Over the past few months of owning I have coped with the ownership of an malfunctioning footswitch (number 2 to be exact). At times it would work like a dream, while at others I could not get it to function for the life of a song.
I have researched getting an exact replacement to solder in place, but hesitated to do so until I could give the guts of the SE one more look.
Today I found the answer. It was not the internal switch at fault, nor the footswitch. Both operated as expected. The fault lies in the (lack of secure) attachment between the housing and the PCB the internal switches are mounted to.
Between switches 2 and 3 there is no screw keeping proper tension on the PCB. It appears to naturally have bowed toward the floor of the TLSE. I even checked the spring between the foot pedal/button and the internal switch-it was fine.
My home-grown solution:
I cut part of a 1/4 inch thick scrub sponge off, lined it up between switches 2 and 3 and taped it to the metal floorboard beneath the PCB using electrical tape. With the corrected pressure everything has worked consistently as it should for the past half hour of testing.
TIP:
When taping down the piece of sponge (or foam) be certain to leave about a 1/4 inch gap from the edge of the base plate so you can get the plate screwed back on
Now that's what I want to
Thu, 2008/06/05 - 5:15am — ChicoBluezNow that's what I want to read. Kudos for taking the repair on yourself and saving cash!
Chico
http://www.myspace.com/thefabuloushouserockers
"When the power of love is greater than the love of power, there will be world peace." -Jimi Hendrix
Thanks. The only alternative
Thu, 2008/06/05 - 5:59am — firebrandThanks. The only alternative is to replace the PCB with the foot switched "buttons" on it which 1. would be cost-prohibitive and 2. no guarantee against the same issue happening again. Down the road I'll replace the sponge peice with a plastic topped foam strip to put beneath the entire PCB to prevent the issue anywhere else on that strip.
I played a 90 minute gig (plus 35 min warm up) with the TLSE last night and had a "non switching" issue with it once. I figure I probably didn't hit the button right. Except for that one time, it worked flawlessly.
Now all I need to do is get my patches in order.
When you re-do your Mod be
Thu, 2008/06/05 - 12:35pm — mself61When you re-do your Mod be sure to take pictures of what and how you do it. might be a big help to all of us down the line.
www.selfdistruction.com
Props to Firebrand for an
Thu, 2008/06/05 - 7:04pm — jofroProps to Firebrand for an A-1 post! Thanks for the workaround.
Jofro
Yeah, I thought about the
Fri, 2008/06/06 - 6:49pm — firebrandYeah, I thought about the pics, but was having a combined feeling of time constraint and laziness. I was working on 4 hours of sleep. 3 days later I am doing better. I am up to about 13 hours of sleep now. But I will get some pics done. Possibly next week.
skipping dinner, sleeping 4
Sat, 2008/06/07 - 8:44am — kaalskipping dinner, sleeping 4 hours (not enough), then 13 hours (too much) - R U pushing the limits, Dave?
I think he ment in the last
Sat, 2008/06/07 - 11:42am — mself61I think he ment in the last 3 days he's up to 13 hrs. he's good for pushing the limits.
www.selfdistruction.com
Thanks for helping me think
Sat, 2008/06/07 - 6:33pm — firebrandThanks for helping me think mself. It doesn't look like I will have another workbench day for a couple weeks
This same thing happened to
Sat, 2008/06/28 - 1:26am — GagooshThis same thing happened to me at practice tonight... #2 went out of commission! It was a pain in the a$$ since I had my patches all in a row for the songs we were practicing. Good thing it was not a gig or I would have been toast. Funny thing is, it started working again after our break.
I will have to try the fix, pictures would be VERY helpful. Thanks again for the tip!
Great info!!!!
Mon, 2008/06/30 - 9:15am — voulerGreat info!!!!