Helix floor footswitch failing ?

[scias23]

I've had the Helix floor for over a year now. Recently I noticed that some of the footswitches are doing "double press". I press on it once and it reads two presses.

 

This is annoying especially when trying to turn a block on or off. I tried "cleaning" the problematic footswitches but the problem is still there.

 

Now, my local dealer says that my warranty expired already, which is a total bummer since I guess in the US the warranty for Line6 products is 2 years.

 

What can I do to fix those footswitches? I really love Helix but this makes me think twice to just go stompboxes. :(

[knoxdaz10]

contact cleaner maybe 

[zolko60]

 

[Peter]

I also had the "double press" problem with my Helix Floor. Contact cleaner works for me, but you need to open the Helix and the footswitch to get the cleaner in the right place (be careful only use a bit). Don't try to spray the cleaner from the outside. You will not reach the right place and can damage other things like the LEDs.

There is a small tactile switch under the footswitch and there you have to spray the contact cleaner.

...

(Sometimes it can be helpful to press the switch several times quickly to eliminate oxidation/dirt inside - for me, that only helped for a short time)

...

[zolko60]

On 6/22/2019 at 9:02 PM, Peter said:

There is a small tactile switch under the footswitch and there you have to spray the contact cleaner.

And if this does not work replace with a compatible tactile switch eg. C&K PTS645SL43-2 LFS

[Peter]

57 minutes ago, zolko60 said:

And if this does not work replace with a compatible tactile switch eg. C&K PTS645SL43-2 LFS

I've already bought a few, but fortunately I have not needed the new switches yet. :)

[jws1982]

I solder in new ones when they start failing.   If you can’t solder, find someone local who can.   Those 6mm switches are commonplace.  Anyone who’s good at soldering will know what they are and how to properly replace them.  Pulling the helix apart is relatively easy as well.   

[litesnsirens]

I had my helix in recently and had a footswitch trespassed replaced...I suppose if this is going to be an ongoing problem I should learn to fix it myself.

[Peter]

16 hours ago, litesnsirens said:

I had my helix in recently and had a footswitch trespassed replaced...I suppose if this is going to be an ongoing problem I should learn to fix it myself.

 

With a little technical skill, opening the case is not that difficult.

If the switch is not totally broken (you "only" have the double press problem) and you are not good at soldering, I would try it with contactcleaner/deoxit spray first.

This worked really well for me. I had 2 failing switches that have been working fine for almost 2 years after "repair"

[litesnsirens]

That’s good to know.  I’m “OK” at soldering but I wouldn’t want to do any of that tiny detailed work that you see in circuit boards.   I’m half decent with a can of de-oxit, though.  Looking back, I couldn’t really say if my issue was the double press problem or not, to be honest, I didn’t really watch it that closely.   I just know that on an intermittent basis when I would try to activate or deactivate the switch it wouldn’t work.  I’d have to give it a few tries.  This info will be very helpful.  I’ll go with the de=on it first and once I have Helix open I’ll be able to tell if I feel like i have the skills to do the solder job in necessary.

[Geeman]

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!

 

[Peter]

1 hour ago, Geeman said:

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  have already tried the "self-clean". With a little luck, it can clean the contacts by quickly clicking on the switch several times. But for me it worked only a few days or weeks, than the problem came back.

...I hope line6 finds a better solution for future products

 

[Peter]

I read something about a bugfix during the 2.8 update process.

They increase the latency between klicks to avoid a "Double Press". Maybe this helps.

 

 

EDIT:

It looks like the bugfix is not working

 

[stephen_palmer51]

I've had switch issues too. Taking the back off to get at the tactile switches was fairly easy apart from a couple of the screwheads stripping (only used a hand screwdriver, probably not quite the right fit though, so be careful) simple enough. I cleaned the switch as mentioned in other forums, only using a little contact cleaner and re-assembled twice. This didn't work. Third time I flooded the switch while pressing it, re-assembled and so far so good. I've a feeling it'll need to be replaced though, switches are easy to get and cheap. Helix is a great piece of kit but I wish the build quality was a little better.