EMX problem: pattern selector knob acting erratic

[mrtingle]

hello everyone, thanks in advance for reading. I've been meaning to reach out for help with this issue for years. Basically when I rotate the knob clock-wise/counter-clockwise the numbers go in either direction. Sometimes it's bad, other times it's unusable. And then every once in a while it works relatively normal.

I recorded a quick video to demonstrate
https://youtu.be/d4f_K8GnKDY


any help is much appreciated

[Kukuruzo]

You should take this encoder apart and try to wipe off the contact lubricant, there might be too much of it.
I had the same problem, the encoder was skipping or sometimes turning in the opposite direction.

It's pretty easy to take the encoder apart, it's just 4 clamps that are holding the top half of it,
you should bend the clamps off a little bit a take out the top part (don't bend them too much so it will be easier to asseble the pot back again)

then wipe off the lubricant off the round wheel and assemble everything back again.

No soldering is required, just stable hands and a small flat screwdriver.
I did it several times, everything works fine.

Here is the wheel I'm talking about (looks similar)

http://hades.mech.northwestern.edu/imag ... iagram.png
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[Kukuruzo]

oh, and under the wheel you will see small metal pins that contact with the wheel when you turn the encoder. Wipe off these pins too. They are small, be carefull, bon't bend them. I've used a piece of paper and a toothpick

Good luck

[mrtingle]

oh, and under the wheel you will see small metal pins that contact with the wheel when you turn the encoder. Wipe off these pins too. They are small, be carefull, bon't bend them. I've used a piece of paper and a toothpick

Good luck

thank you so much for your help! I was very cauitious about messing stuff up but i just got it back together and to my surprise it works perfectly now, I couldn't be happier. Now i'm just mad at myself for not dealing with this issue sooner. And after doing more research i've found that it's a common issue but thanks again for being helpful and not dismissive about it. It's hard to research a problem without knowing the proper terminology.

[Kukuruzo]

It's hard to research a problem without knowing the proper terminology.

You're welcome. Glad that it worked!
I've bought used cheap EMX and it had several problems: some buttons didn't work at all, encoder skipped values, ARP fader was barely moving (you had puch it really hard)

I've fixed them all though I'm not a technician. Just did some research and decided to try. So it works now as new, no prob