Model 24 Multi Jog Fix? Help!

TVsAndyGriffith

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Portland, OR
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424mkII, Model 24, DP 008
Hi everybody. I'm a longtime Tascam user and just bought a Model 24-- I've been dreaming of getting one for a year and found one used at a lower price.

I finally got the opportunity to fire it up tonight and discovered that the jog wheel's "push enter" function isn't functioning at all. It can scroll through menu options so it doesn't seem to be a connection problem, but I can't select anything or format an SD card.

I'm suspecting that it's a mechanical problem with the knob component. I sent a support request to Tascam to see whether I could order a replacement knob assembly, but typically in this scenario I'll only get back a recommendation that I get whatever device I'm asking about professionally serviced.

I thought I'd come here and see whether anybody has had a similar problem and found a way to fix it without costly servicing-- or, ideally, has discovered it just needed some cleaning or something!

I'd appreciate any insight at all, and thanks.
 
My suggestion is to not do anything until you make the seller own up to it. The Model 24 hasn't been out for so long, so I would suspect abuse. I bought a used DP-32 that was several years old and all it needed was a cleaning.
 
Agreed. You didn't buy a USED device, you bought a BROKEN device.

Otherwise you'll just have to hope that the engineers would think "this is the most-used knob on the whole device and nothing works without it, let's make it simple to replace" but that is not always the case.
 
Thanks for the feedback! I was hoping to hear something along the lines of "just flip it over and press the Fix Button, this happens all the time." That'll be the day. Thought I'd try and reset it... but I even need the button to work to do that.

I got a hold of the seller and found out that the unit is still under warranty from Sweetwater. He was pretty apologetic, offered to file a claim with them, and went as far as to offer refunding my money and letting me keep it as is if nothing else works out. I'm going to do my best to try every other option before I try and wring the money out of him.

He apparently didn't know the dial was bad because he'd only used it with a DAW and never needed it. My laptop is too bare-bones to go that route unfortunately.

Tascam referred me to the parts department to try to get a hold of a service manual to get a part number for a replacement component. Waiting on a reply.

Good suggestion from MJK about cleaning it. Hopefully some DeOxIt from the top will do the trick and that'll be the end of it. I'd rather avoid taking all these knobs off to open it up if I can.

It does seem like a bit of a design flaw to hinge so much functionality on one little dial. These kind of "mixed use" components always seem to give me trouble-- push/pull guitar pots, etc. A separate enter button might be an improvement.

I'll follow up with what I get sorted out in case anybody else shows up with the same problem down the road.
 
Late to the party, so I see you've already suggested cleaning with DeOxIt (miracle stuff! ;)). I would also take him up on contacting Sweetwater. Their customer service is excellent. Have him place the claim and you can send it in if needed.

Please let us know what you come up with.
 
Personally, I would not do anything whatsoever to a unit under warranty. They will blame you: "Who knows what you really sprayed in there?"

As hard as it is to do, please put it back in the box and wait.
 
Well, yeah - you’re right on that point. If the seller doesn’t get it back to them, then spray it out!
 
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Updates! The seller realized that the warranty wasn't transferrable between owners and wasn't comfortable going through with it. That was a little disappointing, but then he sent back the entire purchase amount with the idea that we'd work out the difference after whatever repairs are done. I tried some contact cleaner right away, from the top of the knob, and had no results

So with the warranty out of the way, and after hearing from Tascam that they've got service manuals available for $15 that have instructions and part numbers, I decided to pop off the back panel to try and get an idea how feasible it would be to switch out the component myself. Or at least to spray some contact cleaner into the body of the part.

The first thing I could see was that the knob was mounted either to the other side of the visible PCB, or potentially on another one hidden underneath. There are several different "tiers" of boards in there, enough to make me step back and reappraise taking anything off before I get the manual.

Then I noticed something. On the board almost directly underneath where the knob must be mounted, there's some "white stuff" that looks like something got fried. One of the resistors looks slightly melted too.

Suddenly there wasn't much left to do but email the Tascam repair department. This doesn't seem strictly cosmetic, and I'm not comfortable trying to diagnose a circuit this complex or deal with replacing these tiny resistors.

I'll come back and let everyone know what they say.

Edit-- took out the bit about uploading a photo. The forum says I don't have permission and I forgot to revise the post before I put it up
 
He should have paid to have it sent back to him, then he should have sent it in to Sweetwater for repairs. As it is, it's going to cost you both money now.

