makie vlz problems

[frob]

this old nag has been aboused, when i got here it was being used as a guitar amp with the guitar just pluged into the line in 1/4 input. and there where a few dead chanells then and they have been dying one by one in a random order ever since its been in servise around 7 years i think and its a Makie VLZ 1604 not a pro.

is there any hope?

 

[Test Point]

Hey Frob.....it's not necessarily a lost cause....I work on this kind of stuff all day (and sometimes well into the night :shock: ). If you are adept at following a signal through a schematic and have patience, you shouldn't have too much of a problem...is it worth it??? only you can answer that. It may be something as simple as intermittent inserts (a common problem on many mixers), bad/fractured solder joints, especially in the pod area (where all the jacks/xlr's/etc are).....bad sliders and/or fractured solder joints under those sliders....even occasionally bad components. If there are component problems, get used to removing and replacing surface mounted parts....not easy, but doable if you take your time and use a strong magnifying system of some sort.....
I find that it takes more time to take a mixer apart and put it back together again than it actually takes to fix it (usually...but I do have those days :evil: ).....
Good Luck
TP

 

[amorris]

these boards have internal ribbon cables that cause such problems. some will say that it is the connection, but if you at least swap some around, you can trace some issues. also clean all jacks with a solvent especially the inserts. real stable if you service them i think. chips do short out but usually take out a passive component next to them so they can be found quickly.

 

[Tungstengruvsten]

actually this is a known problem with VLZ and VLZ pro mixers - it is the ribbon cables, dunno if they are oxidizing or what but even in ones where the patchbay/rotopod has never been moved it is happening.

We have 8x 1604vlz's in our rentals and they've all been done after most of them failed...also 3 or 4 customers same thing...me being one of them(even worse I found out mid show where I was using it for FOH...christ!)

 

[gyraf]

The Mackie ribbon cable problem was because they by error got a series of connectors that didn't really match each other..!

If you push them long enough (they will NOT admit this at first), they'll give you a set of cables for replacement..

Jakob E.

 

[radiance]

[quote author="gyraf"]............. they by error got a series of connectors that didn't really match each other..!

Jakob E.[/quote]

I thougth this was a typical newbe problem........ ordering the wrong parts.

 

[frob]

i hope its just the ribbon cables. i love when just a simple mechanical problem. ill keep ya posted.

 

[gyraf]

[quote author="radiance"]I thougth this was a typical newbe problem........ ordering the wrong parts.[/quote]

:grin:

 

[frob]

is there an after market solution that would be better i cant even get a responce out of mackie.

or do i just need to be really persistant? :twisted:

 

[frob]

okay i finaly got through to them and got my cables and they finaly got here and i finaly got the time to work on the mixer and got it all taken apart (who ever designed this thing should be shot) and finaly got it back to gather and. all the lights for the solo indicators where on and stayed on so i traced it to the wide ribbon cable closest to the power suply if i unpluge that one the lights turn off, i have checked to see if i got it backwards and i dont, please help

 

[frob]

okay its done, at least well enough. im only posting for arcival porposess.

who ever designs this thing should be shot, i mean that drug into the street and mad an example of.

first im not a newbee, im no expert but im not a newbee. infact ive spent well over 10 years doing PC diagnossis and repair, so switching out 10+- ribbons should not take more than two hours tops. this was a 7 hour treck for me, this thing is built so that you absolutly have to take the whole damn thing apart every scew and nut out side and in chass and board. the whole thing needs to be dissasembled and reassembled the big fat short cables looked as though they where put in then the parts around them where solderd in around them. i had to bend the compont around them to get them off and on.

agien this is only in case some one searchs for this in the forum, bewere.

 

[pucho812]

who ever designs this thing should be shot, i mean that drug into the street and mad an example of.

:thumb:

Nothing beats haveing to fix a single surface mounted PCB.IMO you better off shooting the mackie and then the guy who designed it... The hassle is sometimes not really worth it...