the pots for filter cutoff & lfo depth, and the Env velocity slider, are all pretty near useless: one touch on any of them and the controller values jump around all over the place. so i can't use these (rather important) controls. it'll cost loads of money to send it away for repair, so does anyone have experience of fixing these things?

thanks

I suppose you could replace the pots yourself but that would probably be quite risky and require some soldering.
Mine does the same thing but only with the Overdrive knob and it's not so bad that it's unusable. My Nova also suffered from scratchy pots but I fixed it by pulling the caps off and spraying just a tiny amount of electronic cleaner into them, then letting it dry completely before turning on.
Seems like Novation stuff in general use cheap pots.

thanks for the reply. this might sound like a dumb question, but what electronic cleaner did you use? i've never used any so don't even know what it is tbh

Not sure..it has been a while. It was just a generic brand aerosol can with "electronic cleaner" written on the can. I can't guarantee it would help with the X-Station though. The pots feel very different from those on the Nova. But it's worth a try I guess, as long as you're careful and let it dry off completely before powering on.

Caig DeOxit is hands down the best contact cleaner.

Its damn near a magic wand! I've had the same problem with my Novation Xio
which I believe uses the same crap pots as the X-Station....the DeOxit cleared 'em right up!!

http://www.caig.com/

Cheers.....CL

excellent, thanks for the tip! i'll give it a try

Ok I decided to try this with my X-Station. It worked with my Nova though so I figured there was a chance it would work with the X-Station too.

I use this:
http://www.clasohlson.co.uk/Product/Product.aspx?id=13734814 8

I just sprayed a *short* burst into the gap between the plastic casing and the Overdrive pot. I didn't even take the synth apart or anything. Then I turned the knob back and fourth fully several times. It felt worryingly light to the touch, so I feared I had ruined it. I left the synth unplugged for several hours to make sure it was completely dry. Then I turned it on. The knob now works perfectly I can actually dial in exact values like 73 or 86, where as before, it would jump 10 positions or so just by letting go of the knob. It's still much lighter than the other knobs but that's not really a problem.

Try it at your own risk. Just because it worked for me is no guarantee it will work for others. It might ruin your synth.

hi JimmiG, it's great that you got your X Station working again. Your problem was exactly the same as the one I have, so I will (at my own risk) try the electronic cleaner you tried. Thanks a lot for taking the time to report on your results, it helps a lot.

It's probably better to take it apart but I was unsure how easy it would be to get to the actual pots, and then put the machine together again. You can peel off the caps from the pots to make it easier to reach inside with the spray, but then you have to glue them back except for the continuous rotaries.
Just tried the same procedure with the PWM knob and while the result wasn't as perfect as the Overdrive knob, it's a big improvement.

i just ordered mine, it will arrive next week. i'l;l post here whether it worked (and if it doesn't don't feel bad, it's entirely my decision to do this)

thanks again.

Apologies, but i'd like to resurrect this very old thread. Also, I forgot to post the outcome of using the contact spray, because after ordering it never arrived in the post. I ended up buying some on a trip to London a few months later.

Sadly, I didn't achieve any improvement at all. In fact, over time it seems to have got slightly worse. I had all but stopped using the X Station, but recently I got a small touch screen Windows 7 tablet and i'd like to use it in a new band i've started. As most of my music stuff, laptop etc, is in another training room, I thought I could use the X Station again with the tablet as an easy throw-in-a-travel-bag solution.

I tried this setup for the first time yesterday, using only VSTi's and the X Station a purely a controller and Asio card. It works really nicely, the main benefit being that it's incredibly mobile. However, now I would like to try and repair the X Station so I can also use the onboard synth and use the controllers with VSTi's. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Novation want a lot of money to fix it, this isn't a viable alternative (could buy another one for the same price)

Short of buying new potentiometers and replacing them yourself, I don't know.

I tried the electric cleaner trick (for the third time) since the accuracy of the pots started degrading again. This time I even took the synth apart completely and sprayed directly into the pots, then twisting them vigorously back and fourth, before leaving the boards out to dry and then re-assembling. There was a slight improvement but I feel the pots have reached the end of their useful life.

Hi there,

If you are still experiencing problems with your potentiometers, please contact me via our support contact form and I will do my best to help you out.

All the best!

Tim

Focusrite / Novation Technical Support
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thanks for the offer Tim. I have now submitted a support form with further details.

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I have just sent a support about repair for a potentiometer for the Drumstation!