Patches and discussion for Ensoniq VFX family

On Mon, 2009-06-01 at 05:07 +0000, neurokrash wrote:
> Greetings,
> 
> I did re-flow the solder on the hard wired mod, but I think I need to
> remove it completely and just re-do it just to be sure.  Also planned
> is to backup my sounds and re-seat all the chips as recommended.

Good plan.  Be careful, because the print on the PCB is very fragile.

> This VFX was apparently trapped in a basement that got very humid, and
> developed problems shortly thereafter.  I'm sure there is corrosion on
> something responsible for these problems.

That seems entirely reasonable.  You could do worse than carefully
removing the socketed chips, spraying the sockets and IC pins with
contact cleaner (*not* WD40!) and putting it all back together.

> BTW - are the surface mount button switches available anywhere?  At
> least two of mine are sticking (even when out of the front panel) so I
> think they need to be changed.

I usually buy them in huge bags from Chinese guys on eBay, for a small
amount.

Gordon