Need help Identifying Potentiometers from early Allen & Heath Minimixer

[musika]

Doing a recap and I may need to remove these so I don’t melt them. They appear to be one piece plastic with the knob permanently attached. Date on mixer is 1973. Any ideas as to who may have manufactured them?

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Piher? they look like trimmers with a glued-on kob...

 

[thomasdf]

I'd say Piher too

 

[Whoops]

Piher? they look like trimmers with a glued-on kob...

It looks the same to me, they look like trimmers.

You should try to remove one of the Knobs out in order to give a better view of the pot/trimmer

 

[musika]

Got brave and did that… this will give me much more room and now I hopefully won’t melt anything! Thanks.

Still no idea where these came from as I cannot see any markings. I checked the Piher catalog and did not see anything like those.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

PT15? I think they don't make them anymore
Actually they are, under the Amphenol banner. Looks like shaft #22.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Mixers built using trimpots for controls are not very robust.

[edit- I worked for one of the lowest cost mixer manufacturers (Peavey) and even we didn't try to do it that cheaply, because they break too easily. /edit]

Another vote for piher..

JR

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Mixers built using trimpots for controls are not very robust.

Correct.
Before being the well-respected company it is now, A&H was a budget brand, particularly in the 80's where their reputation was less than stellar.

 

[Whoops]

Before being the well-respected company it is now, A&H was a budget brand

I have to disagree on that,
I still think they’re a budget brand and I don’t know anyone that thinks of A&H as a “well respected brand”. They never made any amazing or memorable product, A&H is something that people use and forget.

I still up to this day reject any A&H mixer in my Live Sound riders, and I know many colleagues who do the same.

 

[Whoops]

Got brave and did that… this will give me much more room and now I hopefully won’t melt anything! Thanks.

If the pots are good and work well just do the recap very patiently and just be careful to not touch the pots with the soldering iron and all we be good.
Finding replacements or a solution might be hard, but I’m sure you can perform the Recap without damaging the Pots

 

[musika]

I still don’t see where these are “trimmers”. All the solder contacts are on the bottom. I’ll measure them and proceed as you said though. That’s been my plan. Hopefully none will need a replacement. Thanks again!

… as for the Allen & Heath thing, I’m not sure but it seems like ‘fighting words’ to some folks.?!

 

[JohnRoberts]

Correct.
Before being the well-respected company it is now, A&H was a budget brand, particularly in the 80's where their reputation was less than stellar.

I suspect we and they would both like to forget about that one but I recall a series of mixers from them back in the early 70s that used trimpots for controls. Cheap but too cheap to keep working reliably. It was shown to me by an American importer who was enthusiastic because of the price point.

A/H were not the only mixer company to cut the corners too sharp... I recall Alesis doing a cheap mixer (80s?) that was a spectacular failure. Using something like screened ink resistive elements on the PCB substrate. Technology that mostly worked for appliances but not reliably for audio mixers.

Probably not the first or last cost corner cutting fail.

JR

 

[Whoops]

I still don’t see where these are “trimmers”.

In photos you posted in the first post with the knobs installed the pots looked a bit like Trimmers with knobs on top, that’s why Abbey said that, they looked a bit like trimmers to me also.
Now that you removed the knob it’s clear they’re not trimmers but potentiometers. They’re cheap plastic potentiometers, but if they work well then all is fine

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I have to disagree on that,

You are entitled to your opinion.

I still think they’re a budget brand and I don’t know anyone that thinks of A&H as a “well respected brand”.

I do. I respect how the actual team took a moribund firm with a deadsh.t reputation and turned it in a very successful operation.

They never made any amazing or memorable product,

That may be true. It's the case of many a company. Does Unilever has any amazing or memorable product?

A&H is something that people use and forget.

Which is what most people want, from their car, their fridge, their lawnmower...

I still up to this day reject any A&H mixer in my Live Sound riders, and I know many colleagues who do the same.

I've been too much a victim of riders for accepting it as a solid argument.

 

[Whoops]

You are entitled to your opinion.

We're both, and we might disagree but I respect your opinion.

I do. I respect how the actual team took a moribund firm with a deadsh.t reputation and turned it in a very successful operation.

Their reputation is still very bad, that didn't change.
A lot of companies run very successful operations that doesn't make them a "Well respect company".

But I even doubt that A&H runs a very successful operation, seems actually less successful than any of their competitors: Midas, Soundcraft, Yamaha, DigiCo, Avid, Behringer, just to name a few

That may be true. It's the case of many a company. Does Unilever has any amazing or memorable product?

I'm not an expert in Consumer goods companies, you know that I'm a professional sound Engineer so that's my area of expertise, it will always be easier for me to talk about the good and bad products of an audio company than to talk about soap or icecream.
I also don't know all the products from Unilever but I have to say that "Cif" is an amazing and memorable product, I'm always amazed and impressed with it when I have to fully clean my bathroom.

Saying this it really only makes sense to compare A&H to it's competitors and their competitors have memorable products:
- Midas with Heritage, XL8, Pro Series, Heritage-D
- Soundcraft Series FIVE, Vi Series
- Behringer with the X32
- Avid/Digidesign with the Venue systems that allowed fr the first time the studio plugins to be run directly on a console
- DigiCo with SD series which some people love (other hate it)
etc...

Which is what most people want, from their car, their fridge, their lawnmower...

Not really, people get attached to their Cars, computers, phones, etc when they like the product. They become attached to the product and to those brands. I don't know and never met anyone professionally that was attached to A&H or any of it's products.
The same can't be said about other audio companies, I've seen people attached to Midas, Soundcraft, Yamaha, DigiCo, Avid, Behringer (X32), some brands more than others.

I've been too much a victim of riders for accepting it as a solid argument.

It was not an argument mate, it was just the truth, I really personally reject any A&H mixer in my riders.
Our professional circles are different so maybe in your professional circle people see A&H as respected company and in my professional circle people see A&H budget low end company.

Anyway, I don't want to hijack this thread, we both just want to help member musika

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Our professional circles are different so maybe in your professional circle people see A&H as respected company and in my professional circle people see A&H budget low end company.

They are not too different, just a different generation. My studio world was Neve, SSL, API, Studer but I was the Soundcraft distributor. I received so much sh.t from people who thought a good mixer couldn't be had for less than a million francs, but I also had so many customers pleased with what I had to offer them it made it worthwhile.
In live world, my customers were the big names like Dispatch/Dushow, and although sometimes I had to face a guy for whom only a Cadac was good enough, I believe I had satisfied customers.
Now, also being an entrepreneur, I have different views on what a successful company is.