ef37a wrote:
'Hakko' mahap Pete? Used one, superb.
Hahah, yes, that's the brand. He swore by it all day long, although he does enough repair work to justify the investment.
Marbury wrote:
I think you should remember Pete when you had my PC built, the trouble you had with the K6 not handshaking when booting up.
Vaguely, possibly, it was a good few years ago through. Were you not on a board with the first gen USB 3 implimenation and we tried a load of firmware/driver updates or am I thinking of another one? There were handshaking issues on the early implimentations, forceing windows to do a driver reload (via a port swap or forced on/off would have worked) which wasn't uncommon for a few interfaces at one time and was slowly fixed via firmware/driver updates. The suggestion of a deteriating USB port would make sense in retrospect, but it's not something that I would have started with unless it was obviously loose when I saw it.
Of course, I was just trying to get you to back me o the fact that it was playing up a long time ago. Yes, you replaced the board with the upgraded version which I still use today. What I can't understand is why, just before it completely died, the usb being lose caused the pc to crash and fail to power up unless I unplugged the PSU for a couple of mins and tried again. It did this twice.
It was 2013 when it was built but only running Reaper, Omnisphere and Ozone 7 for mastering isn't too taxing. Having said that, I need to invest in a machine that can handle good film editing like Da Vinci which this machine is limited
Last edited by Marbury on Thu Dec 12, 2019 12:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
James Perrett wrote:I think we are saying that all your problems could have been down to a USB connector that was never soldered in properly in the first place. These sort of problems can be very tricky to track down at first as the connection may be pretty good and only stop working occasionally but as you use the socket more and more the connection becomes worse and the interface becomes less reliable. It can also be very difficult to actually see the problem unless you look at it under a microscope.
If it is one of the power pins that has come adrift the resistance may have increased which will cause the power supply voltage to sag whenever the device demands a high current - typically when it starts up. This will cause all kinds of strange behaviour.
That diagnosis sounds very accurate in hindsight. Lets just hope a re-solder from a novice will mend it.
Last edited by Marbury on Thu Dec 12, 2019 12:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Marbury, you say you are getting into film editing and need a PC upgrade for that. How 'professional' are you? By that I mean, do you get a significant income from your musical efforts? If so, as I suggested before, surely a backup AI would be a good idea?
I would suggest the KA6 Mkll but maybe 'once bitten'?! Stock answer of course, if you can afford it and especially defray it on tax. get RME.
Don't want teach grannies about eggs but, if you are worried about having two different AIs on the go? Don't be. I can plug in my KA6, or an 8i6, latterly a umc 204HD and just set them up in my DAW. I can even revert to the M-A 2496 card still working in the desktop.
ef37a wrote:Marbury, you say you are getting into film editing and need a PC upgrade for that. How 'professional' are you? By that I mean, do you get a significant income from your musical efforts? If so, as I suggested before, surely a backup AI would be a good idea?
I would suggest the KA6 Mkll but maybe 'once bitten'?! Stock answer of course, if you can afford it and especially defray it on tax. get RME.
Don't want teach grannies about eggs but, if you are worried about having two different AIs on the go? Don't be. I can plug in my KA6, or an 8i6, latterly a umc 204HD and just set them up in my DAW. I can even revert to the M-A 2496 card still working in the desktop.
Dave.
Yes, I am self employed and all my earnings come from music/sfx/photography. All my new equipment is tax deductible (as was my K6) so I am not too bothered if I had to buy a new AI but I do t like waste and if I can fix it with an iron then that will do me fine as it hopefully wont give me any more problems.
I do not think a backup interface can been called "waste"?
You are self employed and you need your 'tools' to make a living.
No one is suggesting you junk the KA6,try to fix it but get a spare in!
PLEASE do not tell me you struggle on with one XLR mic cable? It would not be unreasonable in any way to have a spare microphone, most of the Great and Good on this forum cannot MOVE for the bloody things! Valhalla alone knows how many guitars and synths they own between them.
ef37a wrote:I do not think a backup interface can been called "waste"?
You are self employed and you need your 'tools' to make a living.
No one is suggesting you junk the KA6,try to fix it but get a spare in!
PLEASE do not tell me you struggle on with one XLR mic cable? It would not be unreasonable in any way to have a spare microphone, most of the Great and Good on this forum cannot MOVE for the bloody things! Valhalla alone knows how many guitars and synths they own between them.
Dave.
I do fine with the one Oktava 219 since 1996. A nice stereo mic to stick on my Sony PCM-D50 would be nice for field recordings though but I only earn so much a year and have to be careful on outgoings to justify it.
ef37a wrote:I do not think a backup interface can been called "waste"?
