Whats Inside a Fader? | How To Test & Service One

Рет қаралды 11,448

Күн бұрын

Lets take a look at the internal antomy of the mixer faders that commonly appear in the portastudios and other multitrack recortders that I regularly fix and us eon this channel. I imagine the faders for other gear like mixers work in a similar way, and ahve smilar problems associated with them.
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Пікірлер: 37

@bonistik 2 жыл бұрын

I once had an actual break of the carbon trace of one of the channel faders of my Porta Two. I mean nothing visible but running the multimeter on ohm mode along the trace clearly indicated a jump in the reading at one particular spot. After carefully applying a very small amount of conductive paint right there, I managed to get the fader back working again.

@Tetrakan 2 жыл бұрын

Good tip, thanks

@sivle1973 2 ай бұрын

So many of us really appreciate your videos (including myself) so thank you very much. I do have a question and comment: Is there any chance that you could video what is inside one of the Tascam 246 left / right PGM Master faders? As these are NOT the same inside as the others on the 246 and even the 244 from my experience and others, not typical low profile ALPS faders. Peering into the 246 from the top of the portastudio (with just the top plastic case removed), the 246 PGM Master L / R, for each of those faders, the wiper carriage rides on some sort of a metal center divider between two much smaller carbon elements, which is unlike the typical faders where the carriage rides on sides, and the carbon element is one big flat piece. I ask because I intended to clean these elements inside (without disassembly) and run into this unforeseen issue, like what is exactly in there? I realised that I can't just insert a small piece of lint free cloth in there soaked in deoxit D100 (and later F100) and work it up and down (the cloth) or do a short spray of D100 in there because of the metal center divider, making access rather impossible. Like what and where the hell am I spraying I ask myself? The other faders it is possible but not these ones.

@Leo-gt1bx 6 ай бұрын

What would cause no variation in volume. Im getting either full volume or off?

@helifynoe6956 11 ай бұрын

I am tickled pink concerning the results of my fixing the 22 Faders in my 1978 Soundcraftsmen PE-2217 Amp/Equalizer. The Faders were incredibly stiff, and some were electrically intermittent, while others became completely open after I slid them away from where they had been sitting for years. These Faders are an old stile and are made of 2 halves of plastic that are held together with 2 metal clips. They also have to be lubricated both on the inside and the outside. Anyhow, without even opening them up, I managed to fix them all via the use of Deoxit D5, and a silicon lubricant. They are now all functioning as good as new, and each of them slide with an incredible unexpected ease.

@DaveZula 2 жыл бұрын

I was just wondering about this because one of the faders on my 688 recently stopped working. The level is the same no matter where the fader is. I thought of spraying contact cleaner in it to see if that helps but I wasn't sure if that would hurt anything. I wish I wasn't too afraid to take the machine apart.

@Tetrakan 2 жыл бұрын

Buy a can of the deoxit contact cleaner with the built-in lubricant and a can of compressed air. With the unit off, spray deoxit into the offending fader, agitate, repeat, blow compressed air through the fader recess, then leave it for 45 mins so any excess cleaner has time to evaporate before turning the unit back on. Hopefully that fixes it. If not, time to take some deep breaths and get in there with a screwdriver and a soldering iron!

@DUBCEAST49 3 ай бұрын

@Tektrakan I'm having the same exact issue with my yamaha mt3x where the 4th channel fader doesn't work and was wondering if you know the actual size of the yamaha channel fader?

@DUBCEAST49 3 ай бұрын

@Tetrakan i seen faders where they actually match the ones in the cassette multitracks but just need to find the actual specs of the faders and I think you can actually find replacements. Just need the data.

@DUBCEAST49 3 ай бұрын

@@Tetrakanfrom what I can tell, it's 75mm sliding potentiometer and there is a replacement for it and the pins match up perfectly.

@janplexy 6 ай бұрын

No matter if the metal spring is conducted to fader case. I pull the plastic layer out to make fader more fast.

