Wobbly pots

Forum for Fantom-S/S88, Fantom-X6/7/8, Fantom-XR and Fantom-Xa
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gcoudert67
Posts: 195
Joined: 12:58, 19 August 2014
Location: Dunstable, UK

Wobbly pots

Post by gcoudert67 »

Quick question. A couple of pots on my X8 are a little bit wobbly. Can they be re-tightened easily?
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LA Keys
Posts: 303
Joined: 05:59, 22 July 2014
Location: LA

Re: Wobbly pots

Post by LA Keys »

Well, the short answer is no.

The thing is that the pots for the fantom X are average commercial grade. They all have a plastic shaft and a metal bushing. Everything is pressed together. Also, even when they are brand they wobble a bit because of the not so tight tolerance.

I've replaced all of them of my fantom X, mostly because sometimes they get so sensitive to the slightest shock that the value jumps without even touching them, which is a BIG problem with the 4 realtime control pots.

Luckily those are "standard" easy to find kind. (You will also find them from some keyboards parts suppliers for 10 times the real price.)

If you want to replace them yourself I will hunt for the parts number you need, just tell me. For that you will of course need to open the fantom x, unscrew on or more boards, remove (de-solder) the old pots and solder the new ones. If you're good with a soldering iron this should not be a problem. Maybe replace a few of those switches at the same time, as those are really inexpensive.

LA
Don Headley
Posts: 7
Joined: 00:52, 3 September 2013

Re: Wobbly pots

Post by Don Headley »

I also had the wobbly pots syndrome on my x6. Electronically they were fine, smooth, no jumping or noise.
For my fix I removed the bottom, the output board and, the board with the real time pots,buttons, ect.
Then I carefully (with a toothpick) applied thick super glue around the top portion of the pot that supports the shaft where it meets the body. That is where I could see the wobble coming from. I used accelerator (a very very light quick spray) to cure the glue instantly so it couldn't cause any problems later.
Reassemble in reverse order and your good to go.
This quick fix will not cure jumpy or noisy pots. If there that bad you need new ones.
This took me about 45 minutes start to finish.
Also so you know, the pots are mounted ON the board not through the board. There is no nut on them to tighten down.
Don
gcoudert67
Posts: 195
Joined: 12:58, 19 August 2014
Location: Dunstable, UK

Re: Wobbly pots

Post by gcoudert67 »

Thanks for the replies. They values don't jump or anything. In fact, I wouldn't have noticed two of them were wobbly if I hadn't checked to see if they were! I may have them replaced when I can afford a complete service.
fixxxer113
Posts: 23
Joined: 22:45, 1 November 2008
Location: Athens, Greece

Re: Wobbly pots

Post by fixxxer113 »

I too have a tale of wobbliness to share. I bought my Fantom used in 2008 so it was already about 4 years old. Pots were a bit wobbly, if you shook them, but I thought that they are like that anyway. Never had an issue, until years later, when suddenly I was in mixer mode and the first channel's volume started going up and down by itself. Turns out that the pot had become so loose (between it's upper and lower casing) that the 2 metal strips inside would randomly touch.

I took it to my local Roland service center and had all the pots replaced just in case. The replacement ones were really nice and tight and moved really smoothly. Now, after a few more years even the new pots are very slightly wobbly. So I guess it's a natural thing after usage. My opinion is that if you want to repair it, take it to Roland service or someone else who does repairs like that. The question of "when" is a matter of how safe you want to be. Either wait for a problem to show up first, or change them anyway so you can be sure that you won't run into problems in a situation like a live gig.
HK77
Posts: 20
Joined: 14:18, 5 March 2014
Location: Finland

Re: Wobbly pots

Post by HK77 »

It's kind of funny to find this thread as I just had this exact problem with my X6's input- and main volume pots, and of course only a couple of weeks before a live gig. :) I'm actually quite surprised that it took this long, I've had my X6 since I bought it new in 2003. The pots still work fine, they just feel very loose and if they are indeed only attached to a pcb they will develop problems very soon.

Now that I'm on summer vacation I'll open her up and change the pots myself and as this seems to be a fairly common problem I thought I might as well make a step-by-step tutorial with pictures if there is interest for such a thing.
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