If it wasn't so frustrating I'd be seeing the funny side of it too...
I can assure you the problems are not thru any misuse. I've never
gigged with my Serge and its in a non-smoking home studio environment.
It is a mystery but I am clutching at 1 theory as to how 2 of my
panels have failed so badly:
The problems started a little over 3 years ago - a few months after I
moved into a new house. After setting the studio up we had some
builders knock out a disused chimney breast from the centre of the
house. I covered up all the studio equipment with dust sheets and the
builders did the same.
However, a few months after the work was complete we noticed a film
of soot/dust on the walls and ceiling in some downstairs rooms. This
was especially noticeable in areas near heat sources (like above
radiators)... the soot/dust has been 'baked' on to the walls by the
heat sources.
My only explanation is this soot/dust was in the air for a
significant amount of time - enough to contaminate the pots in the
Serge well after the dust sheets were removed. Its difficult to know
for sure because when Tony Allgood checked all the pots there was no
obvious sign of dirt/grime, and cleaning did not help - only
replacing the pots did the trick.
However the first thing Kevin Fortune asked me was if I lived in a
heavily polluted area (which I don't) or near the ocean (12 miles
away). He put the chip & socket issue 'possibly' down to
a 'pollutant' and the pots also. I have no idea how the unsoldered
wires that Tony Allgood found happened - obviously not related.
So that's my theory. I got my other panels and modular stuff a good
while after this building work and they have been 100%.
My repaired panel now seems OK - but although the PCO no longer
warbles all over the place it does drift significantly more than the
NTO/PCO's on my other panels ( it drifted flat 1 whole semitone
over a week - whilst the other NTO/PCO's were still accurate during
the same period). If drifts around 20 cents (flat) over a 3-4 hour
period and therefore needs regular retuning which I don't have to do
with my other NTO/PCO's.
The panel with the unstable FRS now has an unstable VCFQ. It is
opening and closing randomly and intermittently - and the only cure
is to turn the FREQ pot fully CCW and set the FREQ by feeding a
voltage source from my Dual Processor into the VC F INPUT. So this
indicates another faulty pot.
My expenses were running at around £600 (over $1000) to get the 1
panel repaired and now Fed-Ex have hit me with another £100 for
duty/VAT and a mysterious 'RETURNED GOODS FEE' - even though customs
knew it was a repair. Now I've got to get this other panel fixed so
you'll forgive me if I don't roll around with laughter at the
lighthearted comments!
KD
I can assure you the problems are not thru any misuse. I've never
gigged with my Serge and its in a non-smoking home studio environment.
It is a mystery but I am clutching at 1 theory as to how 2 of my
panels have failed so badly:
The problems started a little over 3 years ago - a few months after I
moved into a new house. After setting the studio up we had some
builders knock out a disused chimney breast from the centre of the
house. I covered up all the studio equipment with dust sheets and the
builders did the same.
However, a few months after the work was complete we noticed a film
of soot/dust on the walls and ceiling in some downstairs rooms. This
was especially noticeable in areas near heat sources (like above
radiators)... the soot/dust has been 'baked' on to the walls by the
heat sources.
My only explanation is this soot/dust was in the air for a
significant amount of time - enough to contaminate the pots in the
Serge well after the dust sheets were removed. Its difficult to know
for sure because when Tony Allgood checked all the pots there was no
obvious sign of dirt/grime, and cleaning did not help - only
replacing the pots did the trick.
However the first thing Kevin Fortune asked me was if I lived in a
heavily polluted area (which I don't) or near the ocean (12 miles
away). He put the chip & socket issue 'possibly' down to
a 'pollutant' and the pots also. I have no idea how the unsoldered
wires that Tony Allgood found happened - obviously not related.
So that's my theory. I got my other panels and modular stuff a good
while after this building work and they have been 100%.
My repaired panel now seems OK - but although the PCO no longer
warbles all over the place it does drift significantly more than the
NTO/PCO's on my other panels ( it drifted flat 1 whole semitone
over a week - whilst the other NTO/PCO's were still accurate during
the same period). If drifts around 20 cents (flat) over a 3-4 hour
period and therefore needs regular retuning which I don't have to do
with my other NTO/PCO's.
The panel with the unstable FRS now has an unstable VCFQ. It is
opening and closing randomly and intermittently - and the only cure
is to turn the FREQ pot fully CCW and set the FREQ by feeding a
voltage source from my Dual Processor into the VC F INPUT. So this
indicates another faulty pot.
My expenses were running at around £600 (over $1000) to get the 1
panel repaired and now Fed-Ex have hit me with another £100 for
duty/VAT and a mysterious 'RETURNED GOODS FEE' - even though customs
knew it was a repair. Now I've got to get this other panel fixed so
you'll forgive me if I don't roll around with laughter at the
lighthearted comments!
KD
>anything to
>
> No, it was just those damn knives...
>
>
> > I don't suppose 'playing' the Serge with rubber mallets has
> > do with it.....
>
>
>
>
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