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SD 302 cleaning


Allen Rowand

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I just picked up a used 302 and some of the pots are a little scratchy. I opened it up and got some Stabilant 22 into the return level pots and they cleaned up nicely- now I'd like to give the rest a going over. Has anyone gone into the guts of one of these? I'm amazed at how much is packed into that case! I'm looking for any hints or tips, anything to be careful of, etc.

 

I'm in a bit of a holding pattern since I thought I had TA3 connectors on hand to make link cables, but they were TA4. Thought I'd give the mixer a once over while I wait for parts- sure do wish Redco had a west coast office…

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Being one of the few TA3 non-enthusiasts here (hey, they're alright but cheap=fragile and small=hard to source in emergency) ... can you not just snap one of the (easy to snap) connectors from the TA4 to make a functioning TA3? Thought I'd been forced to do that once, maybe I'm thinking of another TA...

 

I was also personally astonished / delighted when I opened the much bulkier SQN4 to make the direct out breaker jump. Every square millimetre of these things are packed, even more so than our Nagras! (I have an SQN4 and an SD302).

 

Best of luck (at avoiding the trip to the mothership?)

 

Cheers, Jez

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1 hour ago, The Immoral Mr Teas said:

Being one of the few TA3 non-enthusiasts here (hey, they're alright but cheap=fragile and small=hard to source in emergency) ... can you not just snap one of the (easy to snap) connectors from the TA4 to make a functioning TA3? Thought I'd been forced to do that once, maybe I'm thinking of another TA...

 

I was also personally astonished / delighted when I opened the much bulkier SQN4 to make the direct out breaker jump. Every square millimetre of these things are packed, even more so than our Nagras! (I have an SQN4 and an SD302).

 

Best of luck (at avoiding the trip to the mothership?)

 

Cheers, Jez

The cable I need to build is a TA3F to 3.5mm, and the pin spacing between the TA3 and TA4 is different. The next Redco shipment should be here Saturday, no big deal.

 

I hate to ship the 302 out just to get contact cleaner squirted in the pots. I used to build, repair, and modify Cadac J-Types for a living:

59368074_xlarge.jpg

 

So a three channel mixer shouldn't be too big a deal.

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Hi Allen,

 

Have you ever tried Sommer Cable USA for mini XLRs?  Martin Ucik and Jed Larson at Sommer Cable USA have been very cool, sending me free cable samples quite frequently. I received a sample of their mini XLR connector and it seems well built. Anyhow, they may be an alternate source for you on the west coast - they're in Santa Rosa CA, if I recall. Phone number  1-707-200-4020     america@sommercable.com

 

Here's the item on their website :   https://usashop.sommercable.com/en/Plug-connectors/XLR/Mini-XLR-4-pol-HI-XMCF4.html

 

Enjoying your informative posts :-)

 

Cheers,

Dave

 

 

 

 

 

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Thanks for the head's up about Sommer. I've always gotten great service from Redco, I'm just impatient about shipping. I used to be about 40 miles away from them so cheap ground shipping used to take a day or two. Now I'm on the other side of the country and have to wait several days for delivery- you know, like we had to do before Amazon spoiled our expectations of service.

 

I don't know how informative I am among the talent here, but I appreciate the thought! I'm trying to listen more than I talk and be helpful when I can.

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3 hours ago, chrismedr said:

I was about to say better send it of to a professional but...

21 hours ago, Allen Rowand said:

I hate to ship the 302 out just to get contact cleaner squirted in the pots. I used to build, repair, and modify Cadac J-Types for a living: So a three channel mixer shouldn't be too big a deal.

 

Yeah, but there's so much space underneath those channel strips, Allen!

 

Seriously though, my apologies: I remember one of our techs on a film doing a TA3 botch job to make an input cable for one of our 788s: in fact, the cable being female there wouldn't have been any pin snapping involved. Maybe it was a TA5? But maybe it was just forcing it in if the spacing was 'nearly'?? I also remember a broken pin scenario: my other reason for disliking TA3 for oft-used inputs/outputs.

 

Jez

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Well don't I feel like an idiot. Some gentle jiggling (on the connector) and the TA4 fit. It didn't feel like it was going to at first, and I didn't want to force it because those pins aren't the most robust.

 

I'm still glad I ordered the TA3s since I have to build another cable. Thanks for getting me to take another look.

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