maintenance mixer and cost

  • Thread starter Thread starter remco
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remco

StudioJunky
Hi all

Wat needs to be done for mainteneance a old console (1983 AH 2416)
and what does is cost

Tnx Remco
 
Recapping and reswitching is something that eventually affects all old consoles. This varies greatly in price based on the amount of caps and switches, what type, and their availability. Other than that (in general) the rest can be done pretty cost effectively. I would spend about $40 every 6 to 12 months on Cailube products to clean all your pots, switches, contacts, and faders. Expect to spend a good 6 to 8 hours doing a decent cleaning job on a 24 channel console. Also expect to get very sore wrists from constantly rotating pots.
 
What mshilarious said:) There are definately things that any user to do on their own concerning maintenance. Recapping is one that really should be done by a pro though. It requires a lot of really touchy soldering that can absolutely destory a console if proper care and technique are not used. I would NOT reccomend you recap your own console unless you have a lot of experience doing it. When a console needs to be recapped, it can sometimes be hard to tell. As the capacitors wear out and die, things can be drastically different, not work, or also be very subtle. It can be hard to tell when the differences are somewhat subtle. Old caps can make preamps noisier, have less gain, and more "dull" sounding. Bad caps are a little easier to tell since often features can actually stop functioning, and the caps themselves may even be very swollen, or have visible leaks, or even be completely blown up.

Lubrication type maintenance is not very complicated. It does not have to be done too often (in fact doing it too often can be damaging), is simple to do, but is very repetitive and gets old really quick.
 
xstatic said:
What mshilarious said:) There are definately things that any user to do on their own concerning maintenance. Recapping is one that really should be done by a pro though. It requires a lot of really touchy soldering that can absolutely destory a console if proper care and technique are not used..
Click to expand...
That's why i asked, i thought so

xstatic said:
Old caps can make preamps noisier, have less gain, and more "dull" sounding
Click to expand...
That's What I'm hearing

xstatic said:
Lubrication type maintenance is not very complicated. It does not have to be done too often
Click to expand...
That's cleaning right


So what does it cost to 'recapp' a 24 console?

Remco
 
You will have to call someone who does it, I really don't know. I haven't kept one long enough to need a recap yet:D Every person may charge very differently from one another. PLus, the parts for your board may be either more or less than others. Also, your console may not have as many caps as one like mine (TONS of caps).
 
xstatic said:
You will have to call someone who does it, I really don't know. I haven't kept one long enough to need a recap yet:D Every person may charge very differently from one another. PLus, the parts for your board may be either more or less than others. Also, your console may not have as many caps as one like mine (TONS of caps).
Click to expand...

An A&H board? If it's anything like recent vintage ones, not too many caps, and they are standard parts. Even so, 24 channels? It's a lot of labor. It would take me more than a day to do it; I'm far from an electronics tech though.

A&H has lots of old schemos on their site, that would give you a starting point. Or email them if it's not up.
 
mshilarious said:
An A&H board? If it's anything like recent vintage ones, not too many caps, and they are standard parts.
A&H has lots of old schemos on their site, that would give you a starting point. Or email them if it's not up.
Click to expand...

Wel a least a bit of 'good' news :(

tnx remco
 
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