Scratchy Pots and Buttons on Soundtracs Topaz 24

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syrupcore
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Scratchy Pots and Buttons on Soundtracs Topaz 24

Post by syrupcore » Sat Apr 11, 2015 6:49 pm

Hi TOMB,

I have a Miami Vice Topaz that has recently started getting scratchy. Like, very scratchy. On almost all knobs and buttons bring the noise on any move! Faders seem fine though. It could be dirty?I'm a slob and I don't cover my board. Plus, I smoke in the studio occasionally+a dog+a cat. But I'm wondering if it could be electrical. I seem to recall reading at some point that scratchy pots can be evidence of some sort wiring problem. My wiring is an unholy rats nest of chained/split power strips. 95% the entire room is on the same circuit.

Part of the reason I'm wondering if it's power related is that I also have a Novation MIDI controller that makes an faint but audible zipping sound whenever I turn one of its pots. Likely unrelated problems but it got me thinking.

I bought the Topaz board about a decade ago and got "the Jim Williams upgrade" to, I believe, the power supply. Honestly, it's been a decade and somehow kids happened and damn, I don't remember exactly! :)

Anyway, thought before I started tearing things apart and cleaning everything or running cables all around my house I'd check in here to see if there might be some obvious things I should try or any related known Topaz issues.

Thank you.

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JWL
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Re: Scratchy Pots and Buttons on Soundtracs Topaz 24

Post by JWL » Sat Apr 11, 2015 7:04 pm

syrupcore wrote:I'm a slob and I don't cover my board. Plus, I smoke in the studio occasionally+a dog+a cat.
Almost certainly a dirty pots issue. Get some contact cleaner and spend some time cleaning in maintenance mode. 10 years in that environment, you are long overdue, at the very least get this done first. If it doesn't fix the problem go from there but my guess is it will help a lot.

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Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Sun Apr 12, 2015 6:42 pm

I would guess it'a dirt. As JWL said, clean first and then see if the problem persists. That's the easiest/cheapest first step. If it doesn't help then my next guess would be bad caps. I had an old Allen and Heath System 8 that would get scratchy as hell if it was powered down and then turned on again. After a few days of being left on it would start to settle and the scratchiness would dissipate.

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Post by losthighway » Sun Apr 12, 2015 7:58 pm

I've got an old Soundcraft Delta 200. It has had some weird oxidized, intermittent stuff going on over the years with contact cleaner helping somewhat.

The weirdest thing is one time a couple months ago I left it on for like 5 days, having forgotten about it, and not stepping into my space for several days. I walked in, saw it was still on and felt like I wasted some power bill dollars. Ever since it has performed consistently.

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Post by syrupcore » Sun Apr 12, 2015 9:26 pm

Thank you everyone. I'm going to leave it on for a few days just to see what happens and then empty a can of CAIGs into it because lord knows it needs it. :)

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Post by Scodiddly » Mon Apr 13, 2015 6:15 am

First thing is just exercise - crank a few pots back and forth a dozen times, see if the noise reduces.

Then canned air to blow up dust, followed by a small bit of Caig MCL. Don't just hose everything down with contact spray.

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