MagpieIndustries wrote:
And no, I dont really think turning things on and off once a day makes a difference to their lifetime. A much, MUCH bigger factor for their life length is if you smoke in your studio. Just contributing to the discussion is all
exactly, smoking doesnt just kill you.
another factor is that every bit of kit is different, they all have ideosynchracies and quirks.
with older gear by far the biggest cause of faults is mechanical, for instance the TB303 is renouned for the push switches failing due to the fact that dead skin cells get into the contacts as their is no barrier from the facia. it took 28 years for it to happen to mine, but i had to replace the switches and took the advice of Devilfish and put a plastic barrier sheet in.
there's never any problems with the pots, which must be sealed well.
the SH101 on the other hand has fader issues. again the pots are fine, but some of the overused faders (like the filter cutoff) can gradually deteriorate becoming crackly (after 20 years or so) both mine have a few dodgy ones, but i still use them ok.
with more modern gear the faults are quite often either again mechanical, namely digital encoders, or poor quality power supplies.
my alesis andromeda and prophet 08 both had rubbish encoders, (i got rid of both synths ) yet my Nord 3 and Nord lead have been rock solid.
some of the octave switches on my Moog Voyager started going wrong within a few months, i've been living with it but got some replacement ones from Moog so that if they go its a quick fix , and yet all the encoders are fine after 6 years.
the Nord 3 was fitted with inferior power supplies compared to the older models, my Nord 3 and my mates Nord 3's power supplies died at about the same time.
on the other hand my 60 or so eurorack modules i bought 2 to 3 years ago, have been totally reliable, ive got one slightly scratchy pot out of the hundreds in the rig. they dont draw large currents when switched on other than the Metasonix modules which surge up to 8 times their running current to fire up the tubes. the six doepfer power supplies are going strong despite being run right up to their limit.
all of my outboard gear, Effects, dynamics processors etc. have been totally trouble free, most of it has been used for over ten years
what i'm saying is that switching on and off gear is really unlikely to damage any components, i have had alot of different pieces of kit through my studio, over many years and i cant think of a single component thats failed ( that must be hunderds of thousands of components ) other than a few pots and encoders which is a mechanical fault and nothing to do with switching on and off.
the only thing where i could make a connection is with modern power supplies, so you just replace your power supply !
if its a wall-wart you buy new one for a couple of quid, if its internal then it might cost you a bit more and if you cant fit it yourself (which is usually an easy job) the cost of the repairer.
i hope this info is of some use to somebody.
oh yeah and i dont allow smoking in my studio !