Regardless - good luck with the repair! I'm sure you'll enjoy it once it's fixed.
 
I agree with @Blue Monster 65. Even if you had to pay the shipping to send it back to him to get it to Sweetwater, that may end up being cheaper than having the service center take a deep dive into the unit. Something definitely happened to it.

If you want to post a photo anywhere on the forum just use a photo hosting site and post the link. I certainly would like to see that picture you refer to.
 
I think I would have gone through with the warranty claim if I were selling it, for the sake of simplicity at least, but he seems pretty by-the-book and doesn't want to. I'd press the issue, but he just sent back all the money I spent on it and said to just send back whatever's left after it's repaired. He said if I can't get it working as a stand-alone recorder i can just keep both the money and the unit. Works for me!

Well, sorta. I'm not exactly affluent and this thing was cheap enough that I'm willing to go through some extra hoops.

So that's why images are always linked! I've been a forum lurker for years and years across the whole internet whenever I have problems like this and I never put that together.

Here it is-- https://ibb.co/gr6v42M
 
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Get it fixed - you’ll love it. Who knows? They may actually send you to Sweetwater for the repair. It just depends on whether or not you have a warranty repair shop nearer to you..
 
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That photo looks a bit like a bad repair. At least the seller seems straight up and he did refund your money, and he's willing to rely on you to be honest.
 
Hi everyone,

im new to this board as i got my model 24 today realizing i have the same issue, means i cant use the multi jog to enter a command. I can turn it and it scrolls through the settings but pushing doesnt have any effect.

Now that you’ve found out about the white stuff on the boards, do you have any updates on this? Might be a more common issue if i have the same problem?

Edit: I also took a picture if the board showing the same white stuff like in the one of the original post.

https://postimg.cc/gnNxKzSx

Appreciate any help, i’ve also contacted the tascam support already.

Thanks,
Dominic
 
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I ended up taking it in to a repair shop about a month ago. I should be hearing from them any day now about what they found-- they told me it would take about four weeks. I'll follow up when I do hear from them.
 
Hi everyone,

Edit: I also took a picture if the board showing the same white stuff like in the one of the original post.

https://postimg.cc/gnNxKzSx

Appreciate any help, i’ve also contacted the tascam support already.

Thanks,
Dominic

I work on communication network equipment hardware that involves replacing chassis components and circuit boards. That board is fried; or at least that part of the board is. I wouldn't even plug it in or power it up at this point, as it could potentially create a dangerous situation; e.g. fire; electrocution. Did you purchase this brand new?
 
If there are a stack of circuit boards in close proximity, I wonder if pushing the knob flexes the board and creates a short when the bottom of the one board touches the top of the opposing board. Is there any discoloration on the board opposite where the "white stuff" is?
 
Hi Daniel,

no i bought it second hand. And the preowner also bought it as b stock from a big store in germany. I still have the receipt from purchase in september 2020, but they tood be on the phone parts like knobs faders etc are not included in theor guarantee :-/
Who knows what happened during transport, but if you tell the board is fried this could have happened also to the preowner?
I think i will send it to the store to get it repaired. If the board is fried, which is the main board they have to replace it completely, correct?
Thanks
 
Whether it can be repaired is beyond me; maybe? IDK. What I do know is, I wouldn't plug it back in until it's "repaired" or replaced.
 
I thought I'd take a second and resurrect this thread with an update in case anybody's having the same problem.

By the sound of it, many people are. The shop I took it to in January 2021 is the only authorized Tascam service center in the state, and in the months since then they've gotten three more Model 24s with the same issue. I don't remember the specific name of the part that broke; when/if I actually get the recorder fixed I'll leave a post. It's the chip that encodes the incoming audio.

I should clarify: Replacing the multi-jog button was straightforward. When they did that, they discovered that the unit couldn't record anything. They tried updating/resetting the firmware, had no luck, and discovered the chip was bad.

The situation is that the replacement part has been on backorder with Tascam since around February 2021. Apparently, the chip shortage that's been in the news is to blame. My last update, after about nine months of waiting, came at the beginning of March when Tascam told the shop they were finally able to ship out the part and that it should arrive mid-March; it's still not in.

Given this situation, with a critical component prone to failure within a year of normal use and with that component being proprietary and near-impossible to replace, I have to say I'd advise against buying one of these.

I hope that this post will show up for anybody doing research into whether to pick one up. I'll leave a reply here when/if the situation is finally resolved.
 
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