Had a freak liquid spill land right on the console

[wm_b]

DM3200.

It was more of a spurt from a sport bottle that came from sea level up to my studio which was apparently enough to pressurize the bottle to send decent sized glop of liquid (sport drink) shooting from the nozzle upon opening. I would estimate a tablespoon or more. It landed right on the master fader and the page select buttons. I immediately powered down the mixer and wiped it up in less than 15 seconds. I blotted off the spill examined for residue and tried powering up.

Everything seemed okay but the master fader and one of the page buttons. The master fader encoder was still working but it seems the touch sensitivity was not working although the level changes were reflected in the "module" screen. When I would move the fader it would change the level but the motor was not working. One of the page buttons was iffy.

I removed the fader section to see what was going on inside. I used some canned air to blow out the switch and seemingly the liquid was cleared and the page buttons were responsive. There was a little moisture visible from where it went into the switch openings. I pulled the fader board from the panel and tried blowing out the fader and used a little Deoxit plastic contact cleaner and lube (just a little) to see if I could displace whatever was causing the issue. The motor and touch are still not working correctly. Any ideas about bringing it back to life? As is, I think I can make it with a non-working master fader motor but for the tiny amount of liquid and the limited exposure I'm hoping I can get it up and running again. Worst case it looks like I could get another fader board from tascam since it's very removable.

If there had been some actual carelessness involved I'd be all bent out of shape but this was straight from the freak accident category. If I need to replace something it will be a shame but heck, it is what it is.

Thanks for the suggestions.

William

 

[Gravity Jim]

If it had been water or even black coffee, drying out the parts would likely be enough (tap water carries some minerals, of course, but usually not enough to interfere with conductivity). A sport drink is going to have sugar and other crystalline solids in it, so even after you dry it out, it's going to leave stuff behind that will muck up conductivity.

If you can get at the affected part to clean it with alcohol, that might work. If not, replacement might be the best and easiest course.

 

[captdan]

Useless advice after the fact:

Three things I NEVER allow within 10 feet of my console:

1. Bad vibes from visitors and/or phone calls
2. Spiders.
3. Any and all liquids.

Jes' sayin'

CaptDan

 

[wm_b]

Useless advice after the fact:

Three things I NEVER allow within 10 feet of my console:

1. Bad vibes from visitors and/or phone calls
2. Spiders.
3. Any and all liquids.

Jes' sayin'

CaptDan

You can have all the rules in the world and it won't insulate you from the "shit happens" aspect of life. Frankly, I've had countless gallons of coffee sitting next to my consoles for years and years and the spill came from about 3 feet away in a freakish arc of amber liquid about 3 or 4 inches long as the top was twisted to open it. The person who opened the bottle was far from being careless as I saw her get it from her bag and give the top a little twist. We were all surprised at the strangeness of it and I've never seen anything like it in my life. It seemed to hit slightly above the area between the master fader and the page buttons. Much went into the little the little space where I keep my sharpies but as it ran some went into the buttons and fader slot. We weren't working but the rig was on because it's part of the computer system that was in use.

I'm glad I got it shut down quickly and had some contact cleaner for plastic parts around the slightly flush the liquids. I disassembled that part of the console pretty quickly and while I could see some liquid had gone inside it wasn't very much. I just wasn't really sure how much I should "flush" it since the cleaner/lube could potentially cause some other issues. Maybe that and 24 hours of sitting out in the open will return it to life when I go back in later this morning. Fingers crossed.

Oh and one more thing, spiders are everywhere. :shock:

 

[captdan]

Yeah, you're right. I was being somewhat facetious; after having thought about your description of events, I realized my 'advice' was irrelevant.

Re spiders: where we live, they're in abundance. They don't bother me; however I'd prefer they not build webs in my iso room. Just a nuisance to clean up.

CaptDan

 

[wm_b]

Yeah, you're right. I was being somewhat facetious; after having thought about your description of events, I realized my 'advice' was irrelevant.

Re spiders: where we live, they're in abundance. They don't bother me; however I'd prefer they not build webs in my iso room. Just a nuisance to clean up.

CaptDan

It looks like my triage of the situation saved the patient. Upon pre-assembling the parts and powering the system all the faders were functioning perfectly. One of the page buttons was a little intermittent so I concentrated a little more contact cleaner in that area with a follow up of canned air a few minutes later.

I put it all back together and everything is working 100% so I will hope it lasts. One thing I couldn't figure out was if the connectors on the automation control board were intended to be disconnected. They seemed rather firmly resisting removal so I just left them in place and removed the metal mounting assembly. If it the buttons continue to have problems I'd like to put that board in a ultrasonic cleaner that I've used to restore all sorts of previously submerged equipment from phones to cameras. It's amazing what they can do.

 

[Jarno]

If it the buttons continue to have problems I'd like to put that board in a ultrasonic cleaner that I've used to restore all sorts of previously submerged equipment from phones to cameras. It's amazing what they can do.

If you have an easy access to an ultrasonic cleaner, why haven't you used it already? It may prevent future corrosion created by remaining residue of your accident.

In these kinds of accidents I usually just sink offended parts into as large as possible pool of clean water for 24 hours and then dry them with hair dryer (if available ... my ex stole my last one so I don't have one right now) and letting them dry for few days. Has worked with mobile phones, computer motherboards, etc. Don't know about motorized faders, though.

 

[wm_b]

If it the buttons continue to have problems I'd like to put that board in a ultrasonic cleaner that I've used to restore all sorts of previously submerged equipment from phones to cameras. It's amazing what they can do.

If you have an easy access to an ultrasonic cleaner, why haven't you used it already? It may prevent future corrosion created by remaining residue of your accident.

In these kinds of accidents I usually just sink offended parts into as large as possible pool of clean water for 24 hours and then dry them with hair dryer (if available ... my ex stole my last one so I don't have one right now) and letting them dry for few days. Has worked with mobile phones, computer motherboards, etc. Don't know about motorized faders, though.

I definitely would have done that but the automation board has connectors that I couldn't get loose and I didn't want to do further damage by trying too hard. It could be that the removable end of the connector is inside the other part of the console and I wasn't really in a position to get into that presently. If I had confirmation that the connectors on the automation board are removable I would do it. Getting into that section of the board was delightfully easy.

 

[cmaffia]

In these kinds of accidents I usually just sink offended parts into as large as possible pool of clean water for 24 hours and then dry them with hair dryer (if available ... my ex stole my last one so I don't have one right now).

Hey my ex stole mine too about 4 months ago. What's up with that!!??