fighting faders
 

Hi,

I'm currently having a lot of problems with fighting faders. I have a 24 ch D-Command, PT 7.4.2, latest D-Command firmware. The problem seems erratic and intermittent. One day faders 8, and 15 stick and won't register finger contact, the next day I'm having problems with different faders. Yesterday I had a problem where the fader would acknowledge my touch but would not remain down when I pulled it down. It would pull down and then pull up just a little when I released it. Re-calibrating the faders did not work so I had to power cycle the D-Command in the middle of a session with the client watching.

I have called Digi tech support and they suggested swapping the fader pak which would have cost a fortune to ship and I suggested that they send me the "cleaning kit" i had read about on DUC. What arrived was essentially qtips and alcohol.

I am in an old church and the D-Command rests uncovered overnight so I imagine dust is an issue. I also have all my equipment running on balanced technical power and I have read here on the DUC that grounding may sometimes be an issue with the fighting faders so I will connect the D-Command to conventional power today and see what happens. I never had this problem with my ProControl. Never ever.

I'm assuming I need to pull the whole bank of faders to clean then with the "cleaning kit"? Anyone have any helpful ideas?

Re: fighting faders
 

I admit this is a stretch but, check that you have a solid ground connection on the AC lines. Maybe do an experiment by wearing a wrist ground strap attached to ground or grounded to the controller?

Re: fighting faders
 

Hi Will

Try recalabrating faders and then letting them cycle for up to 10 min... it seems to help... I have the same problem and it's not ground... Digi has not been real helpful with this issue... I also noticed that some faders improve if i remove the fader caps....

cheers
SP

Re: fighting faders
 

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the reply. I agree that it is not the ground. I too have found that re-calibrating and cycling them helps, as does removing and replacing the fader caps. All in all it's kinda pathetic for a pricey piece of gear...

My ProControl faders were awesome and never had this problem. Ever.

Re: fighting faders
 

Hi Guys

We had a similar problem, and found that by putting a filter in the mains(AC) supply it really improved things. It turned out we had a lot of RF noise on the AC becuase the Air Con unit on the roof hadn't been earthed properly!!!!!!

Since the earth went in its been fine still leave the filter in though.

Regards

Tony

Re: fighting faders
 

just a line filter or full UPS?

Re: fighting faders
 

Just a line filter.


Tony

Re: fighting faders
 

Hi all,

I appreciate all the help here. This forum is great.

I have all my gear running on balanced technical power which by design eliminates ground noise issues. So i doubt that AC line noise is the culprit here. Balanced power has historically resolved many ac and grounding issues that I used to suffer from back in the day.
You can read more here http://svconline.com/mag/avinstall_o...alanced_power/

Re: fighting faders
 

Hi!
I've been through the fighting fader issue. In my case, after thouroughly ruling out all other possible causes (mains, earth, caps, humidity, floor, shoes, chair, astrology, etc...), I ended up getting the cleaning kit and opening the unit.
It is simply a question of dirt. The inside of the faders was relatively clean, but it turns out the "touch track" of the fader is *extremely* sensitive to dirt. even the thinnest nanoscopic layer of dust seems to affect touch sensitivity. Once cleaned, the faders worked perfectly again.
PS: I once cleaned the faders on a Command-8 that was acting up, and the faders were WAAAAY much dirtier. I even wondered how they still had been working.
The dust cover is a great idea, I recommend it to all users.
You can contact me for detailed cleaning tips, I have painful experience.
Good luck!

Re: fighting faders
 

go into utility mode, and put the console into fader "Cycle" mode. Let it go for 15 minutes. Do note that the cycle mode cycles for 3 minutes then appears to stop, but will start again after 3 minutes.

Helps a lot.

- Lev