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pedalboard/beer disaster, please help!


skidder652003
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Guys, last night i had an almighty f**kup happen.
It was my own stupid fault and after all the years gigging i should have known better.
we were mid gig and i had stupidly put a full pint of shandy on a table directly over my pedalboad. You can guess the rest. Basically my whole board took a direct hit, you couldn't have placed it in a more perfect position. The upshot is that my phaser and tuner are ok but my markbass compressore and Dave Hall VT-2 EQ (both valve) aren't responding. They work in bypass mode but the compresorre is intermitent and making some odd noises and the VT-2 doesn't do anything in blue (mono valve) mode or red (duo valve mode).
These were bloomin' expensive pedals and Im gutted! Do you think opening them up and spraying with contact cleaner might help, or am I resigned to them to be lost forever or a horribly expensive repair? (god knows where). Has anyone else had something similar happen and if so any tips would be greatly appreciated. Im so angry with myself, the only positive is having taken delivery of an ampeg SVT classic I probably won't need the pedals soon but I was hoping to sell them to pay towards the new amp :(

Edited by skidder652003
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When my wife dropped her phone down the toilet we immediately took it apart and submerged all the bits in a bowl of rice (the dried kind obvs!).

We then stuck that on the radiator for a couple of days.

The rice absorbs the moisture and the warmth from the radiator helps it evaporate from the electrics.

The is no way to tell if the pedals are actually dead but I would certainly try the above and give them a clean, inside and out to avoid sticky knobs (oo err)

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For beer though, just drying it out would leave some sticky residue behind. Even with regular water, it's the deposits that get left behind after the water has evaporated that do the damage. I saw a guy on Dragon's Den once who had a home kit version of what the pros use to fix water damaged mobile phones, it looked like the solution was to basically submerge it in alcohol as soon as possible before it dries out. I can't say whether this would work for your pedals though!

Good news is this has happened to many people before so there are similar threads around if you search for them, you may find your answers there!

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[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1402905254' post='2477623']
For beer though, just drying it out would leave some sticky residue behind. Even with regular water, it's the deposits that get left behind after the water has evaporated that do the damage.... it looked like the solution was to basically submerge it in alcohol as soon as possible before it dries out.

Good news is this has happened to many people before so there are similar threads around if you search for them, you may find your answers there!
[/quote]

The first thing to do is to dry it, and when I said clean it earlier the best thing to use is nail varnish remover and a cotton bud.

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Rice / cat litter etc won't help the sugars in the beer. They are sticky.

Pure de-ionised and distilled H2O only water does NOT conduct electricity. Tap water only conducts because of the impurities in it

So, if they are f***ed already, the best thing to do is to actually wash them with a shitload of warm water so the sugar residue melts. Use loads of water - ideally buy plain Ironing water from a super market as that has usually been distilled and filtered.

Then let it air dry with rice for a week.

bin any valves in the DHA stuff though.

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[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1402917610' post='2477790']
Rice / cat litter etc won't help the sugars in the beer. They are sticky.

Then let it air dry with rice for a week.
[/quote]

Again, this is why you use the rice/cat litter to get rid of the liquid - then you are free to deal with the stickiness with nail polish remover and cotton buds.

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I'd go with taking out batteries if present, stripping down the pedals if possible, and washing in water, using common sense to avoid washing any parts which might actually be mechanically affected by water, then leave in an airing cupboard or other warm place for a few days to dry out.

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Decades ago I worked as an SAV engineer for pub jukeboxes and the like, just when 'Pong' machines were invented. The worst area was Aldershot; the barracks pubs. I can't tell you how many times we had to tip the jukeboxes over and evacuate the dregs that prevented the mechanism physically from moving. They were quite literally awash, very often. Valve amps in them, too. We would drain them, let them dry, assisted with hairdryers, and clean the circuit boards with a toothbrush and meths. Valves are seales glass units, and won't be damaged by a mere soaking. The valves in pedals are not working on 600 volts, either.
Dry your stuff out, and scrub any residue with a toothbrush and meths. Dry 'em again; repeat until clean. Spray KF F2 (contact cleaner for pots...) into any pots or switches. Dry again and try your luck. Unless it was really not your day, I'd say they'll work again, but their resale value would be quite reduces, as any leftover gunk could cause intermittent niggly problems later.
Hope this helps.

PS: Don't drink during gigs; wait until after the show. If you must, do as Entwistle did, with a flask attached to his mic stand.

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[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1402905254' post='2477623']
.....it looked like the solution was to basically submerge it in alcohol as soon as possible......
[/quote]

I think that's what the problem was, although it was a weak alcohol. Could Special Brew be the fix?

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so...I've opened them up and sprayed the crap out of them with servisol 10 contact cleaner/lubricant. The compressore works fine again! The DHA pre-amp sort of works. When everything is turned up full ie gain, volume and + 15 DB switch it sounds like it did when everything was at it's normal 12 o'clock setting, weird.
Im going t leave it 24 hours, spray it again and see what happens. If no joy, I'll contact Dave Hall, wondering if the 2 valves might be shot which would be a relatively inepensive fix!

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[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1402949429' post='2478266']
We would drain them, let them dry, assisted with hairdryers, and clean the circuit boards with a toothbrush and meths.

Dry your stuff out, and scrub any residue with a toothbrush and meths. Dry 'em again; repeat until clean. Spray KF F2 (contact cleaner for pots...) into any pots or switches. Dry again and try your luck. Unless it was really not your day, I'd say they'll work again, but their resale value would be quite reduces, as any leftover gunk could cause intermittent niggly problems later.
[/quote]

This would have been my advice.

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well after leaving for another day Im pleased to say that the DHA pedal seems to be working well again, all back to normal levels at the moment! So for what it's worth, a good spray of circuit board or contact cleaner seems to have done the trick. Idiot bass player and location of sugary beverage placement, that's another problem altogether. Thanks for all the advice!

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[quote name='skidder652003' timestamp='1403039479' post='2479226']
so im thinking G n T with slimline is sugar free right?
[/quote]

Whisky (by the pint if you like).
That way, if you spill it, it's going to clean things. :D

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