Geeman

I purchased these from Amazon and they worked just fine. Don't mean to insult your soldering skills if you know this already, but I highly recommend using some solder wick and flux paste to help remove the bad switches. I nearly ruined my circuit board trying to get those little suckers off. With the wick and flux paste, they nearly fall off the board by themselves! (once you learn how to use the stuff - YouTube)

Yep SaschaFranck, their foot switches have been a definite weak link for me. I've had trouble with them since their Vetta amp floorboards. And I brought this concern up when the Helix was first announced and was assured that they were of better quality. I've bought a spare POD HD500X and now a spare Helix because I did not have the time to get them fixed. Don't get me wrong, I love the sound and flexibility that the Helix gives me, but these switches just don't last for me. I even started using midi control as much as I can just to avoid using the foot switches, hoping they'll last longer! I'm going to tear into my original Helix and see what's up. I'm beginning to suspect that the circuitboard mounted actuators are not the problem, but rather something in the plunger assembly. I think my actuators still function, but I noticed if I grab one of my switches and try to rotate it (previous posts suggests that if you rotate the foot switches, it "self-cleans" them and they'll work again) there is resistance and it feels kinda gritty as it rotates. However, when I got my new Helix, the first thing I noticed is when rotating the switches, they feel smooth with very little resistance. So, maybe something in the plunger assembly needs addressing. Sorry for the rant. I still swear by my Helix.

Mine did this after doing the update. I shutdown/restarted my Macbook Pro and this seems to have fixed the issue.

I read somewhere, maybe on TGP, that if you rotate the metal foot switches and press them several times they would "self-clean" themselves. I initially did not think this would work because I knew the problem was really the little tactile actuator and not the metal foot switch. But, I'll be damned if it didn't help! It's not a perfect solution though and I still think I need to go in and either spray and/or replace the actuators, but you may wanna give this a try. It did help with my foot switch issues. This tactile actuator is the exact issue I've had with Line 6 pedals ever since they started using them, way back with the Vetta amplifier and matching foot pedal. One of the early Line 6 customer reps, George Van Wagner, was kind enough to send me out a handful of them free of charge and I was able to replace them all myself. I've had issues with the POD X3 Live, POD HD500, and 500X models as well! When Helix was announced, the first thing I wanted to know was, will these same tactile actuators be used? The response I got was that the foot switches have been improved from previous models and were heavy duty. My Helix switches lasted maybe a year before they started acting up. And I've had mine since they were first released. I even found midi solutions (BandHelper) to switch my patches for me, not only for convenience sake, but to minimize use of the foot switches! Sorry for the long rant. I love the Line 6 products and what they've done for me. I just hate those little actuators!

Well looky here! brue58ski, Fullcompass has the tactile switches! Although I'd still need to verify that Helix uses the circuit-board-mounted tactile switches.

Thank you brue58ski! This is good info to know, although not what I was referring to. I didn't know Fullcompass stocked such parts, so that's handy to know. I'm not sure if the Helix foot switches operate in the same manner as the POD HD500's. For the 500's, Line 6 uses a little micro tactile switch such as this. This is the part that seems to wear out quickly. I've had to replace the ones in my AXSYS 212 foot controller years ago. And my POD HD500X needs some replacements as well. But before I tear into my Helix to see, I was hoping someone else has already done so and could tell me what size to get. Thanks again!

Does anyone happen to know the size of the little micro tactile actuators that are in the Helix floor and LT? I need to replace a few of mine. I could open it up and see for myself but, hopefully someone has already done that which would save me from having to disassemble my pedalboard twice. I think in the POD 500's they are 6mm x 6mm.

Please keep us posted on your outcome! I was about to do the 2.60 update but, now I think I'll wait and see if this is an issue or not.

Thank you sir for your reply. I'm still a little confused though. If I get a 60w with the built in receiver, will my transmitter pair with the 60w Spider -and- still work with the G10 receiver I use in my pedalboard at gigs? I hope I'm explaining this correctly! :unsure:

I apologize if this has been answered already. I've searched but didn't see anything on this: I have a G10 wireless unit already (receiver base and transmitter) that I use at gigs. Does anyone know if I can use my current transmitter in one of the Spider V amps (60w and above), say for home practicing, and then when done be able to pair it back with the original receiver when needed? I looked at the Spider V manual online but it wasn't clear to me if this would work. Thanks!

Thank you for taking such quick action and sharing with us!

I am also having trouble with 2.12 snapshots losing my variax model selections. All of my patches that used snapshots and changed variax models were set back to [Don't Force] in the variax model selector option. On patches that did not use snapshots my variax model selections transferred fine. I went back and forth, installing 2.12 and reverting back to 2.10, several times but the same issue occurs every time. Previously, with all other updates, I have never had any issues at all, so I'd like to think it wasn't user error! :)

I've been out of touch for a day or so but, yes, I too will open a support ticket and post in the bug topic after this weekend. I'm not sure how this happened but when I restored to ver. 2.10, one of the echo blocks in one particular patch was wayyyyy off. So much so that the Mix parameter was set at 450%!!! I had to restore a backup from November 2015. Thankfully I had backed up individual presets too and not just the set lists. Wow.

