NOTE: Your failure may not be the same as this one, so your repair procedure could be different

SYMPTOM: Button pushes on the dance pad are detected intermittently or not at all.

BACKGROUND: The dance pad basically consists of ten switches that are activated by stepping on them. The output of the ten switches is connected to a single circuit board in the "head" of the dance pad. A common signal (conductive path) is provided from the circuit board to each of the ten switches, and the other contact of the switch is returned to the circuit board on its own individual conductor. The actual switch is implemented by two conductive surfaces separated by a thin layer of foam material that has a number of small holes in the layer. One of the conductive surfaces is the common signal, while the other is a conductive pad that connects individually to the circuit board. When the user steps on the pad, he compresses the foam such that two conductive surfaces come into contact with each other.

FAILURE POINT: The connection of the circuit board to the ten pad switches is a potential failure point in this device. A photograph of the circuit board is shown below:

The conductors from the dance pad are applied to the circuit board via an adhesive strip that presses the conductors against corresponding contacts on the circuit board. As seen in the photograph, the ten individual switch conductors (the black lines coming from the dance pad to the circuit board) are routed to the circuit board in two sets of five. The common conductor is the large black patch in the middle. The white material below the ten switch conductors is the thin foam that separates the switch contacts. This thin foam layer is the same size as the dance pad.

A rectangular piece of dense rubber is glued to the bottom cover of the pad "head" (shown at left). This dense rubber piece is used to press the pad conductors to the contacts on the circuit board. In the defective unit, the adhesive tape had come loose and the pressure of the dense rubber pad on the cover was not enough to ensure reliable contact, causing intermittent switch failure.

SOLUTION: The solution to this problem was to cut a rectangular piece of stiff cardboard and tape it over the 11 contacts on the edge of the circuit board. This cardboard then provided extra pressure when the head cover was installed to maintain the connection between the dance pad and the circuit board. Instead of cardboard, another thin rubber piece could be used, and would probably be more reliable than cardboard.

©2003 Craig Clontz