaning; do i just spray some into the jack input or do i have to open up the piano?

[DGL.]

Thanks!

About contact cleaning; do i just spray some into the jack input or do i have to open up the piano?

Just spray some in the jack and either get a cotton bud up there or use the jack itself and repeatdly plug it in/out a good few times.
Contact cleaner can be gotten at most auto parts stores or probably even somewhere like Wilko, WD40 even do a contact cleaner (although don't use actual WD40).

[PianoGary]

SUSTAIN STAYED ON. Here's my odd experience when playing my Yamaha P225. I was using the sustain pedal on and off, mostly on - and that was working normally. Then I lifted my foot but the sustain operation continued as I played further in the piece. I wondered if it happened because I played a secret run of 3 or 4 notes rather fast and that triggered the sustain to stay on?
Anyhow the only way I could disengage the sustain was to power off and then on again.
When it restarted, life was back to normal. I played the same piece, espec the run, but everything was normal again. I couldnt recreate what happened.
Any ideas as to the cause? Is it a cause for concern? Any other insights that might help?
TIA.

[Eddy Deegan]

Before doing anything else I would open the pedal and clean the switch/contacts inside it using an aerosol switch cleaner. This may not resolve the issue but it might and is at least worth trying if only to rule out a problem with the mechanism.

It's possible you triggered a glitch in the firmware that handles MIDI, though that would be far less likely. Check also that the cable and jack plug are in good condition. Sustain pedals tend to be left in place for extended periods of time which can lead to stress-point failures in the hardware.

[ajay_m]

Plug in an unconnected TRS plug (or a patch cable with nothing connected). Does this engage sustain?. Try a TS plug or cable, again connected to nothing. Then try grounding tip to sleeve and or tip to ring etc with a crocodile clip lead. This'll determine whether any reasonable switch connection will work and what the wiring is.

[PianoGary]

I appreciate you taking the time to post here, thanks Ajay, but that's a wee bit too technical for me. TRS? patch cable? tip to sleeve? (sorry!)
The good news is the incident has not happened again.
Gary