SSL DL connector questions to patch bay (new question a few posts down)

Just wondering if anyone has any decently sized pictures of inside a 4000 series console. G+ Preferably (or whatever the revision they realised that the e series eq's were the best) Sorry if i'm getting my letters screwed up, hopefully you know what i mean.

The only pictures of modules i can find are all about 640X480. Even just a picture of just a single channel strip.


Actually even just some info, like are IC's directly soldered to the boards, or are they on sockets. Might be asked to assist working on one of these in the future so i'd like to go in with a bit of knowledge if i can. From what i've seen, it doesn't look like there is smd stuff. Not going to be chief maintenance guy, but might be asked to help out.

Any info would be great.

As far as I remember: no smd stuff. Basically NE5534 based, probably no too hard to get parts in the console (1 ic in the channel dynamics?). The original computer is basically built from logic ics, you need to be a real expert to do more than cleaning and an optical check (which can help a lot nevertheless). ICs are socketed. nothing to be scared of in the console, at least if you're not rushed too much.

Michael

Oh there was just talk about replacing the IC's in the preamp modules by another tech who did it for one of the big tv stations over here, Just figured if its socketed, i could help out. Don't even want to think about recapping that beast

Yeah, i didn't expect to take over maintenance, but if i can help that would do me in good stead. Even if its just a bit of a clean. Gone are the days when most studio engineers knew how to maintain their own gear, I'd like to be able to at least do the basics.

Recapping is no problem, just a lot of work. The SSL is generally pretty service-friendly (for a 1980s standart), you can reach all the parts reasonably well. No comparison to a Neve VR. Actually recapping might be a bigger sonic achievement than changing ICs. I'd take the fet-switching and the aged caps as 1st enemies if I wanted to improve a 4k.

Sorry I have no pics, my involvement in these was before digital cameras became popular and basically everything is being photograhed

Michael

the ssl 4000, has  cards that edge connect into the channel strip for each the eq, compressor and amplifier cards. each chip is has a socket which sonics aside is far superior to the SSL 9000 were all the chips do not have socket.  There are non SMD parts last I had to recap an SSL channel. Watch when you recap as the parts are fairly close together and very easy to have extra connections happen by accident.

Do not not hot plug your ssl 4000 strips, although I have been told that you can. under the patchbay/producer desk there are maintenance switches which turn off all power to different sections of the board, the strips go in buckets of 8 then there is the center section.

I'll bring my camera tomorrow.  What specifically are you interested in?
You can hot pull channel strips, but DO NOT re-insert hot.
Bruno2000

Just a general feel so i see if i can help at all. If you have one open, just a few snaps would be awesome. I just don't want to stand around looking like an idiot while someone else does the real work.

I would never ever hot pull out or insert a channel strip on any SSL.

I have some strips out for switch replacements.  
More of a PITA than a re-cap job.  
PM me with an email address to send to.
Bruno2000

pucho812 said:

I would never ever hot pull out or insert a channel strip on any SSL.

Click to expand...

DSFDF

pucho812 said:

I would never ever hot pull out or insert a channel strip on any SSL.

Click to expand...

Pulling is just fine.

9000s must NEVER be hot-plugged. Ever.

Keith

I pull the trafoless mic pre modules all the time no problem, but would not do it with the E-series trafo cards.  Metal can scraping across live PCB bad, veddy bad.  I knew a few that would hot-plug them, but they spent more time replacing module fuses than I did switching buckets off/on.
I will be intimate with a 4K in a week or so and will post pics if no one else has.

The best thing you can do is get a nice long bristle vac brush, put a 5mm screen in it to catch switch caps, and vac the console every week.  Get the brush down on the facia.That way you form a bond that leads to more intimate things.
I would recommend getting all switches solid, faders feeling good, and re-cap the center section before I would mess with different chips anywhere.  Why mess with the mojo?
Mike

SSLtech said:

pucho812 said:

I would never ever hot pull out or insert a channel strip on any SSL.

