codamedia Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 Every patch I have includes a volume block w/audio taper with the internal volume pedal connected to it. I don't swap out for wah or anything else... just volume! This EXP is set to global, not preset or snap. At yesterday's soundcheck my rig was running normal during monitor checks... but when we went to do a song I had nothing! Quick troubleshooting reveals that my expression starting going from 0 (heel down) - 100 (middle) - 0 (toe down). It did this on ALL presets, and multiple restarts did not solve it! It's never done that before! Knowing it's behavior I figured I would get through sound check, then do a global reset and see if that solves it. We ran a few songs, and I pretty much left the EXP pedal at the half point. During our last tune (about 20 minutes later) it began working as it should. It restored itself as fast as it died, right out of the blue! No issues during the two set show last night, it performed flawlessly. I never had to do a global reset! Has anyone else has ever experienced such a thing? It got me thinking about my old X3 Live.... where the SUN LIGHT would sometimes render the Expression pedal useless. The brightness of the sun was certainly hitting the Helix from the side at the time, where light could enter under the pedal.... it wasn't that hot (about 75 degrees) so it wasn't a heat issue, but the light was certainly a direct hit when it started happening. Any chance this old X3 Live problem has returned.... or does anyone have any other thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themetallikid Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 Which version of Helix do you have? if its the LT, I had issues with 2 units and how it read the volume pedal. Could it be with it being an optical sensor that something (dust/hair) was in the way confusing the sensor and then somehow got removed mid show? My issues were more not being able ot reach 100% fully without some weight on the toe side to hold it down, it'd trickle as far as 6% down to 94%. It varied and was annoying, 0 problems with the full Helix for almost 2 years now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codamedia Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share Posted July 13, 2020 On 7/11/2020 at 5:34 PM, themetallikid said: Which version of Helix do you have? if its the LT, I had issues with 2 units and how it read the volume pedal. Could it be with it being an optical sensor that something (dust/hair) was in the way confusing the sensor and then somehow got removed mid show? Yes it is an LT.... and I do believe it's an optical issue, not a mechanical or software problem. At the precise moment I had the problem the sun was at a particular angle, hitting EXP side of the helix. That is why I thought about the issues I used to have with my X3.... the EXP would not work at all in the sun. Even though things worked for the night and still work as expected right now I still did a Global Reset, and manually entered my global values. We'll see how it does at this weekends "outdoor" gigs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codamedia Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share Posted July 13, 2020 I just took the time to do a couple of tests... and have come to the conclusion this was indeed a "sun related" incident. I took a flashlight to the area around my expression pedal.... and sure enough, without moving the pedal (leaving it in a fixed "full on" position I was able to vary the reading of the pedal with the flashlight alone. Not a lot (I could drop reading from 100 to high 80's) but enough to convince me sunlight (at the right angle) could certainly have an effect on the expression pedal. This is not a problem I am overly worried about... the light angle and strength has to be very specific. In my case it was a "setting sun" hitting the side of the unit dead on... a position I may NEVER find myself in again! Unless this rears it's head with regular sunlight, or stage lights - I'm not concerned about it. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themetallikid Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 yeah cause for concern, but glad you found it. Funny story, i had a 4th of july gig on a lake shore in front of about 300 boats...the sun setting in front of us. I was gigging a Boss GT100 and had issues similarly. I use the Expression pedal to make easy A/B type changes (GT doesnt offer snapshots) to make while I sing/play. Toe switch would activate Wah pedal and deactivate the auto engage swaps....anyway, had a horrible 3rd set...presets jumping between A/B, wahs inconsistently moving from heel to toe.... pissed me off, went out and bout my Helix. Attributed it to faulty Boss gear....never dealt with a optical expression pedal before, and once I had the issues with my LT pedal, it dawned on me I was probably having sunlight/optical issues on my GT. Oh well, I'm better off here in Helix land anyway, but lesson learned. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codamedia Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share Posted July 13, 2020 36 minutes ago, themetallikid said: yeah cause for concern, but glad you found it. Great story...Your boss example is very similar to how I discovered my problem with the X3 Live years ago. I don't get worked up over "gear quirks" anymore. All gear has quirks.... find the problem, replicate the problem for confirmation... then work around it! When I buy gear (including the Helix) I read the forums to learn about the quirks... then if I come across them myself I won't be surprised. This one took my by surprise... but I still had a hunch of what it might be so I didn't panic :) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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