Stuart91 Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I've got a couple of mixing desks that have loose fader caps. This wouldn't be a problem if they were sitting flat in a venue, but when they are moved around in flightcases the fader caps fall off. It's a poor first impression for customers when we need to dig around and replace them. They are definitely the correct fader caps, the original ones which came with the desks. They're not particularly old or abused so I don't think it's just plastic fatigue making for a looser fit. I don't have a problem using some sort of adhesive to hold them in place, but I'm a little unsure of what will work best. It seems best that it's not particularly permanent so that the caps could be removed if the desk needs service. And I'm a little wary of trying to apply something like superglue whilst avoiding slopping it onto the fader track itself... I'm thinking that a tiny drop of some sort of industrial strength Blu-Tac might be an option rather than liquid adhesive. Has anyone tried anything like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam.spoons Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 A slight crimp in the tang on the fader might just tighten them up enough. Otherwise I would have suggested a dot of superglue (use a needle to transfer it into the cap before replacing so it doesn't go anywhere the fader innards). Thread Lock would be the posh solution but superglue works as well in this kind of application and a small enough spot will break easily if you need to remove the caps again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamplighter Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 A small drop of nail varnish is my weapon of choice for such problems.Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart91 Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 Thanks, will try some of that. We've got threadlock on hand so could try that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete10uk Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 A possibly slightly less messy solution would be as you mention BluTack, a very small bit dropped in the plastic hole of the fader top would take up any play in the fitting and should stop them falling off. Alternately as Sam says just nip the plastic with taper noised pliers to take our the play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam.spoons Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 A possibly slightly less messy solution would be as you mention BluTack, a very small bit dropped in the plastic hole of the fader top would take up any play in the fitting and should stop them falling off. Alternately as Sam says just nip the plastic with taper noised pliers to take our the play. I was thinking of the metal slider tang, just a slight bend/crimp or something in that where the cap fits. The plastic sockets in the fader caps can be a bit more fragile than that should be. +1 thought to either nail varnish (the solvent may melt the plastic slightly so keep it off the visible bits) or blue tack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldradiohand Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Hot glue gun? Easy enough to remove if you need to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandall Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 My adhesive of choice for most gluing jobs is Uhu, Power for permanent-ish plastic repairs & Standard for anything else (£2-£3 in shops or £1 in Poundland!). Having said that, a dab of PVA in the plastic slot would also do the trick. If you have a local Tiger store they do a very good fix-almost-anything glue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 A small blob of silicone sealant might be worth a shot. Would be easy to get the caps off when the faders need replacing down the line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam.spoons Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I'd be wary of anything that puts a relatively large amount of glue in there, hot glue, silicone, UHU and such like are quite thick and would likely form a largish blob. SG is usually thin enough to do a dot, much easier to break than a larger surface coverage of a more conventional glue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ojc123 Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Our Soundcraft Expression is prone to losing fader caps and the blu-tack solution has worked well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boatman Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Chewing gum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ojc123 Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Chewing gum?Na. It goes brittle after a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 And it loses its flavour on the bed post overnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Depending on the mixer in question, I probably wouldn't do something permanent like superglue--it's sometimes necessary to remove the caps to do maintenance. I've not often had this as as problem but, on the rare occasion I've use both the "bend the tang" and "insert a bit of blu-tac" methods. If you're bending the metal, you have to be careful not to put any stress on the actual fader but it's a good fix. Blu-tac seems tacky (pun intended) but I've never had any problem with it...just be sparing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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