Replacement foot switches

[devlin252]

I recently purchased a used AX8 from Reverb. The F1 and F2 stick a little. Are these available from Fractal? How difficult are they to replace?
I have tries to call Fractal but all you can do is leave a message. Can't get a call back.

 

[JoKeR III]

Try opening a support ticket at https://support.fractalaudio.com. This method is usually quicker than trying to reach them by phone.

 

[dsouza]

Also in the future get yourself some stick on footswitch covers. They can save wear and tear on the actual switches. I've pressed my footswitches thousands of times and I've never had a single problem. If you use heavy boots when gigging etc it could be a problem eventually.

 

[Toopy14]

Apply a small dab of lithium grease or silicone spray to the shaft of the switch and work the switch to free it up. I prefer using silicone spray because it won’t attract dust.

 

[unix-guy]

Also in the future get yourself some stick on footswitch covers. They can save wear and tear on the actual switches. I've pressed my footswitches thousands of times and I've never had a single problem. If you use heavy boots when gigging etc it could be a problem eventually.

Those are designed to make the buttons easier to press, especially if you're not wearing shoes.

They aren't for protecting the switches.

In fact, based on some experience using them on the FM9, they may actually cause more wear depending on how they're used.

 

[dsouza]

In fact, based on some experience using them on the FM9, they may actually cause more wear depending on how they're used.

How can they cause MORE wear and tear?

 

[devlin252]

Apply a small dab of lithium grease or silicone spray to the shaft of the switch and work the switch to free it up. I prefer using silicone spray because it won’t attract dust.

Thank you

 

[devlin252]

Also in the future get yourself some stick on footswitch covers. They can save wear and tear on the actual switches. I've pressed my footswitches thousands of times and I've never had a single problem. If you use heavy boots when gigging etc it could be a problem eventually.

Thank you. Also, do you know if there’s any other places to download patches for the AX8 other than preset exchange?

 

[Toopy14]

Thank you

Let us know how you make out. If it’s an issue with the contacts in the switch, try some electrical contact cleaner. Comes in a spray can.

 

[unix-guy]

How can they cause MORE wear and tear?

Because they can cause the switch to be pressed at more of an angle... At least, that's one theory.

Feel free to read this thread:

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/sticky-crunchy-feel-to-buttons-on-fm9.179142/page-4

The switch toppers seemed to be a contributing factor to most people (if not all) encountering that issue.

 

[devlin252]

Let us know how you make out. If it’s an issue with the contacts in the switch, try some electrical contact cleaner. Comes in a spray can.

Worked great. Thank you

 

[ChristThePhone]

I kindly asked g66.eu for replacement switches on got two for free ! What an amazing service.

 

[Greg Ferguson]

They can save wear and tear on the actual switches.

How so? Physics tells us that for the switch to operate and trigger whatever action is assigned to it, the topper has to transmit the vector/force to the switch. So the switch internally has the same wear and tear it would normally, which seems like that is what we would want to avoid.

What the topper does do is help avoid a bit of abrasion from shoes that would normally cause a little wear to the top of the switch, but plastic or aluminum is much softer so the topper will wear faster than the switch’s steel, and will need to be replaced. And, while people like to say toppers make it more comfortable when playing barefoot or in socks, that negates the abrasion argument. The topper also might help redirect dirt and grime farther away from the shaft of the switch, but that would need to be checked after many years of use.

My experience using toppers was that some of the switches immediately began to bind more when pressing the switch once I added them. My FM9 is mounted on a pedal board to help protect the connections on the back plane. That increased the height of the FM9 and changed the angle of the pressure applied to the switch if I rested the heel of my foot on the floor when pressing down, which I tested multiple times using my FM3 and FC units which rest directly on the floor. The only way to make the FM9 switches as consistently smooth was to lift my foot completely and press directly down, not at an angle. The toppers didn’t help fix that problem, and if I pressed the switches with the toppers with my heel on the floor, the switch would bind more often, which seems to make sense because the toppers would increase the angle of the force because the they are much wider. Finally I decided that the topper really added nothing useful, the binding was somewhat worse with them, and removed them all. YMMV.

I suspect also that as the switches break in they will become smoother. I’m not sure that lithium grease is better than spray contact cleaner. I used a tiny amount of the grease on the shafts of my FM9 after the whole topper exercise, just ‘cause and never notice binding any more.

That’s my $0.02 cents.