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Power Button unsoldered


ofp2079
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Hi,

 

To my great astonishment when I switched off the Helix (after 1 hour use) yesterday,

the power button came unsoldered from the inside, as a result it just fell out of the unit... 

 

I got the unit in November, I'm not an usual complainer but I have never had this kind of problems with way less expensive units (even from Line6, I've had Pods). Until then I was so satisfied with the unit that I regularly annoyed my friends and musicians talking about how good it was.. now they can have a good laugh !

 

I just mailed the distributor in France (Woodbrass) from which I bought the unit, we'll see how it goes... bit this is very disappointing on a 3month unit at this price tag, and I sincerely hope for Line 6 that this is not a defect present on a mass of units.

 

post-2285845-0-78682600-1455966177_thumb.jpg

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Hey ofp,

 

I too got mine from that first batch Woodbrass Paris got in November. A few days in FS10 began failing and now so is FS6. I got in touch with them and they could supposedly fix/exchange for a new one within 30 days. What worries me is they have none in stock, so I got in touch with the support/repair guys Line 6 recommended and they told me they don't have footswitches for the Helix yet.

 

I just chose to hold on to my unit for a few more weeks until they really have them in stock before I send mine in. I can't be without it for now.

 

Please do update the thread on how things go.

 

Where are you located at I ask?

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Looks like component failure instead of an unit assembly error? I know how this kind of thing can feel but that looks easily repaired... Best of luck with it!

 

Yes, and I also think it can be easily repaired, but I will never try to do that myself, because that would put the unit out of warranty,

anyways lollipop happens they say, it just comes so early you know...

thanks for the response !

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Hey ofp,

 

I too got mine from that first batch Woodbrass Paris got in November. A few days in FS10 began failing and now so is FS6. I got in touch with them and they could supposedly fix/exchange for a new one within 30 days. What worries me is they have none in stock, so I got in touch with the support/repair guys Line 6 recommended and they told me they don't have footswitches for the Helix yet.

 

I just chose to hold on to my unit for a few more weeks until they really have them in stock before I send mine in. I can't be without it for now.

 

Please do update the thread on how things go.

 

Where are you located at I ask?

 

Hi Bangha,

Sorry to hear your story.

so probably our units come from the same batch, actually mine has had no issue with FS. It ran perfectly until yesterday.

In my case it is sort of worse because the unit cannot be powered on now without the button, it's not mechanical... and I'm also concerned I'll have to stay long before replacement.

I have rehearsals coming and I have sold everything (stupid me) to work only with the Helix...

I'm from Bordeaux, I'll update the thread sure.

thanks for the info.

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Update :  

Well Woodbrass sent me an email for a local repair shop supposed to be able to fix the unsoldered button issue...

But as I read the reviews (google) for this repair shop I cannot say I am enthused, they sound terrible.

I'm afraid they gonna make things worse. Their main field being household appliances (fridges, ovens etc... nothing audio...)

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Hi,

 

To my great astonishment when I switched off the Helix (after 1 hour use) yesterday,

the power button came unsoldered from the inside, as a result it just fell out of the unit... 

 

I got the unit in November, I'm not an usual complainer but I have never had this kind of problems with way less expensive units (even from Line6, I've had Pods). Until then I was so satisfied with the unit that I regularly annoyed my friends and musicians talking about how good it was.. now they can have a good laugh !

 

I just mailed the distributor in France (Woodbrass) from which I bought the unit, we'll see how it goes... bit this is very disappointing on a 3month unit at this price tag, and I sincerely hope for Line 6 that this is not a defect present on a mass of units.

 

attachicon.gifIMG_0753.JPG

Please open up a ticket with customer support so that we can resolve this issue for you. We deal with every issue on a case to case basis, so it is best to contact us as soon as possible so that we can get you taken care of.

 

http://line6.com/support/tickets/

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Please open up a ticket with customer support so that we can resolve this issue for you. We deal with every issue on a case to case basis, so it is best to contact us as soon as possible so that we can get you taken care of.

