I’m seeing some relatively cheap S4s and other controllers and whatnot go for pretty cheap on eBay with the caveat of being broken or not known to be working.
Currently looking at an S4 that doesn’t have its lights turn on.
Has anyone done their own hardware repair such as soldering and whatnot and can tell me what I’m getting myself into? I’m relatively capable with a soldering iron so I’m not worried about that. More worried about finding out parts cost way more than just buying used controllers that do work.
I realize this is hard without knowing what part is actual broken, but any insight would be helpful.
Well I just asked the seller and he told me that the only testing done was plugging in the power cord, no USB. The controller should have turned on without the USB shouldn’t it?
Haha, no worries. Don’t see why anyone would but from my digging, it appears that you should still have lights turn on when you turn on the S4 with just AC power.
Maybe they were just using the wrong power supply I don’t wanna end up with a 200+ dollar paper weight haha
Patch: My thoughts exactly. I’m trying to get pictures from this guy.
Thanks! I’m assuming with the wrong power supply though nothing would happen.
I don’t even know why I want an S4 so badly. It just looks so much cooler than my APC40 haha. I regret not bidding on the S4 that went for 230 bucks last week.
Guess I’ll just have to pry more information out of this guy.
Or you’d blow the unit’s power supply up from giving it the wrong voltage…
I’ve been thinking of picking up a broken one for a while, I work for a consumer electronics supplier and we have quite a skilled warranty department staffed by technicians who love the chance to fix something other then the same old broken amps/speakers/cameras etc…
From what I’ve read, the S4’s power supply is pretty rugged. I think it can go up to 20V.
That’s the other thing. I just love going into things and trying to fix them. The challenge and puzzle is fun. I just don’t want it to be a stupidly expensive puzzle
SlvrDragon50: I was in a very similar situation as you and I took the plunge. I bought a “broken” S4 and was sucessfull in getting it to work. You might be interested in looking at my previous post describing the highlights of the process: Dismantling, cleaning and reassembling Kontrol S4.
Of course your specific hardware problem might be different than the one I had but I had fun and now I’m enjoying the S4.
It could be a buggered DC port on the back tbh… if the S4 isn’t capable of being bus-powered, a dry or cracked solder joint on the DC input could cause it to appear DOA.
Ouch… if you get it, try some percussive maintenance?
Worst case scenario, depending on what sort of deal you get on it, you could theoretically even pay to have it repaired and STILL get a better deal than a used S4.
Not necessarily; PCBs can be cleaned off with lighter fluid and dried out at a low temperature (40-50 degrees C) in an oven; it all depends on whether or not any of the components on them have fried. If it was me, and we’re talking REALLY cheap here (<£100), I’d pick it up and check for fried resistors/voltage regulators and blown capacitors. Generally “water damage” is actually “beer damage” when it comes to DJ equipment, so you’ll notice sticky residue on the PCBs.
MOST things can be fixed, it’s just a case of time, patience, very steady hands and a fine soldering iron tip The only really critical, not easily replaceable components in a controller are the main ICs, which are often custom-engineered for each specific controller (or each family), and if they’ve gone, then you HAVE to send it back.
If it’s a short in the power circuit (either caused by beer goop or a blown component), it may be tripping a protection circuit would essentially kills the controller while the short is present; in that case, it’s a GOOD thing, because the chance of damage to the rest of the unit is minimal. Unfortunately, the only way to find out is to take the risk and buy the unit
I don’t wanna end up with a 200+ dollar paper weight haha
