Glad it helped. It's a bit of a pain, but my trim pots are still good a year on. I had to do my mute switches, and now need to do all eq and pan pots, so... one day soon, I will sit myself down with a cup of coffee (kept well away from any electronics) and methodically do the lot. It's a nuisance but if it works and lasts then it's worth it, as the desk is great other than the aforementioned. Before doing this, I looked at replacing the pots, and it's a major undertaking. Also, you run the risk of damaging stuff in the process and... what if the replacements do the same thing after a while!!!
So I have a Mackie (1402VLZ4) and have all my equipment in a studio that I constantly dust and vacuum. I had some really bad scratchy trim pots just like you . Mine would also have gain loss as well. Well, I wrote to Mackie and asked if I could purchase some new ones and I cant remember if they charged me or sent them for free (been a little while now) but if they did charge me, they were cheap. Mackie customer service is really great. Like you mentioned, opening up a Mackie Mixing board is an absolute PITA. Mine has quite a bit more in and outs than yours so that just makes the disassembly and reassembly even worse. Literally takes forever. So, I replaced the all pots that were scratchy and giving me issues. When I was examining the style of pots that they use inside these units, I did notice that there is no real way to really get spray into them like you would say a guitar style potentiometer with holes. You would literally have to disassemble the crimped tabs on the pot to get inside. I am sure they they are designed this way to try to help keep dirt, dust, and debris out but obviously this just doesnt work for any long term use. Anyway, after I desoldered the pots and replaced it with the new ones, Wa-Lah, brand new again! Everything is working just like it was when it was new! Hurray! Fast forward to a couple of years later....and pots are already getting scratchy again. Reminder, I constantly dust and vacuum my equipment adn never gig with it. So, I think what you are doing here is about the only reasonable way to keep these things working properly. As tight as the fit is with the pot shaft going into the body of the potentiometer, there has to be the tiniest bit of clearance that allows not only the dust, but the cleaner to get in there. So if you get six months of use before the next clean, its reasonable in my opinion. Do I blame Mackie? Not really. Like cars, most equipment today is built by machines and its just not as easy to work on anymore. Components are cheaper to keep prices down, yada yada yada Potentiometers are mechanical and they will all eventually do this. Your video tip is solid and in my opinion the only efficient way to deal with this beyond just replacing the mixing board.
Glad to hear it (no pun intended). Maybe they upped the quality of the pots, if I'd been better on the case, I'd have sent mine back under guarantee, if a lot of people had done that it would have cost them a fair amount. Possibly I got a bad batch of pots!
@@AntonBrowne Maybe it depends on the conditions. Wet, dry, dust. Everything needs a little maintenance sooner or later. For example, in order for the computer to work normally in the tropical ocean region, I had to regularly check all the connectors, plug in and out the memory modules. And here and now in the center of the largest continent there is no such thing. On the contrary, it is very dry. Siberia.
hello sir, I'm facing this kind of situation. i bought a Mackie 30ProFXV3 from a local church. they've been using for almost 3 years and most of the gain knob facing crackling noises. my question is, how's your mixer now? is it in good condition once you do the cleaning thing? it's been 2 years since you post this video. mind to share it?
It has held up well so far. I ended up biting the bullet and doing every single pot because the pans started going and then the fx, so I just did the lot and I can forget about it. Good luck.
They are all solder in type pots. Just disassembled mine for a thorough cleaning and lube took about an hour or two. Need #1 and #2 Phillips, allen keys and 1/2 socket/nut driver. I also have a door card fastener remover (plastic) that helped with getting all the knobs off.
Thank you for this. It seems so simple but I was already planning on the pain of replacing the pots until I found this video.
Glad it helped. It's a bit of a pain, but my trim pots are still good a year on. I had to do my mute switches, and now need to do all eq and pan pots, so... one day soon, I will sit myself down with a cup of coffee (kept well away from any electronics) and methodically do the lot. It's a nuisance but if it works and lasts then it's worth it, as the desk is great other than the aforementioned. Before doing this, I looked at replacing the pots, and it's a major undertaking. Also, you run the risk of damaging stuff in the process and... what if the replacements do the same thing after a while!!!
So I have a Mackie (1402VLZ4) and have all my equipment in a studio that I constantly dust and vacuum. I had some really bad scratchy trim pots just like you . Mine would also have gain loss as well. Well, I wrote to Mackie and asked if I could purchase some new ones and I cant remember if they charged me or sent them for free (been a little while now) but if they did charge me, they were cheap. Mackie customer service is really great.
Like you mentioned, opening up a Mackie Mixing board is an absolute PITA. Mine has quite a bit more in and outs than yours so that just makes the disassembly and reassembly even worse. Literally takes forever.
So, I replaced the all pots that were scratchy and giving me issues. When I was examining the style of pots that they use inside these units, I did notice that there is no real way to really get spray into them like you would say a guitar style potentiometer with holes. You would literally have to disassemble the crimped tabs on the pot to get inside. I am sure they they are designed this way to try to help keep dirt, dust, and debris out but obviously this just doesnt work for any long term use. Anyway, after I desoldered the pots and replaced it with the new ones, Wa-Lah, brand new again! Everything is working just like it was when it was new! Hurray!
Fast forward to a couple of years later....and pots are already getting scratchy again. Reminder, I constantly dust and vacuum my equipment adn never gig with it.
So, I think what you are doing here is about the only reasonable way to keep these things working properly. As tight as the fit is with the pot shaft going into the body of the potentiometer, there has to be the tiniest bit of clearance that allows not only the dust, but the cleaner to get in there. So if you get six months of use before the next clean, its reasonable in my opinion.
Do I blame Mackie? Not really. Like cars, most equipment today is built by machines and its just not as easy to work on anymore. Components are cheaper to keep prices down, yada yada yada
Potentiometers are mechanical and they will all eventually do this.
Your video tip is solid and in my opinion the only efficient way to deal with this beyond just replacing the mixing board.
Thanks, my sprayed trim pots are holding up... now I have to do the mute buttons, eq and pan pots!!!
On my profx6v3 every single pot is smooth and silent. 1 year old. But now I am ready. Thanks!
Glad to hear it (no pun intended). Maybe they upped the quality of the pots, if I'd been better on the case, I'd have sent mine back under guarantee, if a lot of people had done that it would have cost them a fair amount. Possibly I got a bad batch of pots!
@@AntonBrowne Maybe it depends on the conditions. Wet, dry, dust. Everything needs a little maintenance sooner or later. For example, in order for the computer to work normally in the tropical ocean region, I had to regularly check all the connectors, plug in and out the memory modules. And here and now in the center of the largest continent there is no such thing. On the contrary, it is very dry. Siberia.
hello sir, I'm facing this kind of situation. i bought a Mackie 30ProFXV3 from a local church. they've been using for almost 3 years and most of the gain knob facing crackling noises. my question is, how's your mixer now? is it in good condition once you do the cleaning thing? it's been 2 years since you post this video. mind to share it?
It has held up well so far. I ended up biting the bullet and doing every single pot because the pans started going and then the fx, so I just did the lot and I can forget about it. Good luck.
Thy're probably pre-set type pots printed directly to the PCB, so when they, go, they're gone for good. Don't use WD-40 :-)
They are all solder in type pots. Just disassembled mine for a thorough cleaning and lube took about an hour or two. Need #1 and #2 Phillips, allen keys and 1/2 socket/nut driver. I also have a door card fastener remover (plastic) that helped with getting all the knobs off.