 

http://line6.com/support/tickets/

 

Hello,

thank you I have just done that  [L6TID: 273348] , but I thought it would not work since I do not live in USA. ?

Best regards

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Sounds to me (Electronics background for 40+ years) like your QA dept. needs more time for "Quality Assurance" to check the board's soldering temps and product status as they come off the line, and less time for the sales dept. to run the show, so to speak. On a case by case basis of course.   ;)

 

Pardon my Texas slang but something just aint set right "heat wise" on the surface mount solder station doomoflachee. I do hope this is the exception and not the rule, since I have ordered one myself.

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That kind of thing makes me wonder if the switch didn't take a hit somewhere along the way. I'm not accusing anyone of anything. I'm just saying I've seen that sort of thing happen with toggle switches when they received the brunt of some sort of impact. Or, it could just be a faulty component. Unfortunately, that kind of thing just happens sometimes.

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That is not unsoldered! The switch came apart. Cheapo switch. That is why they did not put a power switch on the HD500x.

So are we really to accept the notion that the only two options are no power switch at all, or a cheap sh!tty switch? That's ridiculous. The 500X is the only unit of its kind, (pedal board or rack mount) that I've owned that didn't have a power switch, and there have been many. Not a single one of them ever failed.

 

So am I just lucky, or is this a problem that doesn't need to exist?

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Reading the new comments : unsoldered, faulty component, etc  

All I can say: I have all parts and they look "sane", it's just like they are not glued together anymore. 

When I switched off the Helix as usual and I can't say I have Chewbacca fingers, the switch fell like the metal piece inside disconnected from the chassis, that is what I call unsoldered maybe it is not how an electronician would qualify the issue.

I know someone who's had a similar issue on an active speaker's power switch, it just cracked from the inside without any particular trauma as someone wrote, so s*hit happens yes ! Probably not a big repair though,

 

Tomorrow I'll bring the unit to the repair shop Woodbrass asked me to get in contact with.

I'll keep you updated.

thanks to all for the support,

 

... and again I still do think the Helix is the most advanced pedalboard ever made for guitarists, It took 6 years in the making, I think Line6 wanted to hit big, and I think it is a success on many levels. It's bad luck for me, I'm certain most people won't experience such problems and will be very happy with their units (to address the people concerned).

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That is not unsoldered!  The switch came apart.  Cheapo switch.   That is why they did not put a power switch on the HD500x.

 

You do realize just how many things made within the last 50 years has an on-off switch that still functions? Poor choice of a switch is "not" the reason why the HD500x didn't have one, but it could be the reason why the one on the Helix broke. OTOH it also could be that dropping off a dock (even in its shipping box) could have damaged it in transit. I have seen this happen with my own eyes. Or your baby brother could have used his Tonka Truck like a hammer and whacked it when you weren't looking. There are thousands of reasons why. But the one I do not want to find out about is it being a cheap made switch. Here's hoping its not that.

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Sounds to me (Electronics background for 40+ years) like your QA dept. needs more time for "Quality Assurance" to check the board's soldering temps and product status as they come off the line, and less time for the sales dept. to run the show, so to speak...

 

With all due respect... The QA and sales people are probably totally different peeps. The performance of one doesn't directly correllate to the performance of the other.

 

And we haven't heard bunches of stories of this failure, so it's pretty safe to guess that it is an isolated occurrence. There are a lot of Helices out there in the wild now. It appears most people are having a trouble free existence with it.

 

Honestly, no matter how well it is made, there will be an occasional issue and component failure. That is the universe we live in.

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With all due respect... The QA and sales people are probably totally different peeps. The performance of one doesn't directly correllate to the performance of the other.

 

And we haven't heard bunches of stories of this failure, so it's pretty safe to guess that it is an isolated occurrence. There are a lot of Helices out there in the wild now. It appears most people are having a trouble free existence with it.

 

Honestly, no matter how well it is made, there will be an occasional issue and component failure. That is the universe we live in.

