Intermittent mixer channel...any ideas?

  • Thread starter Thread starter SittinIdol
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SittinIdol

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Hey Guys,

Quick question...
I have an 80's Allen and Heath System 8 Mixer,
This one:
http://www.allen-heath.co.uk/veterans/system8.htm

The only problem is, on some of the channels, the sound cuts in and out. For example if I have a channel routing to a drum overhead, it will cut out while the drummer is playing quietly, and come back in when he bashes them again.

If the channel is on max gain, the sound doesn't cut out but at that point most sources are overloading.
What's the most likely way for a fix?

A.Clean all the pots with Deoxit
B.Take the whole thing apart and clean (This would take a really long time as every fader and pot would have to come off, as well as a ton of screws)
C: Take it in to a shop and pay big money
D: Get rid of the old girl and buy a new girl (possibly a couple of firepods or similar which would eliminate the need for separate preamps)

Thanks
 
There are many things that could be the problem, Like dirty pots or Bad Solder Joints ,Failing signal Capacitors, failing components, Loose wires ....

If you are handy that way you might try opening it up and takeing a look and try cleaning it out and clean up the pots and look for loose components and bad solder joints and resolder them.....

But if that seems like too much work then you might try selling it and going for an upgrade , ...


Good luck
 
Hit with lots of level (or just hit it :rolleyes:) and it comes back for a while..? Maybe they and Mackie got the same ribbon cables..
 
What is being described sounds typical of a pot with dust or dirt stuck in it. I would open up the back and clean the pots and then rotate them for a while. There is a good chance that will fix it. Luckily the System 8's are pretty easy to access.
 
Thanks guys,

I did pop the back off the sucker. Looks pretty cool inside, that's some serious circuitry! Anyways, I vacuumed as much dust out as I could (there wasn't much as the unit is pretty well sealed) and blew some more off with compressed air. For cleaning pots, I'm not seeing an access hole to spray cleaner into; but the shaft protrudes out the back and cleaner seems to get in that way.

It does look like some of the caps have been replaced over the years. I've had it for about 7 years at this point.

Thanks for your help, I'll let you know how it works out. My plan for the next recording project is to use the insert points as outputs for two reasons:
The mixer only has 8 busses and 16 inputs, and I'm going to need 16.
Seems like the output is cleaner, with less 'junk' in the signal path, since the insert takes the signal right after gain, before EQ and faders.

Thanks,
Rick
 
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