Whoa.... Help appreciated!

[rcb4t2]

Hey all - I'd like to check back in -

Following Joe's generous advice, I finally decided to try cleaning the faders. I pulled the first board (ch1-8). After some unsuccessful attempts desoldering - my soldering skills are dandy for making cables, but desoldering the 7 individual pcb connections for each fader was beyond me. I didn't have a sucker, and the wick I had barely pulled up anything. Alas.

I was, however, able to dismantle the faders nonetheless. Using small pliers, I was able to pinch together the little clasps (real exercise in frustration there) and pop off the top. My fader wipers looked much like Joe's, although not quite so bad. I used compressed air, contact cleaner, and a eyelash-makeup applicator (got some looks at Walgreens lol). Damn those little fingers are fragile! Thanks go to Joe for his warnings in advance - I definitely would have destroyed them without his caveat (same goes for the tabs). I also used contact cleaner and the little brush to gently scrub the contact points that the fingers wipe across.

Honestly the whole affair took me about 3 hours for 8 channels. The first one took about an hour, the second half an hour, and about 10-15 minutes after that. If I let the plastic band come out of the fader, it took me a few extra minutes to reassemble! I had to use a tiny flathead screwdriver and/or the tiny pliers to bend the tabs back to hold the assembly in place when I put it back together.

So, the result? Well, mixed bag. The faders are now in far better shape. Much fewer problems, only one sticking anymore and very infrequently. Definitive improvement. I still have a few minor issues with them, but after the reinstall, several good workouts (Mic/Line 1-24/Tape 25-48 anyone? lol), and several calibrations, things are running much smoother. When I'd move fader #1, the fat channel values and other lights would jump around - this no longer happens! I think it'll be worth it to clean the other 2 banks, and I'm confident it'll take me less time.

If I'm being honest, I was being pretty heavy-handed to crack open the assembly by force. I definitely took a risk there. I weighed it against the likelihood that I'd get through all 56 solder joints without damage. I used pliers to squeeze the two bottom tabs I could reach. Then I slowly/gently/with extreme force (lol) pulled the top metal piece away from the bottom. This popped the rest of the tabs. Before reassembly I used my pliers to reshape the tabs as best I could. Lots of little cuts on my fingers from missing with the screwdriver haha.

Ah, well, hopefully the first 8 should be refreshed for a good long while. Pretty tempted to sell my soul for a new GSR24m instead heheh....

[rcb4t2]

PS I finally ran audio through the mixer tonight for the first time! It works! And I'll be damned - the compressor sounds pretty good! A friend is lending me his motu 2408 (I already have a 424 card) - I'm going to try a 24 channel mix through it for kicks. I love having faders and knobs, even if it ain't analog.

[Crash]

Well that is good to hear...