Dave this is exactly my experience, well my first few attempts to update didn't go smoothly, but the rest is same as yours. I will try your test also and I'll let you know what results i get.

silverhead, tried your suggestion to remove VDI cable but, still no luck. I'll just have to do it the old fashion way and write down all the model changes I make, then go back to version 2.12 and manually enter them and re-save the patches. But thanks for the help!

Did not think of that. Will try it and let you know. Thanks!

Thanks silverhead, I did this step also. Still kept losing the Variax models. I did notice through all of this that on one of my patches that doesn't use snapshots, I setup a stomp-style switch to change multiple items, one of them being to change Variax models. That still worked fine. It seemed to be only patches with snapshots that didn't. jaminjimlp I'm not very knowledgeable on computer debugging. Should I consider this worthy of posting in the bug thread if I'm the only one, so far, having this issue? Your issue sounds different from mine.

Has anyone had problems, in 2.12, with Snapshots losing all your Variax Model selections? For my patches that use snapshots, I noticed my Variax models were all set to "Don't Force", where I'd previously had models stored there. I could simply set the model back to what I had and re-save the patch but the problem is, I don't remember many of the models I used! After reverting back to 2.10, all my snapshots with their Variax models are intact. Very strange issue. Now, I did skip 2.11 altogether and went from 2.10 to 2.12. But I've done this before with other firmware updates and didn't have any problems. Could this cause any issues? I should also mention that I had numerous problems with this install where I'd never had any issues with past updates. For instance, the first time through, Helix had restarted and was rebuilding presets when it froze. After trying to turn it on/off again I finally had to do the power-on reset (holding down 9 & 10). Also, one particular patch would cause Helix to lock up when I would cycle through some of the snapshots. When it was all said and done, I must've reinstalled 2.12 four or five times before giving up.

neli, if you happen to get any of these actuators with a rubber protector, or if you find some of better quality please post the information for us! This has been my concern all along with the Helix. Mine has been good so far, but from past experience with several different POD's I've owned, the foot switch actuators just don't last.

Thanks zooey, that's exactly my problem. If I go from the other guitarist's Helix or the drummer's V-Drums to my Helix it works. But if I'm trying to pass data to them it does not. But another weird thing is this, If I have Mainstage open in edit mode, and my Helix is first in the signal chain, I can scroll through the midi program changes in Mainstage and it does change the presets on our drummer's V-Drums. I haven't tried this yet with the other guitarist's Helix. It just doesn't work when Mainstage is in performance mode, unless I am last in the signal chain. I'm thinking like you said, something must be wrong with my midi out/thru. I saw a very old video last night on youtube that says midi signals do get "dirtier" the more devices they have to pass through. So, maybe Line 6 supports's advice to get a splitter is the better solution.

Was wondering if anyone has had problems with passing midi data through your Helix from one device to another. My situation: I just started to learn Apple's Mainstage app so that my wife can change my presets and the presets of our other guitarist/keyboardist (he has a Helix also) and our drummer's V-Drums. It works fine with my Helix alone, but when I try to pass midi on to the drummer and other guitarist, it doesn't work. But here's the kicker, if I reverse the order and put me last in the chain, they are able to pass midi to me! We've compared our Helix settings and are both running the same firmware version. I've done a global reset (holding down switches 8 & 9) and still no luck. I'm beginning to think my Helix is defective but, I'm hoping somebody here has had a similar experience and maybe even a solution. I also tried passing midi to my "old" POD HD500X. Same scenario, I cannot pass midi to the HD500 but, if I reverse the signal order, it can pass data to my Helix from Mainstage.. Oh and I did drop a support ticket and the reply I got back was that passing midi data was not reliable and I should consider a direct line to each device. I'm assuming they are referring to a midi splitter. Thoughts anyone?

I don't have an answer for you but I would like to add that my number 4 switch does exactly the same thing as yours. I have no idea what is causing it to go into switch assignment mode and it doesn't do it often. It's very random. I am really enjoying my Helix but, I have had reservations about the foot switches since before Helix was released. I've had so many switches go bad on past Pod's (X3 Live, HD500, and HD500X) and I was concerned Helix was using the same actuators. Anyway, I digress, my apologies. Hopefully there is a simple answer for our problem.

This is awesome! Great job. Thank you!

I have not yet loaded the last firmware update. Does anyone know if I can load v1.06, when it's released, without the previous update installed? G-

Yeah that's been my wish too, ever since the Variax 500!