You are self employed and you need your 'tools' to make a living.
No one is suggesting you junk the KA6,try to fix it but get a spare in!
PLEASE do not tell me you struggle on with one XLR mic cable? It would not be unreasonable in any way to have a spare microphone, most of the Great and Good on this forum cannot MOVE for the bloody things! Valhalla alone knows how many guitars and synths they own between them.
Dave.
I do fine with the one Oktava 219 since 1996. A nice stereo mic to stick on my Sony PCM-D50 would be nice for field recordings though but I only earn so much a year and have to be careful on outgoings to justify it.
Yes, heard good reports of the Oktavas but a Behringer XM8500 is about 15 quid and really quite good enough for a vital VO if your Okky gets buggered.
ef37a wrote:I do not think a backup interface can been called "waste"?
You are self employed and you need your 'tools' to make a living.
No one is suggesting you junk the KA6,try to fix it but get a spare in!
PLEASE do not tell me you struggle on with one XLR mic cable? It would not be unreasonable in any way to have a spare microphone, most of the Great and Good on this forum cannot MOVE for the bloody things! Valhalla alone knows how many guitars and synths they own between them.
I do fine with the one Oktava 219 since 1996. A nice stereo mic to stick on my Sony PCM-D50 would be nice for field recordings though but I only earn so much a year and have to be careful on outgoings to justify it.
Yes, heard good reports of the Oktavas but a Behringer XM8500 is about 15 quid and really quite good enough for a vital VO if your Okky gets buggered.
No mic, no show, no money!
+1
Your B-game doesn't have to live up to your main gear, but if you don't take backup you're asking for trouble, a very annoyed client and a bad reputation - and that's the kiss of death.
As a pro I *guarantee* to get the job done - and if I can't offer that guarantee I have no right to the title.
Last edited by The Elf on Fri Dec 13, 2019 3:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Well I don't work for clients as such so no pressure. I just produce sounds as and when I want to and push them out into the libraries to sell, as well as my own personal work which gives me more satisfaction but not the income sadly. Multiple income streams (although its getting much harder to make a living than it was 10 years ago) is my key to earning my crust, albeit a tiny one at that but pays the bills. I have had a few of jobs asked of me where I put in the time and they said "nah, its not what I want etc" so I have avoided being messed around by people (usually ones that know me) who don't want to part with money.
Well I have got the case open (after a very long puzzle nd a zillion screws and glue ) and the usb hub is firmly attached to the board. The only thing that seemed odd was the 2 halves of the usb casing were slightly apart so I slotted them back together which felt tight. I then reassembled it, plugged the usb lead in and tried to boot the pc which was dead. I switched off the ps switch for a min or two and it fired up again, this time I have unplugged the K6 as I didn't want to risk any damage. Suffice to say that I will try and replace the USB completely and see what happens but something is throwing my pc into powering off and staying off which isn't good.
And to cap it, my new soldering iron that goes up to 400 degrees will not budge the solder on the board. Must be faulty.
Last edited by Marbury on Thu Dec 19, 2019 3:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Marbury wrote:Suffice to say that I will try and replace the USB completely and see what happens but something is throwing my pc into powering off and staying off which isn't good.
I think I would be looking for a power rail short in the USB socket or the PCB somehow.
And to cap it, my new soldering iron that goes up to 400 degrees will not budge the solder on the board. Must be faulty.
Well, it's easy enough to detect whether the thing is getting hot...
If it has a replaceable tip then switch it off and let it cool, and then check that the tip is fitted correctly and the sleeve clamp thread is tight. If the tip doesn't make contact with the heating element it will fail to reach the correct temperature. Also, make sure the tip is 'tinned' with the appropriate type of lead-free solder before attempting to solder/desolder anything on the PCB.
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
Re: Komplete 6 unit USB socket dead - How to replace
If you have trouble re melting Pb free solder it is worth trying 'flooding' the pads with old Lead 60/40. The resultant mix will melt at an even lower temperature than the 60/40.
Once melting remove the solder with wick and, making SURE you have the right replacement B socket, best to carefully dissmantle the old one. Don't try to get it off in one piece, that way you risk breaking tracks and I will bet the board is dual sided with plated thru holes.
If you never intend to get rid of the KA6 you could solder it with 60/40 but better to use Lead free if you have some good stuff.
Well trying to get a USB from an unwanted board for transplanting in the K6 and so far its a nightmare. The wick has become welded to the solder I am just about managing to melt and I have already made scuff marks in the board. Its far harder than I thought. I will have to buy a brand new usb but at this stage am still scared of removing the K6 one as there are no room for errors, Solder wick is useless from my experience and just makes more mess than needed. It doesn't remove melted solder, just glues itself to it.
