VCI-400 EGE Left pitchfader only responding at top and bottom

[bascurtiz]

I wanted to sell my VCI-400 Ean Golden Edition, so I checked if everything was still working okish.
I had a Decksaver for the Vestax VCI 400 on top, so it should've be ok.

Hooked up Traktor 3.1 together with https://maps.djtechtools.com/mappings/911 mapping.
Made sure Firmware v1 was loaded, so far so good.

All was actually working as it should, except....
The left pitchfader.

When I move it all the way up to the top MIDI is coming thru (MIDI indicator in Traktor lights up).
When I move it all the way down to the bottom MIDI is coming thru aswell.
But in the middle... no response.
The result is that the pitchfader will move a tiny bit down software-wise, or when holding SHIFT and moving the fader it goes straight up to the max value.

So I opened it to clean the fader, following the in-depth guide here http://www.kevinchant.com/uploads/7/...sm-vci-400.pdf

There was no real gunk inside the fader, though, I've cleaned it with (car) brake cleaner, sliding the middle part up & down, let it dry for a bit, removed the redundants, sprayed a bit of Vaseline spray inside to make it glide a bit more easy, but still same end result.

What else can I try?
Did someone replaced a fader succesfully?
It shows ALPHA on the side of the faders, which is a pretty known brand in spare parts.

UPDATE:
I went along with this video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5HIjyTW94g
According to a client of mine who worked in cleaning organs as a daily job, brake cleaner is too aggressive so he suggested contact cleaner with oil from Philips.
I'm gonna order that in a bit.

Meanwhile, the teardown pictures for reference:

[bascurtiz]

I already had some Contact spray standing in the garage, so decided to clean it once again with this.

Nevertheless, same end result.
I think the fader is just End Of Life.

So I googled for the part, and ordered it: https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/8-8-c...808291160.html

Damage: 10 bucks incl. shipping.
Will take 14 days before it arrives, but I'll update this topic by then.
Seems a not too difficult job; 6 solder points.

[bascurtiz]

Package arrived at 9-4-2019 (roughly 3 weeks) and started desoldering the old print of the pitchfader.
While doing this, I accidentally desoldered a copper ring in the hole aswell, see picture:



As you can see, this one is crucial since there are lanes in the PCB ending up there.

Nevertheless I tried to solder the new pitchfader into its place, but end result was random +1 -1 +3 -3 midi values constantly.

So I desoldered the fader, scraped off the green coating layer a bit on the lanes & dropped a piece of solder between pin/hole of fader & lanes. This time around, when pushing the board a bit down, it worked as it should. So I knew it was a matter of creating a better contact.

Finally I used a piece of copper wire and soldered it between the pin/hole & lanes, see picture:



Works!

Live demo of the new replaced pitchfader in action: