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Well, we were tracking vocals tonight and the bands drummer accidentaly spilt a beer into the mixer ( a Soundcraft Ghost 32). And yah, before anyone says it, I was gain riding the preamp and had no idea this f**ked up jackass had beer over my board. So anyways, I took the board out of the console and have it ready to open up( and by the way, it is brand new, been in service for less than a month.) I'm looking for any feedback as to what I should look out for here. I'm pretty certain that I'm going to be left with a bunch of sticky buttons. This is such bulsh*t. Beer spilt into the whole left section faders and up to the aux. section. The rest of the board has some little splashes on it, but for the most part it is centered around the faders and assignments on the left section. I didnt notice anything out of the ordinary that happened up until jackass informed me that we have a problem. The board was powered down immediately and I won't be powering it back up until I've gone through it the best I can. Can someone please give me some advice as to what areas will need some serious attention. I dont want to be dealing with sticky BS. Sorry, I'm pissed.

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anonymous Tue, 03/19/2002 - 23:33

NO FOOD AND DRINKS IN THE CONTROL ROOM (AND NO SMOKING TOO).

But, it's no use crying over spilt milk isn't it?

I once had the same problem, beer all over the place (board) and I took the prints and faders out and washed them with destillated water.

Dried it with a hairfan and it still works just fine.

anonymous Wed, 03/20/2002 - 05:42

Nice thing about the Ghost is each channel is on its own card. Remove the channel cards one at a time and spray them with Fantastic..try to avoid the pots and switches. Rinse with distilled water from a spray bottle. Repeat if you need to. Then spray the board with electronics cleaner the type that leaves no residue. You are going to have to find a pot/switch cleaner that cleans and lubes plastic switches. You might have to clean with one spray and lube with another. The faders are kind of tucked under the work surface and may have been spared the bulk of the beer. They can be removed and cleaned with electronic cleaner. The knobs all need to be removed in order to pull the cards out. you can soak them in some fantastic and the rinse in warm water. I would give Soundcraft a call. The service department techs have always been real helpful to me. Make sure everything is dry before you power up. I would bill the jackass for your time.

anonymous Wed, 03/20/2002 - 08:30

Thanks for the advice. I'm going the learn about the guts of a mixer today. I do make it a point to inform everyone about keeping beverages away from the work surfaces, and this particular jackass was told numerous times prior to keep that stuff away. The project that has been derailed is my own and it was My bands drummer that did this. We have ads up for a drummer now as I can not even look at this guy. Unfortunately not you or any of our friends could know of all the BS we put up with with this guy and I will probobly be left looking like the bad guy. This is just the nail in the coffin. I hoping it is a blessing in disguise. I would still greatly appreciate any more advice I can get about getting the board cleaned up. Thanks, Mike.

Kev Wed, 03/20/2002 - 09:54

Originally posted by mike snapp:

We have ads up for a drummer now as I can not even look at this guy. Unfortunately not you or any of our friends could know of all the BS we put up with with this guy and I will probobly be left looking like the bad guy.
I would still greatly appreciate any more advice I can get about getting the board cleaned up.

I may not know your EX drummer but I have some EX friend for much the same reason. It leaves a bitter taste.

You didn't hit him so you are NOT the bad guy.

When you get the lid off and a module out, post back here and let us know how it looks.

Gentle cleaning materials and a toothbrush and patience is a good thing.

Compressed air for drying and blowing the crap away is almost essential.

knightfly Wed, 03/20/2002 - 10:25

I wouldn't talk you out of using Fantistik, I use it myself - just be aware that although Fantastic is just that as a cleaner, it is an absolute bitch to rinse off. It just takes about 10 times as much rinsing as you think it should, and since it is fairly conductive it needs to be rinsed a lot. Using the contact cleaner afterward will help. Also, Fantastik will remove paint if given half a chance, so you should keep it away from painted/silk-screened stuff. Buy about 5-6 GALLONS of distilled water, then when you think you're done and the board is dry, set the parts up in front of a fan or small heater (not too close) and forget about them for a couple of days. Then re-assemble, and you should be fine.

In my various experiences with drummers I've found that the only thing that works is firing a warning shot to the head (not too small a caliber, it just pisses them off) BUT, since this has recently become socially un-acceptable, congrats on holding your temper. Hope your board survives, don't care if your drummer does... Steve

anonymous Wed, 03/20/2002 - 11:25

The use of fantastic is something that we do here in the research world with lab equipment. I have never had a problem with it screwing up pc boards. Beer is going to want to stick everywhere so I think you need something to dissolve it. Another choice in IPA. A nice washing with Isopropyl Alcohol and gentle scrubing with a toothbrush. The Ghost is not too bad to work on. the bottom panel needs to be removed..a million screws. When the panel is loose be very careful with the headphone jack...you need to remove the connector from the board and then you can pull the bottom panel away from the console. Then you need to remove all the knobs on the channel and then the pot mounting screws before the board will be free. Watch out for all the ribbon connectors.

Guest Wed, 03/20/2002 - 15:46

brings back memories....

On a session I worked on about 8 years ago An artists kid spilled a bottle of coke into I/O's 1-8 on a 6 month old 4056 SSL. That one wasnt bad seeing how they paid for the repair and cleanup costs.

Oh this reminds me of the time when I was a kid and my father "spilled" his beer into our brand new atari 2600. He never told me just took it back and exchanged it. Found out about the beer incident last year LOL

anonymous Wed, 03/20/2002 - 23:52

Imagine a big studio with an enormous SSL 9000 board. A number of students enter the room, one of them has a cup of coffee in his hand and bends over the board.....splash!! Coffee all over the place. SSSSSSHHITT!!! he says.

The engineer is still sitting in his leather chair, quite relaxed and after a very quiet 10 seconds he says to the student: well....let's talk about your insurance.

This really happened a few years ago :eek:

anonymous Thu, 03/21/2002 - 05:09

Originally posted by Han:
Imagine a big studio with an enormous SSL 900 board. A number of students enter the room, one of them has a cup of coffee in his hand and bends over the board.....splash!! Coffee all over the place. SSSSSSHHITT!!! he says.

The engineer is still sitting in his leather chair, quite relaxed and after a very quiet 10 seconds he says to the student: well....let's talk about your insurance.

This really happened a few years ago :eek:

Would that be life inurance?

Did the Engineer Murder the student?

Did he run off to South America to start a drug ring?

Don't Leave Me Hanging!!!

anonymous Fri, 03/22/2002 - 09:03

aw man. you're keepin the turkeys in suspense here!! :D :D :D

I'll bet that kid was like... :eek: :eek:

The thought of even bringing a glass of water let alone beer or coffee near a console or tape machine makes me cringe....

And here I was last night cutting organ tracks at a local joint, with my coffee atop my Hammond....

Guest Fri, 03/22/2002 - 14:33

Cleaning the faders at Matrix Studio was a tedious 2 day, 2 man job for interns. We used distilled water and Q-Tips to clean the P&G tracks & brushes

However...

Under the faders in the fader housing collected two types matter we found 'interesting' !

One pile we made was green and herbal, the other white and crystaline...

Some celebration was had at the end of the day..!

:)