Mackie CR1604VLZ troubles, please help.

S

Steal Sessions

New member
Well, I should have known it, but I fall for it every time.. I bought an used Mackie 1604VLZ (not the Pro verson). Bought new by previous owner in '99, 3 years on stage in a rack, 1 year home studio (guitar player's), 2 years idle. The 'show' was great, all tested chanels worked fine, even the ones I picked myself. When I arrived home and played with it I noticed some big flaws.. :(

The following is the case:
ch 5, pot gain does nothing, insert = louder
ch 7, pot gain does nothing, insert = louder
ch10, pot gain does nothing, insert = louder
ch11, dead, even insert = dead
ch12, pot gain does nothing, insert = louder
ch16 clip led doesn't work

So one channel is as dead as possible, 4 channels have a dead gain-stage. The peak led I could live without (the LED does lit when mutebutton is pressed however).

The funny part of this is that I'm pretty sure (fully sure about 2 ch) that the ch. worked before :eek: . That sounds really like a bad connection, no?

I found the schematics for the Pro version of this thing and I read some suff about whacky ribbon cables, which can be cleaned/replaced easily. So this still could work out to be a nice purchase... :rolleyes:.

The thing is that I know that the Pro versions have a copleatily diferent gain stage.. does anyone have schematics or tips/tricks for getting this VLZ board up and running fully again?

Pleeaase.. :D
 
Hm.. I did some reading on the Mackie forum and other places.. ribbon cabling. Basically Mackie decided to use standard (very cheap) ribbon cabling (it's the same stuff as used in Pentium PC's to connect the harddisks) for the connection between the pre-amp/connector/insert board and the main board. Since also the potentiometers for the preamps are situated on the main board, the amplification settings for each input is highly depending on a *great* connection between the two boards. If there is some corrosion/smoking-tar between the connections the pre-amp does not work anymore and the signals are f%$#ed. The only thing I did was take the thing apart, disconnect all flatcables in the middle and reconnec them. Assembling the board again after that was enough to activate again all inputs. All gain stages are identical (+/- 5-10% in gain setting difference) when the same signal goes trough each input individually. Great.. Now it's waiting for the next time the problems occur again.

I understood that Mackie is still replacing these ribbons with various versions, up to version G I believe.. In my system I have version A. All these versions have the same problems. Which is logic, since the connectors that are on the boards themselves (thus 2 of the 6 involved connectors) remain there. And basically the ribbon-cable system is to cheap/fragile to run very low level signals (as for the gain setting potentiometer). Well Mackie.. it took me 24 hours to recognize the problem and think of a better solution they are using. Just replace all ribbon cables and involved connectors with something better for the task.. which should be doable. Why are they not doing that?

Sorry for the rant.. it's a bit frustrating.
 
Buy some Deoxit Fader Lube and use it on all the controls. Then buy some regular Deoxit for the switches and ribbon cables inside the mixer. Might also want to use it on the input and output jacks as well. I use one at the church I attend and except for the channel 13 OL LED being completely out everything works good.
 
Mackie CR1604VLZ Mixer - Ribbon Trouble PERMANENT FIX!

Hi folks,

I read this post on the Mackie User forum and this is an excellent post that I am going to try. Fix #01 :D

http://forums.mackie.com/scripts/forum/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=001985

I used a Mackie CR1604 VLZ mixer for 9 years (purchased new in 1996) in a traveling band, and LOVED IT...then I started having the loose connection loss of signal issues. :-( I did not know what to do, at the time so I went to another mixer (Behringer 2442) and have never been satisfied with the board used it as a replacement for over 3 years now. I will let everyone know how things go.

Ordering the Conductive Grease and Electrical Contact Lubricant "NO-OX-ID A-Special Electrical Grade" tomorrow.

http://www.sanchem.com/aSpecialE.html
 
It won't fix the ribbons but ome of these intermittents can be fixed by vigorously exorcizing the shit out of the assign buttons.

(back a bit this was a routine' pre prep here :rolleyes:
 
If you cannot fix it go with a Yamaha mixer. Stay away from the newer Mackie stuff as it is now made in China and the quality is not as good.
 
Steal Sessions said:
Well, I should have known it, but I fall for it every time.. I bought an used Mackie 1604VLZ (not the Pro verson). Bought new by previous owner in '99, 3 years on stage in a rack, 1 year home studio (guitar player's), 2 years idle. The 'show' was great, all tested chanels worked fine, even the ones I picked myself. When I arrived home and played with it I noticed some big flaws.. :(

The following is the case:
ch 5, pot gain does nothing, insert = louder
ch 7, pot gain does nothing, insert = louder
ch10, pot gain does nothing, insert = louder
ch11, dead, even insert = dead
ch12, pot gain does nothing, insert = louder
ch16 clip led doesn't work
So one channel is as dead as possible, 4 channels have a dead gain-stage. The peak led I could live without (the LED does lit when mutebutton is pressed however).




I just repaired the exact same problem with a CR 1604 VLZ PRO for channel 9, I would reckon this might work for the other channels in their given positions. I checked the ribbon cables, the trim pot and op-amp in the preamp section to no avail. In one of the forums I was looking at, someone mentioned the grounding of the pot. As I was running the traces, the plug J2 on the preamp board (JACK PANEL) at pins 29,27, and 25 (the ground pins for the Trim for CH9) on the back side (where the solder points are) you will see a trace from one of the pins to a solder point. The trace is almost at the edge. Make sure there are no breaks in that trace, if there is, just solder a wire from that pin to the solder point, then your trim should start working. All the above pins mentioned are tied together to the one pin that is connected to that trace.

The board had a little place missing and it was easy to overlook.
Click to expand...
 
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