32SC crash mid-show!

[lokeyfly]

Rather than replace (very fiddly), I've actually pushed the retainer onto the board and glued it - the flying connector now makes a very solid connection.

Just make sure you dont get glue on the contact pins or sockets. Sounds like you know better, but often people dont. I'm 30 plus years in weapons spec, reverse engineering, and on and on that I'm not going to go into. Those pins need to float, and its good you've got a handle on what looked to be thermal degrading over time. Perhaps even a little oxidation on the contacts to boot. I just had the same issue on our RV trailer connection. There I was, bending pins (in a pinch) to make better contact and get back from a 6k mile trip. I ended up replacing the whole cable harness, one flat, a broken under trailer stabilizer, and broken LP mount up front. Isn't life grand?
Thx for reporting the fix.

 

[emtee]

Just make sure you dont get glue on the contact pins or sockets. Sounds like you know better, but often people dont. I'm 30 plus years in weapons spec, reverse engineering, and on and on that I'm not going to go into. Those pins need to float, and its good you've got a handle on what looked to be thermal degrading over time. Perhaps even a little oxidation on the contacts to boot. I just had the same issue on our RV trailer connection. There I was, bending pins (in a pinch) to make better contact and get back from a 6k mile trip. I ended up replacing the whole cable harness, one flat, a broken under trailer stabilizer, and broken LP mount up front. Isn't life grand?
Thx for reporting the fix.

Thanks - yes the glue only needs to overcome the creep and definitely doesn't want to be near the pins! In fact it isn't tight against board but about 1-2mm away, just held by a small dab of hot glue on each side so it has some flexibility.

No signs of oxidation.

I checked the other connectors I could access from the sides, and they all seemed fine.

 

[ianaeillo]

I had a similar experience with a middle school musical and my Yamaha DM7. The look of disappointment I got from Fester in the Addams family musical they were doing is seared into my brain. Just stood on the edge of the stage and stared disappointingly at me while it rebooted.

 

[Jemusic]

I mix a lot of live school productions too and it’s all analog mixers for me. Never had an issue yet. 40 shows over 10 years.

 

[SwitchBack]

Yeah, newer isn't always better. In classic gear only tubes had connectors, with everything else soldered into place. Modern gear is riddled with connectors, more often than not of the consumer grade desktop computer kind. I'm not sure if that's good enough for on the road.

 

[emtee]

On subject of analogue mixers - my others are analogue (mix of Allen and Heath, Soundcraft, Behringer and PreSonus) - they've all given me trouble of some sort, albeit only once during a school show (one channel fader on the Allen and Heath went noisy).

I chose the 32SC mainly because of the convenience of recording multitrack, which has been particularly useful.

My school productions are small - nothing mainstream like Adams Family Musical - mainly in my local rural First and Middle Schools - but I've probably done 50 or so sessions with these schools since I retired.

And, the very first mixer I ever used looked like the one in the photo - valves (tubes) with connectors on the bay modules and faders, not just on the valve bases - and this was for live broadcasting.

Things have definitely changed in the past 50 years.

 

[SwitchBack]

Well that's the thing, isn't it. Connectors in stationary gear rarely give problems. It's on the road where the moving and shaking in combination with temperature and humidity changes poses a constant risk. Open a good quality laptop and you'll see that the connectors in there are smaller but also tighter fitting than desktop type connectors, and often made of glass fibre reinforced plastics. No way that the base of such a connector would slide up the pins, as opposed to the one in your picture

 

[emtee]

Well that's the thing, isn't it. Connectors in stationary gear rarely give problems. It's on the road where the moving and shaking in combination with temperature and humidity changes poses a constant risk. Open a good quality laptop and you'll see that the connectors in there are smaller but also tighter fitting than desktop type connectors, and often made of glass fibre reinforced plastics. No way that the base of such a connector would slide up the pins, as opposed to the one in your picture

I could always give you a report of how often those old desks had problems

Yes, of course mobile/portable kit needs protection - yes, I know what you mean about laptop connectors (although, having repaired dozens in my time, they do sometimes fail, although their small size can actually a bonus).

Looking inside the 32SC, I'm actually impressed with much of the design - although it doesn't get much in the way of man-handling.

 

[ianaeillo]

I mix a lot of live school productions too and it’s all analog mixers for me. Never had an issue yet. 40 shows over 10 years.

After the API went down at the studio last week, I want to be done with consoles forever. I'm over them.