Of course the QA dept and sales dept are a different entity as they should be. But one effects the other. I sternly disagree with you that the performance of a QA program (finding the errors and correcting them, and coming up with a better XXX) does not effect the total sales of a product. Would you buy a product that has a bad history? Does that matter? Of course it does! Poor quality made products (the result of a bad QA dept. in most cases) eventually results in poor sales, period. In fact, the 1st will always take care of the second, in either a very good way or a very bad way. And Ive heard the "no matter how its made" speech before,  and also know that anything electronic will eventually break (by itself or with help). Im not disputing that. Im just stating that I don't want the broken parts problem helped along by putting sales before quality or making excuses for issues. Im sure that Line 6 feels the same way and will correct the issues as they get to them, but a problem is still problem no matter how its colored. Im sure you and I agree to the no excuses policy and QA before sales, correct? 

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and also know that anything electronic will eventually break (by itself or with help). Im not disputing that.

Lol...the operative term being "eventually". No reasonable person would complain about a busted rocker switch 5 years in, but if it happens before you've even received the credit card statement that has your shiny new toy on it, I think you've got a legit gripe.

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Lol...the operative term being "eventually". No reasonable person would complain about a busted rocker switch 5 years in, but if it happens before you've even received the credit card statement that has your shiny new toy on it, I think you've got a legit gripe.

 

 

Agreed.

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, but a problem is still problem no matter how its colored

Absolutely agree.. PPL like the quality failures... Especially here, after the scribble stripes that a lot of ppl complained (including me), the mic input fail, and your switch fail, there are guys that cheer up the quality issues, and guys that disagree on this... http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Quality-Control/800595-23508 need to say more? 

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I think I owed an update on the subject for those who had participated in this thread :

 

So since the last episode, I have been sent successively to two different service centers in France.

None of them were certified for Line 6 maintenance, even though both centers were Yamaha partners.

I will spare you the details but the whole story has been a bit of an administrative nightmare for me from day 1.

Now, the distributor has finally got a good location for the repair (actually believe it or not I have found it for them !!  yes really),

and so we have an agreement : tomorrow the Helix flies to the distributor which will manage the issue with the service center (there are 2 in France).

Back to the beginning...

 

So hopefully now this unit should be taken care of in the next days, weeks...

I'll keep you updated.

 

 

 

 

 

Reading the new comments : unsoldered, faulty component, etc  

All I can say: I have all parts and they look "sane", it's just like they are not glued together anymore. 

When I switched off the Helix as usual and I can't say I have Chewbacca fingers, the switch fell like the metal piece inside disconnected from the chassis, that is what I call unsoldered maybe it is not how an electronician would qualify the issue.

I know someone who's had a similar issue on an active speaker's power switch, it just cracked from the inside without any particular trauma as someone wrote, so s*hit happens yes ! Probably not a big repair though,

 

Tomorrow I'll bring the unit to the repair shop Woodbrass asked me to get in contact with.

I'll keep you updated.

thanks to all for the support,

 

... and again I still do think the Helix is the most advanced pedalboard ever made for guitarists, It took 6 years in the making, I think Line6 wanted to hit big, and I think it is a success on many levels. It's bad luck for me, I'm certain most people won't experience such problems and will be very happy with their units (to address the people concerned).

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  • 5 weeks later...

Got the Helix back from repair center, after 6 weeks out.


They have changed the power switch and power supply, and it does work fine again !


 


But I'm a bit upset because they have sent the unit back directly in its original box with no surrounding protections, just the black tape to mask the parcel. Crazy !


Of course the box arrived damaged on the sides.    


Originally I had sent the Helix to Woodbrass inside a box in a box like Russian Dolls with lots of filler and stuff to keep it from moving as they request it in their instructions by the way.


As everyone knows how these packages are being processed during shipment the least I can say this is very unprofessional and surprising  from the shop.


Anyway story over.  Installed the 1.10 firmware, and the new app is amazing. Good to be back in the community ;)

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