[sdiy] Emu Vintage Keys Pro encoder issue

[Cynthia Webster]

on 3/14/05 4:57 PM, synth at oldmail.charlielamm.com at
synth at oldmail.charlielamm.com wrote:


Hi Charlie!

Sounds like a job for GOOP!

http://eclecticproducts.com/goop/adhesives.asp

The Goop that I use is called Marine Goop, it is non-conductive,
and it can be used for all sorts of difficult electronic assembly.
For example when there is no place to mount components except
flying the parts midair - using goop will suspend such parts
permanently.  It is very thick and viscous stuff so you really
can lay it on thickly for solid support.

Gooping the knob to the shaft will solve that problem instantly.
And you can goop the encoder housing together too.
(the Stuff sticks to everything, and takes overnight to dry).

You could go serious hi-tech in the repair of that encoder housing
using a filament winding technique using fiberglass thread and goop.
Not pretty, but near indestructible!  Use carpet thread if fiberglass
proves to difficult to find, (high heat sewing applications).

I'd also recommend trying to find a replacement encoder!
Who knows, you may find the same model with a shorter shaft in
a catalog such as Mouser.com  or Digi-Key?  (They may have arrived
late in their design cycle and then because they were out of time
they shipped them anyway? meaning that just because theirs is too
long, doesn't necessarily mean that the encoder company doesn't
make one the right length for that application).

Another tactic is to find a piece of Aluminum Pipe that will fit
quite loosely around the knob and then epoxy a short length of it
to the front panel as a knob shroud to protect the encoder knob from
further hits concentrically.

Good Luck!

Cynthia 


http://www.cyndustries.com/


 

> At a rehearsal yesterday to my horror I discovered that the rotary encoder
> (the big knob) on my VKP Emu module had gotten knocked loose. Not sure how
> this happened, as I don't recall bumping or banging it, but there you go.
> 
> Upon opening the thing up, I found that the encoder itself was incredibly
> cheap and whoever did the hardware design, (hopefully not someone on this
> list!) or engineering or whatever at Emu, did a horrific
> job--incredibly fragile and stupid how the knob/encoder is held onto the
> unit.  The encoder had split into two parts--a front part and a back
> part....and things looked grim indeed!
> 
> Turns out....
> 
> The encoder guts are soldered to a daughterboard that sits behind the
> front panel. Nothing unusual there I guess.
> 
> The encoder is 2 pieces, that are held together by 4 flimsy little metal
> tangs.  If these get bent or messed up, the encoder falls apart and the
> knob lands on the stage.
> 
> I managed to fix it by putting the encoder back together and using needle
> nose pliers to reattach the tangs...but this won't work too many more
> times (eventually the tangs--which are some kind of cheap metal--will
> break.)
> 
> The big knob sits pretty far out from the actual encoder (about 1/4" or
> more) and the unit itself, so if you accidentally bump it, it puts all
> that leverage on the crappy metal tangs (see above) and breaks them.
> 
> It looks like if the knob sat flush to the encoder, it would be more
> robust, since there wouldn't be "dead air" behind it.  But the knob
> doesn't fit onto the encoder correctly--it requires a 1/4" shaft and the
> encoder has a detent type. Emu's solution?  Put electrical tape on the
> shaft (really!) and hope no one notices.
> 
> And it looks like you'd need a special knob to fit...something with a
> large hole to accommodate the encoder's guts, plus a detent type
> receptacle to fit onto the end of the encoder's shaft.  Obvioulsy Emu
> didn't get this together, as the knob and the encoder were never meant for
> one another.
> 
> Anyone know of a way to mod this to get it to stand up to normal road wear
> and tear? Was there two versions of the knobs, and I got the "bad"
> version?  Any ever have to deal with this before?  Anyway this is as much
> to rant about the #@$%#$% hardware....Emu used to make pretty good
> stuff...never again will I buy anything Emu that I use on the road.
>