Click to expand...

Pulling is just fine.

9000s must NEVER be hot-plugged. Ever.

Keith

Click to expand...

yes but since you have to power down the bucket might as well do it pulling it out as well that way you never even have the chance to hot plug back in especially if your in a rush.

9 times out of 10 when we occasionally hot plugged a 6K channel, we would end up with the dynamics VCA locked up. So we would have to toggle the bucket PSU switch anyway!
As Pucho says, just isn't worth the hassle.

My thang with hot-pulling G modules is that I am usually looking for a module with noise problems that are not isolated with CUT or FLOAT.  The only way to find the polluter is yank one at a time from an identified noisy bucket.
If I am pulling to clean motherboards or top-off the chicken blood, then I power everything down.
Mike

who would have thought that leaving things on or off would generate such a discussion....

Who would have thought you can just pull out modules while a unit is on... i mean i don't know much about consoles... but still.

Walrus said:

9 times out of 10 when we occasionally hot plugged a 6K channel, we would end up with the dynamics VCA locked up. So we would have to toggle the bucket PSU switch anyway!
As Pucho says, just isn't worth the hassle.

Click to expand...

You need to replace the electrolytics right by the 10Ω power line resistors. I think one is 3µF and the other is 10 or 100µF. This is what causes lockup. Do it anyway, becuase the problem worsens until they lock up randomly when you power up the buckets.

Keith

SSLtech said:

Walrus said:

9 times out of 10 when we occasionally hot plugged a 6K channel, we would end up with the dynamics VCA locked up. So we would have to toggle the bucket PSU switch anyway!
As Pucho says, just isn't worth the hassle.

Click to expand...

You need to replace the electrolytics right by the 10Ω power line resistors. I think one is 3µF and the other is 10 or 100µF. This is what causes lockup. Do it anyway, becuase the problem worsens until they lock up randomly when you power up the buckets.

Keith

Click to expand...

Well, I never new that!
Doesn't matter now as I was referring to the desk in Whitfield Street Studios (God rest them...). It was taken out back in mid to late 90's and replaced by a 9000 J series.
We lost a few clients for a while when we did that, but most of them eventually came back to mix.

Hi,
I always HOT pull out and insert 4/6/8K channels. E or G, transformerless or not ( ? )
It works well for me.  No blown fuses.
Magic hands ? (  just kidding  )

regarding this :

9 times out of 10 when we occasionally hot plugged a 6K channel, we would end up with the dynamics VCA locked up. So we would have to toggle the bucket PSU switch anyway!

and Keith's answer :

You need to replace the electrolytics right by the 10Ω power line resistors. I think one is 3µF and the other is 10 or 100µF. This is what causes lockup. Do it anyway, becuase the problem worsens until they lock up randomly when you power up the buckets.

I have another answer, but I must say it took me a bit of time to figure out what was the exact cause of the "lockup " of the Dynamics card... 

It comes from a design problem.
The real problem is this : the positive and negative 15V regulators on the Dynamics card are 78L15 and 79L15, and the maximum current they can supply is low, 100 mA.
When the power supply is turned "on" , one regulator, either the positive or the negative, or even both, LOCK-UP, thanks to their overload protection circuit, because of the short but high transient pulse current generated on their ouput by the charging of the filter caps that Keith mentioned.
The solution is to solder ( on the copper side of the card ) a diode backwards ( typ. 1N4148), between the output of each 15V regulator and ground. Along the years I did it on hundreds of channels.
No "voodoo" here, this is something well documented on data sheets and power supply design books.
If you " upgrade" like this your channels, you'll not have anymore a power supply start-up problem with your Dynamics card.
And as suggested by Keith it is also the perfect time to replace the filter caps !
And you can try to hot-plug your channels afterwards ! 

Recently, I discovered two old E Series consoles that still had this specific problem, one was in a famous Parisian studio...      no studio techs cured the problem over their 25++ years of service...

Best,
Guy