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Minor detail question about footswitches on HD500X


alienux
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I noticed the other day that on my POD HD500X, which I just bought in April, that the FS2 switch didn't change a couple of times when I pressed it. This was when I was sitting on the floor using my hands as I was using HD500X Edit with my laptop, so it wasn't when I used my foot.

 

The way the footswitches are designed, they click, and then there is still some small distance that they travel downward before they stop. So there is by design a little play between the click point and the stop point. On that one footswitch, I tried pressing it with different amounts of pressure.

 

On all of the other 7 footswitches, the red light changes the very instant that the "click" happens, even if I don't completely push the footswitch all of the way down. On FS2, the red light doesn't always change when the click occurs. I have to press it all of the way down sometimes, while at other times it DOES change right at the point of the click.

 

Now this may seem trivial, and it may be, but I'm asking simply because 1 of 8 footswitches is behaving slightly differently. I think when using my foot I will always use enough pressure to change it, but if this is something that is not normal and could get worse so that it does become a problem, I'd like to know so I can address it. And since it's brand new, I want to make sure that even the slightest thing isn't working incorrectly.

 

So, those of you with a 500X, do you notice the same thing and is this somewhat normal, or do all of the footswitches change exactly at the click rather than when the switch is pressed completely down all of the way?

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I can attest to the behavior you're describing, but very rarely and only when switching to a different patch. This could indicate a software (firmware) problem or a hardware timing problem. If it's a hardware timing problem I don't think much could be done without redesigning some circuitry. If it's not a software problem or hardwawre timing problem, then the switches probably have some sort of tolerance and perhaps during the manufacturing process of the switches this tolerance isn't verified very well and some might even be outside of it. Just guessing though. So if you were to get the unit exchanged for another one, perhaps the same thing would occur, or perhaps not. My sense is you'd be engaging in a crap shoot.

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So if you were to get the unit exchanged for another one, perhaps the same thing would occur, or perhaps not. My sense is you'd be engaging in a crap shoot.

That was my thought. If this is pretty typical, and since the rest of my POD works fine, I wouldn't want to exchange it for one that very likely could have the same problem or maybe some other issue.

 

So my main question was whether this is pretty normal for the 500X. At least I know now that someone else has had a similar issue, even if rare.

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This is exactly what the issue is: I'm afraid to return something that might be defective because my next one could be worse. Not a huge vote of confidence for L6 quality control.

My HD500 has had minor issues with a footswitch and the D pad by the screen, but it still works. I'm not sure I would have returned it either for the very same reason.

 

 

That was my thought. If this is pretty typical, and since the rest of my POD works fine, I wouldn't want to exchange it for one that very likely could have the same problem or maybe some other issue.

 

So my main question was whether this is pretty normal for the 500X. At least I know now that someone else has had a similar issue, even if rare.

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Oh good, I'm not the only one having this issue. I was thinking about sending mind in for repair, since it has caused me to miss changing patches. In the middle of playing, I don't necessarily have time to double check that a patch has changed. Depending on the patch, it can be obvious, or not. If it's software, great. I'll hang on. If it's hardware, Line6 really needs to figure this out, since one of their main selling points is how much better these switches are compared to the 500.

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Oh good, I'm not the only one having this issue. I was thinking about sending mind in for repair, since it has caused me to miss changing patches. In the middle of playing, I don't necessarily have time to double check that a patch has changed. Depending on the patch, it can be obvious, or not. If it's software, great. I'll hang on. If it's hardware, Line6 really needs to figure this out, since one of their main selling points is how much better these switches are compared to the 500.

Thankfully I've never had it happen to me when using my foot on the switch (so far, and hopefully won't), just when I was sitting on the floor and changing with my fingers. But it still only happened with FS2, and it's never consistent even with identical pressure when pressing the switch.

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  • 11 months later...

Heh, looking back at this old thread, I have to admit that I'd forgotten all about this. I've been using my HD500X live regularly since posting this last year and I don't think I've had the problem when playing live and pressing the switch with my foot.

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  • 2 months later...

I just wanted to add to this topic since this just happen to me at a show. I tried to switch my patch and nothing. This was a bad time for it to happen since I was going from soft to a heavy tone. Now the band is rocking out and I'm just there playing a soft sound. The switch still worked, but for some reason at that time it didn't change. The next day I took the back off of the 500x and unscrewed the circuit board where the switch are, and found two of the switches are not clicking. The switch that line 6 uses is common to have this problem over time of use. Fortunately fry's stocks the switch. So I removed the bad ones and replaced them, no more problem. Now I know stuff like this is not easy for everyone. I just wanted to put it out there if your foot switch isn't clicking when you step on it or push it with your hand. I bet you are having the same issue I was. I'll add a pic of the switch to show what it looks like. There is one place online you can order the whole switch assembly upper and lower and its plug and play. easy to replace. May have to remove some hot glue but not hard to replace. I found it for $17.99 at fullcompass part #50-02-0234. Hope this helps anyone else having this problem. post-844401-0-92127800-1437594593_thumb.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have been thinking about getting a used HD500X

 

My HD500 has been rock solid switch wise

 

Variax500/HD500 and 2 Alto 10 in powered speakers is working well for most of my gigging needs.

 

Maybe I will just leave it alone for now.

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