Expression pedal "wandering"

[kerryhall1]

I have a Helix rack and foot controller, firmware version: 3.11.0

 

I'm having an issue with my foot controller. It seems to "wander" a bit. When originally setting it up and for weeks after, it would cleanly go from 0% to 100% and back.

 

But now I will watch it idle with the toe down, and the percentage will change on its own, slowly moving from 100% down to 90% or so. This seems to be fixed in the short term by just unplugging and replugging the rj45 connector for the foot controller. It then works fine for 15 minutes or so, then the bug comes back. Sometimes I have seen the reverse, where 100% is fine, but the 0% will "wander" up to 10% or so, but this is rarer.

 

I have tried two different expression pedals and have the exact same issue, so I think it's a problem with the Helix. I'm using my expression pedal for volume, so it's crucial that it works correctly.

 

Some sort of floating point rounding error? Other math error? Problems with the expression pedal ADC?

 

Is this bug fixed in the latest firmware? If not, how do I fix this / work around this?

[themetallikid]

CHECK THE OPTICAL SENSOR (BLOW INTO IT LIGHTLY) AS IF IT HAS A FUZZ/HAIR/ANYTHING ON IT, IT CAN AFFECT HOW ITS TRYING TO READ THE PEDAL.  ALSO IF THERE IS ANY DIRECT LIGHT GOING INTO THE WINDOW (SUNLIGHT) THAT CAN AFFECT IT AS WELL.  

 

I GET A LITTLE DRIFT AS WELL ON THE EXTREME SIDES, BUT THATS USUALLY JUST DUE TO THE RUBBER STOPPERS PUSHING BACK A BIT, BUT NOT TO 90%

[theElevators]

What expression pedal do you use?  Try a different one. 

 

They are so cheap, you can just buy a new one for 20 dollars or so. 

[cselblaut]

I have a Helix Rack and Control (FW 3.71) with a Mission Engineering expression pedal and never experienced this problem. Not even under FW 3.11. Regardless of this, I would upgrade to the latest firmware because many minor bugs have been fixed in the meantime. If the error still occurs, it could be due to the CAT cable.

[kerryhall1]

On 2/8/2024 at 4:37 AM, theElevators said:

What expression pedal do you use?  Try a different one. 

 

They are so cheap, you can just buy a new one for 20 dollars or so. 

 

I've tried two different expression pedals and both have the issue. The problem definitely lies with the Helix, not with the expression pedals. In addition, I have tested both expression pedals with my interface + DAW and see no such issues with either one.

[C4TH]

On 2/12/2024 at 2:37 AM, kerryhall1 said:

 

I've tried two different expression pedals and both have the issue. The problem definitely lies with the Helix, not with the expression pedals. In addition, I have tested both expression pedals with my interface + DAW and see no such issues with either one.

I agree. I’ve had the same issue with my HX Effects for a long time now. I’ve tried three different expression pedals and they all end up behaving in the same way you describe. I’m currently using an Mission Engineering pedal which is a nice pedal, but it’s still doing the same thing. I have mine set as heel 0 and it moves independently from 0 to 15 and anywhere in between. It’s a real pain at times. Hope they can address it at some point.

[jpdennis]

Hello, all,

 

I have experienced this over the past several years.  I see it happen from time to time though it isn't specific to a firmware version that I have discovered.  For me the fix is normally to power off then back on when the vocalist is talking to the crowd.  However, I will include a link that had several ideas.  In the thread @codamedia and @datacommando have some ideas you can try.  And @theElevators has a point about trying other pedals. 

 

 

 

[C4TH]

Messing around with it again last night, I've noticed that my Mission Enginnering EP-1 L6 set for "Heel down" starts to drift as soon as I put any weight on the pedal, even without rocking the pedal back and forth. Then I can remove my foot and the pedal position continues to drift.

Really is quite irritating.

[kerryhall1]

This is getting worse and worse. My Helix is basically unusable at this point. I need a fix for this.

 

* Rebooting (unplugging and replugging the cat 5 cable) used to work for ~15 minutes at a time, now only works for 10 seconds or so before the wandering starts again.

* I have already tried multiple expression pedals, the problem is with the Helix.

* The wandering has gotten much worse, going from 0% up to 25% on toe up, 100% to 80% on toe down. This is clearly unusable for a volume pedal.

 

Is it possible a different cat 5 cable would solve this?

[kerryhall1]

Any ideas on this? This is still happening.

[cruisinon2]

On 9/23/2024 at 4:00 PM, kerryhall1 said:

Any ideas on this? This is still happening.

 

It's a computer. Computers do weird $hit. Any problem that has persisted for months on end like this obviously isn't going to fix itself, and the odds of you being able to do anything about it yourself are slim to none...unless you're an engineer familiar with the innards of stuff like this and are comfortable doing your own surgery, warranties be damned, but I digress. I doubt it's a hardware problem anyway. Otherwise your options are rather limited, as is the case for most of us:

1) Back everything up and do a factory reset.

2) If you're still running 3.11, do your back up and then upgrade to the latest firmware...perhaps it's a bug peculiar to the version you're running. Besides, there's been a bunch of stuff added since 3.11 that you might want to explore anyway.

 

Beyond that, these things just aren't particularly user-serviceable devices...at some point it's time to open a service ticket and see what they tell you.

[themetallikid]

I get some drift on heel down.  I dont know how to fix mine...heel down at 0%, I step off (still in contact with the rubber stopper) and it drifts up anywhere 0-8%.  I've debated filing down the rubber stopper a bit to go sub 0%, but not sure how that would effect it reading 0 or do something weird when beyond the 0 position.