@djsa5m286 5 ай бұрын

i have problem bit that connect to slider nob is missing but still works when moving with flat head screwdriver any chance of fixing that? it’s made of metal how does connect at sider as i have spare mixer slider could pull stem out if know what i mean to connect to it

@Tetrakan 5 ай бұрын

I haven’t had to repair something like that before but I think it’s doable. The metal part that sticks into the knob that you the user move isn’t of any electrical significance so in principle you could glue anything thin and longish between the plastic part with the brushes on it and the knob, just find another bit of metal or plastic the right size and length to go between the socket in the knob and the socket in the plastic part inside the fader?

@TheSoulSynthesis 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for all the useful videos! I'm about to receive a porta 424 mk1 and feel more confident to be able to fix it should something not work. Your blog is a treasure chest in itself! Great work :)

@Tetrakan 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, good luck with the repair!

@Rubinski555 8 ай бұрын

the left bus on my portastudio isn't making it through the master fader, but the right side works fine....i took it apart and cleaned the fader. theres no obvious visual signs of corrosion or damage and the traces have connectivity from end to end. its only one lead that doesnt seem to have any electrical connection to the traces, so im considering melting the plastic shell to see if i can fix it...is this crazy?

@Tetrakan 8 ай бұрын

Kinda depends if it works? I've never done it....godspeed, intrepid electrical explorer!

@Rubinski555 8 ай бұрын

@@Tetrakan ill let you know how it goes!

@torsteinnordstrand170 2 жыл бұрын

Wow, extremely timely as I just bought a Porta One and have some scratchy faders 🙂

@Tetrakan 2 жыл бұрын

Glad it's helpful, have a look at the video about scratchy faders on a 414 mk ii as well (there is a thumbnaillink at the end of this video) , it'll give you a better idea what to look for if the brushes are broken, good luck 👍

@torsteinnordstrand170 2 жыл бұрын

@@Tetrakan Thanks, I will! Looks like my unit has very little use, so I'm crossing my fingers that a shot of Deoxit F5 will clear things up. But I was really curious how things worked in there, so thanks again 🤘

@resynthesizer4565 8 ай бұрын

This always works well. Unless, of course, the carbon trace is gone.

@parveendj1321 5 ай бұрын

Thanks bro this vedio very helpful .

@somn37 Жыл бұрын

I bought a Fostex XR-7 from eBay and one of the faders is not working smoothly in terms of volume increase/decrease. It goes from 0 to (about) 8 when sliding it only slightly up. The only noticeable change in volume as I slide it up is when you get above about 8 and it increases again then. I know it's not a Tascam but wondered if you had any similar experience with that issue? Could it be a cleaning issue or something else? This channel is great by the way!

@Tetrakan Жыл бұрын

I don’t know exactly what is causing that behaviour but if you desolder and pry open the offending part it usually becomes obvious (bent brushes, conductive debris trapped in the recess, corrosion), and may be salvageable.

@RoryJamesMusic Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the useful info. I am looking to convert faders to rotary pots on a DJ mixer. Does this mean I have to test the existing faders and then find rotary pots with matching resistance as the faders? Thanks!

@Tetrakan Жыл бұрын

That's correct

@RoryJamesMusic Жыл бұрын

@@Tetrakan Thank you. I am getting a reading that is jumping from 85 to 91 Kohms. 100Kohm rotary pot will suffice?

@Tetrakan Жыл бұрын

Yes. Oh, and by the way, if you have the option of a logarithmic weighted potentiometer, use that since hearing is logarithmic, not linear. But I'm not sure if you have that option with rotary pots. It might be just a thing with vertically oriented faders?

@RoryJamesMusic Жыл бұрын

@@Tetrakan I am not sure. I will have to look more in depth as this will be my first DIY kind of project. Thanks for this info! Looks like there are 3 wires soldered to the existing fader I want to change. What will happen if I criss cross the input and output wires and connect them in reverse?

@Tetrakan Жыл бұрын

On a mono fader the top pin is the input, one of the bottom onez is the output (use continuity checker mode on your meter to establish ehich) the other pin connects the fader casing to ground. If you swap the input and output lugs on the pot it will change whether the pot is at full volume when turned clockwise or anticlockwise...is that what you meant?