I don't know what to do. Just tried taking off the bad usb on the K6 and it has melted the solder off the main pins, sucked away with plunger but the pins are still holding, even having the iron set at full temp (400 degrees) Tried mopping th rest with the wick to no avail. The actual usb in the K6 seems to be in 2 halves which are lose which is probably a bad usb socket before it was welded in. Suffice to say I have lost £179 on a now useless bit of kit and don't want to have to buy another, especially NI as I no longer trust them. Besides, the new MkII version does not support Windows 7, only 10.
Stuck with a pig in a poke.
Last edited by Marbury on Thu Dec 19, 2019 11:08 pm, edited 3 times in total.
James Perrett wrote:Sounds very much like your iron isn't hot enough.
I tend to agree James.
Yes, wick will stick, like any skill you need to practice but there is wick and 'Wick'! Even on the same reel some patches are better than others and you have to be generous with it, one cm will only take up a miniscule amount of solder.
And....FCS don't try to use a USB port from another board! Order up a couple at least.
Yes, its going back to Amazon but I will be left with no iron and no way of knowing which new one would be hot enough to get this darn usb off the board.
I have found a flux pen useful if old solder doesn’t want to melt. It’s not something you want to use automatically, but if you have problems it will help the old solder begin to flow. However, I am happy to be corrected by the experienced solder jockeys here.
zenguitar wrote:I have found a flux pen useful if old solder doesn’t want to melt. It’s not something you want to use automatically, but if you have problems it will help the old solder begin to flow. However, I am happy to be corrected by the experienced solder jockeys here.
Andy
No argument from me Andy! Proper electronics flux is fine and does indeed promote flow. Some say you should clean it off after the work is done, others that it forms a protective coating? For the OP's purposes I doubt it matters.
That ^ is the station I have. Bit of a spend I guess but will serve for years if my experience is anything to go by and there are always cables to make and fix.
Only a small part of it but one thing that separates the Pros from the Ams is having the RIGHT tools. Even if they cost a bit.
If your iron melts lead-free solder placed on on its tip , then it will be hot enough. If it doesn't, then there's something wrong with it.
But if the solder melts, have you tried changing the tip for a larger one? A larger tip increases the heat capacity of the iron and so doesn't it cool down as quickly when used. Obviously the tip needs to be small enough to be able to get in there to the pins, but as you are currently de-soldering, you don't need a particularly delicate tip.
Can you post a photo of the top and underside of the board so we can see how it's all looking at the moment?
If it's a through-plated hole, you may need to physically destroy the USB socket so all that is left are the pins. You can then get at both side of the plated hole. De-soldering is never easy.
And have you tried the solder sucker rather than just the wick?
Last edited by Wonks on Fri Dec 20, 2019 8:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
Marbury wrote:Yes, its going back to Amazon but I will be left with no iron and no way of knowing which new one would be hot enough to get this darn usb off the board.
I doubt there's anything wrong with the iron. If it melts solder, it's working... and the rest is down to technique and skill.
To be honest, this really isn't the kind of job on which to lose your soldering cherry. As others have said, desoldering components is never easy, even for the experienced.
Also, as others have said, the only way to remove the USB socket without damaging the board is to cut it off, leaving just the pins in the PCB. You can then desolder the pins individually, and from both sides if necessary. You will get nowhere and risk doing a lot of damage to the PCB if you try and take the thing of whole.
Technical Editor, Sound On Sound...
(But generally posting my own personal views and not necessarily those of SOS, the company or the magazine!)
In my world, things get less strange when I read the manual...
Re: Komplete 6 unit USB socket dead - How to replace
Sometimes you get to the individual pin level and have to just pull them put whilst heating them, then clean up the holes afterwards. It helps to have someone assisting here if possible.
Wonks wrote:Sometimes you get to the individual pin level and have to just pull them put whilst heating them, then clean up the holes afterwards. It helps to have someone assisting here if possible.
Ah yes! Forgot to tell you, most soldering/de soldering jobs need 3 hands, Four would be a luxury!
Wonks wrote:Sometimes you get to the individual pin level and have to just pull them put whilst heating them, then clean up the holes afterwards. It helps to have someone assisting here if possible.
Ah yes! Forgot to tell you, most soldering/de soldering jobs need 3 hands, Four would be a luxury!
Dave.
I have had, on one occasion, a breadboard between my teeth while I went cross-eyed trying to solder something that required using both hands. This is not a recommended approach!
