Ryan Posted January 21, 2012 Report Posted January 21, 2012 Hello everyone, I'm in a bit of a tough situation. I'm on a gig in Mexico City right now and I have a rented mixboard, it's an 8-channel Soundcraft (don't laugh...) and I've got a few scratchy faders that cut out sometimes when moving the fader up and down. Usually, I'd have my technician back at my studio fix it by cleaning it, but I unfortunately don't have that luxury at this exact moment in time. Do you guys know how I can clean these faders to get rid of the scratchiness and drop-outs? I forget if alcohol can't be used at all. Thanks in advance! - Ryan Quote
ShubiSnax Posted January 21, 2012 Report Posted January 21, 2012 Ryan, Get some contact cleaner that won't leave any residue like this: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102649# Quote
Ryan Posted January 21, 2012 Author Report Posted January 21, 2012 Thanks so much! If I can't find a Radio Shack near here would run-of-the-mill alcohol work, too? Or would it cause more damage in the long run? Quote
berniebeaudry Posted January 21, 2012 Report Posted January 21, 2012 Turn down the monitor volume and move the faders through their full range rapidly up and down for as long as it takes to get the dropout to go away. Do the same thing with the trim pots. Sometimes just exercising the faders and pots will do the trick. You may have to do it a lot till it clears upl Quote
Toy Robot Posted January 21, 2012 Report Posted January 21, 2012 Turn down the monitor volume and move the faders through their full range rapidly up and down for as long as it takes to get the dropout to go away. Do the same thing with the trim pots. Sometimes just exercising the faders and pots will do the trick. You may have to do it a lot till it clears upl +1 Quote
Philip Perkins Posted January 21, 2012 Report Posted January 21, 2012 No, don't use rubbing type alcohol. It will leave a residue in the pots. You need a contact RESTORER, like C5 etc. If the pots were A: cheap to begin with and B: worn out or really dirty, none of this will help, and you'll have to either avoid those channels or use them for set and forget only--no "on-air" moves. If this is a rental unit I would refuse to pay for it. phil p Quote
Richard Nault Posted January 21, 2012 Report Posted January 21, 2012 Turn down the monitor volume and move the faders through their full range rapidly up and down for as long as it takes to get the dropout to go away. Do the same thing with the trim pots. Sometimes just exercising the faders and pots will do the trick. You may have to do it a lot till it clears upl +2! Quote
Eric Toline Posted January 21, 2012 Report Posted January 21, 2012 Hello everyone, I'm in a bit of a tough situation. I'm on a gig in Mexico City right now and I have a rented mixboard, it's an 8-channel Soundcraft (don't laugh...) and I've got a few scratchy faders that cut out sometimes when moving the fader up and down. Usually, I'd have my technician back at my studio fix it by cleaning it, but I unfortunately don't have that luxury at this exact moment in time. Do you guys know how I can clean these faders to get rid of the scratchiness and drop-outs? I forget if alcohol can't be used at all. Thanks in advance! - Ryan In Mexico Tequila fixes everything. Drink enough of it and soon you won't care. Eric Quote
geordi Posted January 22, 2012 Report Posted January 22, 2012 Turn down the monitor volume and move the faders through their full range rapidly up and down for as long as it takes to get the dropout to go away. Do the same thing with the trim pots. Sometimes just exercising the faders and pots will do the trick. You may have to do it a lot till it clears upl x3 on this. I had to do something similar at a gig I was working in a bar with an ancient Peavey mixer. This bar allowed smoking. The tobacco tar had GLUED two of the faders shut and the rest were just disgusting. Exercising them helped, but contact cleaner helped more. Make sure it is plastic safe and doesn't leave a residue by testing it somewhere else and letting it dry. I also would let the rental house know. Eric: LOL! I like that solution! Quote
Derek H Posted January 22, 2012 Report Posted January 22, 2012 How do you guys feel about deoxit? (and its variations) Quote
Eric Toline Posted January 22, 2012 Report Posted January 22, 2012 How do you guys feel about deoxit? (and its variations) Deoxit 5 is my goto choice for funky faders. Eric Quote
John Blankenship Posted January 22, 2012 Report Posted January 22, 2012 Deoxit 5 is my goto choice for funky faders. D5, right? Quote
Ryan Posted January 22, 2012 Author Report Posted January 22, 2012 Thanks everyone for the pointers!!! If I go out on another gig in a foreign country like this, I am definitely going to research that D5 stuff and buying some to bring with me to gigs like this... I must say, the standards in Mexico (no offense to anyone out there) are quite a bit lower in terms of rental houses, safety of electrical, etc. I sat for 30 minutes straight (no sh*t) exercising the faders and it only turned up 2 semi-good sounding ones. I did find a newer (cleaner) Behringer board which I'm using for the rest of the tracks I need. I'm just going to put the least-changing content on the funky faders so there is minimal scratch during the show. @Eric - Hah - Or wait until the audience has had enough of it not to care Thanks again, everyone. It's really awesome I have a source like this to tap into - I'm sure some of you know how stressful it could be being in a foreign country with no systems tech or support except yourself... But I'm doing my best! p.s. An award-winning Mexican recording artist loves my AKG D5 mic I used on her in today's show !! She told her manager to buy her one. Fancy that. Quote
studiomprd Posted January 24, 2012 Report Posted January 24, 2012 " How do you guys feel about deoxit? (and its variations) " They (CAIG) have a special variation for faders... Quote
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