Pro Control Fader Cleanup

[antonis]

What would someone recommend for the cleaning and lubricating of the Pro Control faders.

Would the DeoxIT fader F5 suffice? Servisol?

I haven't done this before. Should I be concentrating in specific areas?

[Delta Music Belgium]

A ProControl fader has only a few components.

You have the motor and the potentiometer, both have a closed design so they can't or shouldn't be cleaned or lubricated.

The caterpillar that runs around the motor and the potentiometer is rather fragile and also shouldn't be lubricated or even touched by hand if possible.

Then you have a plastic slider that is connected to the caterpillar, the plastic slider holds the actual fader button and it moves up and down over two metal bars. After some time the holes in the plastic slider start to wear out and that makes them move less gently over the metal bars, it is not not really the lack of lubricant that is to blame. But once they are worn out lubrication can help to minimise the problem.

I would advise you to start with cleaning the metal bars with a cotton swap soaked with isopropyl alcohol, this is to remove the plastic powder that has worn off the plastic slider onto the metal bars and other dust that has accumulated on the metal bars over time. Then I would try to lubricate them.

I tried a lot of stuff to lubricate the metal bars and holes in the plastic slider, I found oils and other liquid stuff not working well. After a few weeks it is all gone (absorbed by the plastic? evaporated? dripped on the PCB below?) and you can start all over again.

I have had very good results with a teflon based paste (it has a red color and feels like grease but it contains teflon instead of petroleum derivates), I bought it in a bicycle shop and the stuff is used to grease bicycle chains. It sticks to the metal and does not disappear like the liquid lubricants at all. Even after a year you can still see the red color and traces on the metal + it keeps lubricating the fader movements.

I also tried vaseline with good results, but I found it a little bit too sticky. After some time the metal bars were covered with dust that kept sticking onto the vaseline film, the teflon paste performed much better in that respect.

[antonis]

Nice one Delta. Thanks for the tips. I'll start with that and she how it goes.

So, I assume there is no need to remove the hex screws of the faders that sit on the top panel. Would that be correct.

Would just removing the cabling from the PCB boards and flipping the top panel upside down would be enough for the cleaning and lubing?

[Delta Music Belgium]

I would advise to remove the hex screws and take the faders out, it will be a lot easier to clean and lube the metal bars.

Also I would advise to disconnect and remove all the ribbon cables that go from each fader to the PCB and number them. When you reassemble everything make sure you do NOT use the numbered order of the ribbon cables, just mix them up and reassemble them randomly, avoiding using the numerical order. This has the advantage that you will use each ribbon cables on a different fader and/or the other way around (connectors are identical on both sides). In the end you will have all new connections between the faders and the PCB, eliminating problems with bad contacts in connectors and/or corrosion of the pins and busses of the connectors.

It are just some tips, but I do have a lot of experience in servicing and repairing my 48 channel ProControl. As a matter of fact, I do not close the boards with hex screws anymore, I just leave the screws out. No one will know the difference and servicing becomes very easy as the boards pop-out when you need to without a hassle. The problem is that the hex screws do wear out very easy and after reseating them a few times it can become a haunting task to close the ProControl units as intended (using different sizes of hex and flat screwdrivers trying to get a grip on the worn out hex screws) Btw, the hex screws on the faders are of a larger size then the ones for closing the board, so they are a little bit less fragile, but do be careful not to damage them

[antonis]

All points taken.

On a totally different note Delta, would you say that the transport buttons are the same with the ones in the ICON series?

[Delta Music Belgium]

I never worked with desks from the ICON range so I do not know if they use the same transport buttons.

I do know the symbols printed on transport buttons on the ProControl can wear out, the paint starts to fade until it is gone. The strange thing is I have seen this happening with one machine and not on others, so maybe this depends on the batch/serial number.

Btw, if you would like to have an estimate of the age of your units, please send me the serial numbers and I will be able to tell you if they are very old or more recent and if you have bad luck I will be able to tell you if your ProControl unit has imbedded problems, there have been a few revisions to address serious issues (incorrect DB25 pin out configurations, bad PSU, bad armrests with the paint peeling off, etc...)

The serial numbers will also help me in my investigation in how many units were build of each type.

Btw, if you are serious about keeping your ProControl units in a good working condition for a long time to come I advise you to buy additional units for spare parts. The cosmetic condition isn't important, good faders and buttons are. I have a spare Main unit and a spare Fader pack for parts in storage. As a matter of fact, you can use the PCB's of a Fader pack to service the fader side of a Main unit, as they are identical, same goes for the PSU