vstrattomusic Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 Well, it's been around 1 year and a half without trouble, yesterday the default EXP2 in the Helix LT died at random, dead as in DEAD, not a patch mistake, re-installing the firmware didn't work, or restoring globals, and hardware test mode wasn't reading any signal from the pedal at all. It's not physically broken. I turned off the Helix for a while, wrote a support ticket, turned it back on, and boom it's working again, just like that for no reason. We've agreed that if it happens again I'd have to bring it to a repair center, I have one kind of near me, luckly. This problem doesn't make a lot of sense, but I wonder if we can dechipher this, have you had this happen to you? Any factors you might remember? Me, for example, I had the Helix turned on all night as I was playing guitar, so it was turned on for many hours, shutting it on and off while troubleshooting didn't make a difference, but once I shut it off for a longer time, the pedal went back on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 Intermittent problems are nearly impossible to troubleshoot, no matter what the device. You'll stroke out trying to figure out what caused it. I'll bet good money that with stuff like this, if it's still under warranty, the repair joints probably don't even bother trying to diagnose it... if it's on their dime anyway, it's likely cheaper to just send you a new one, rather than pay somebody hours on end to try and figure it out. Or they'll do that back at the mothership... fix it and sell it as "refurbished", recouping some $ that way...long after you've gotten your new one. Or maybe it'll never happen again. Ghost in the machine...these things get weird. That's all there is to it sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vstrattomusic Posted May 28, 2019 Author Share Posted May 28, 2019 33 minutes ago, cruisinon2 said: Intermittent problems are nearly impossible to troubleshoot, no matter what the device. You'll stroke out trying to figure out what caused it. I'll bet good money that with stuff like this, if it's still under warranty, the repair joints probably don't even bother trying to diagnose it... if it's on their dime anyway, it's likely cheaper to just send you a new one, rather than pay somebody hours on end to try and figure it out. Or they'll do that back at the mothership... fix it and sell it as "refurbished", recouping some $ that way...long after you've gotten your new one. Or maybe it'll never happen again. Ghost in the machine...these things get weird. That's all there is to it sometimes. Hmm the thing is the regular warranty was 1 year long right? I've had mine for longer than a year so I guess I will have to pay for the repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 1 hour ago, vstrattomusic said: Hmm the thing is the regular warranty was 1 year long right? I've had mine for longer than a year so I guess I will have to pay for the repair. Depends on where you are... if you're in the US, your warranty is 2 years. Hey folks, Helix is our flagship modeler and as such demands a high level of Customer service and support. Because we believe in this product, its durability and quality we are extending the warrantee for all US customers to 2 years. This includes Helix Floor, Helix Rack/Control and Helix LT. All you need to do to qualify for this second year of service is to register your Helix. See the FAQs below and as always if you have any questions just shout. Updated Helix Warranty (US Only) FAQ: When does this launch? Thursday, July 6th Who qualifies for the extended Helix warranty? This covers Helix Fl, Rck, LT, Cntr in the United States only. Why is this offered to US customers only? Warranties are set by Line 6 distributor partners. Currently Line 6 only distributes in the US. Why did Line 6 decide to offer extended warranty? Helix is our flagship product. We stand by the product and we want to make sure that we meet the high expectations of our customer needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spikey Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 you did replace the cable from the Expression 2 port to the Mission pedal? Or is that not how the LT works (sorry I have a Rack model with controller). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vstrattomusic Posted May 28, 2019 Author Share Posted May 28, 2019 20 minutes ago, cruisinon2 said: Depends on where you are... if you're in the US, your warranty is 2 years. I'm not in the US, I'm in Spain, bought the Helix when I was in the UK. 7 minutes ago, spikey said: you did replace the cable from the Expression 2 port to the Mission pedal? Or is that not how the LT works (sorry I have a Rack model with controller). No, there's no external pedal, by EXP2 I meant the default built in pedal in the LT. It's the one that's lit up all the time and the one you assign to in the editor to use the expression pedal on the LT. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's because on the Helix Floor the default pedal might be EXP1 and then you're able to add 2 external pedals; EXP2 & EXP3. On the LT you're only able to have 1 external pedal so you start off with EXP2 and EXP3 would be the one you add, EXP1 doesn't exist but still comes up on the software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kakker71 Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 I know the topic is over a year old, but any news? My guitarist (and I) both have the Helix LT, and his have this problem. First time, we fixed it by reinstalling latest update, and it worked. No updates have been installed since, but today, while making new presets, it stopped working again. No response whatsoever, not in the preset and not in UI test. Anyone got any idea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 33 minutes ago, Kakker71 said: I know the topic is over a year old, but any news? My guitarist (and I) both have the Helix LT, and his have this problem. First time, we fixed it by reinstalling latest update, and it worked. No updates have been installed since, but today, while making new presets, it stopped working again. No response whatsoever, not in the preset and not in UI test. Anyone got any idea? If it’s not responding in the UI test screen, that indicates something with the hardware. Could be the sensor is dirty or something else is wrong with it. He should open a support ticket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCAxeman Posted May 12, 2022 Share Posted May 12, 2022 The pedal sensor board has a low quality phototransistor mounted on it. Prone to failure because of internal defects. A failure of the photo sensor (Q1 on the board) renders the pedal unresponsive. I have ordered this board: https://www.fullcompass.com/prod/586161-line-6-50-02-0576-expression-pedal-pcb-for-fbv3 It has the toe switch built in and shows no connector but it looks like it will fit. I can transfer the connector from the bad board. Line 6 support told me I would have to replace the entire Rear IO circuit assy ($$$) because the sensor board ($) is not sold separately. I have also ordered some different replacement phototransistors (pennies) to try in the bad board. They are surface mount devices, so not for the unskilled to replace. I will report back when I get the parts and do the work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCAxeman Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 I fixed my footswitch board by retrofitting a non surface mount phototransistor on it before the new one came. The new one mentioned above will fit and work but the connector, which isn't on that pcb, would need to be wired up. The board has a different order to the pins plus the toe switch function. But otherwise it's the same. I would have just taken the phototransistor from the new one to fix the old one before messing with the connector. I never got around to trying the other transistors I ordered. Once I fixed it I stopped working on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.