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Anyone Know How to Fix This (Dodgy Fader Issue)?

I didn't use this controller for a year or so. When I recently brought it back into use, one of the faders wasn't functioning properly.

This is the problem I'm having:

I've sprayed this in, moved it around and let dry a couple of times, and it doesn't seem to have any real impact.

Anyone got any advice or insight into the issue?

Thanks,
Oscar

Comments

  • @OscarSouth - there are a couple of things you may have to consider. Depending on the construction of the fader, you may just be moving the contamination around. It may be required to, at a minimum, open the covers and get to the fader itself. When it's dry, try compressed air to remove any loose contamination. Try holding the unit upside down when spraying the contact cleaner so any contamination and most of the residue do not dry to the track surface.

    As mentioned below in some of the linked info, not all contact cleaners are the same and while you need to clean the contamination/oxidation off, many (audio) pots/sliders have a conductive grease/lube on them that may be removed by the contact cleaner you are using.

    If you are DIY inclined, depending on the construction (single pcb or modular) of the unit, it may be possible to swap one fader with another one. If there is another fader you could live without.

    Lastly, replace the fader. I've read a lot of posts about the poor quality of the notation pots and faders. True or not, I don't know.

    Also, it's a good practice to keep a cover over the unit when not in use. Those long slots just seem to suck in all the dust and dirt.

    General info:
    https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/cleaning-faders/
    https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/more-cleaning-faders/

    Videos near the top have some examples:
    https://www.google.com/search?ei=BHNnWcruHciEmwGQ1YqACw&q=cleaning+noisy+faders&oq=+cleaning+noisy+faders&gs_l=mobile-gws-serp.1.0.0i30k1.14411.16509.0.18679.18.18.0.0.0.0.286.2615.0j17j1.18.0.crnk_qsds...0...1.1.64.mobile-gws-serp..13.3.422...30i10k1.OtHBxYlvNgQ

  • edited July 2017

    Sounds like the damage is done, but an engineer gave me a good tip for dusting mixing boards- vacuum the faders, rather than blowing compressed air. The difference is you remove the dust, rather than taking a chance of forcing the small debris into the electrical contacts of the fader.

    Your fader seems dirty. The contact cleaner was a good bet. I doubt there is any reason to try a different contact cleaner, they all clean. When you sprayed it in, did you work the fader up and down for at least like, 30 times?

    Unfortunately it is a bitch to get the fader out, often with real dirty faders you need to desolder them from the circuit board, to either take apart the metal shell and clean the inner workings, or replace them. Replacement is difficult unless you can get the fader from novation or someone selling a fader specifically to repair that model midi controller, because the footprint of the faders (the physical arrangement of the solder pins that plug in to the circuit board) are all different between manufacturers, and it would take research to find the fader with a compatible footprint. For that reason, dissection and cleaning is preferrable to replacement, if the pot comes apart.

    I don't know, I'd try some more contact cleaner, working the pot... maybe shoot some in, and flip the controller upside down, and move the fader around, to get the contact cleaner in a different spot, with gravity. Try sucking the fader with a vacuum. It's already jacked, so compressed air couldn't make it worse, maybe it could dislodge the crud inside.

    I got a mixer for cheap a while back that had no sound coming out of the left output, after a slow diagnosis, the problem was just a tiny piece of lint, in the master fader, tenaciously pinched between the wiper (the moving part, attached to the cap) and the black resistive strip that it slides along, as you move the fader. The lint was enough to keep the metal contacts of the wiper from contacting the resistive strip.

    The only other thing I could think of trying is removing the circuit board, and just resoldering the pins on that fader- the idea being that the fader might have gotten bumped, and cracked the solder joint on one of the pins, making a flaky connection. Most likely it is just dirt or lint, though. Good luck!

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