Operating instructions

MAINTENANCE & SERVICE
Arrakis Systems, inc. --- 6604 Powell st., Loveland, CO 80538 --- 970-461-0730 --- www.arrakis-systems.com
6-1)
6.1
MAINTENANCE
The Arrakis 1200 Series consoles require no periodic maintenance with the exception of
occasional cleaning and lamp replacement.
6-1a) CLEANING
SWITCHES - Switches typically require no cleaning, just operate the switch a few dozen
times.
SLIDE FADERS - the Penny & Giles slide faders in the Arrakis 1200 Series consoles have
conductive plastic elements and can be cleaned with warm water. They do not require
disassembly. Remove the fader’s knob by pulling up on it. Remove the fader from the
console by removing the two mounting screw, clipping cable ties and carefully pulling the
connector from the PC board. To clean, simply hold the fader under a stream of warm tap
water and operate back and forth 50 to 100 times. For extremely dirty faders, a mild soap
solution can also be used. Allow the faders to dry TOTALLY before using (this often
means they must dry overnight). A light silicone based lube can be applied SPARINGLY
to the slide fader if required: take the cover plate off the fader (two screws) and use a
swab to apply some lube to the fader’s two guide rods. IMPORTANT: Do NOT use sol-
vents, cleansers or sprays on the faders. The warm water with mild soap cleaning tech-
nique is recommended by Penny & Giles.
ROTARY POTS - The Clarostat MOD-POTS are sealed and cannot be disassem bled.
Front panel knobs may be removed by: 1) loosen the collet under the colored knob
cover then 2) lift the knob off the shaft. Replacement pots are available from Arrakis.
SURFACES - Use mild soap and wam water. Abrasives will scratch the polycarbonate
overlays, and solvents wil ruin these plastic surfaces. Damp dust the wood panels and
occasionally treat with a common furniture wax.
6-1b) ROUTINE PARTS REPLACEMENT
The front panel controls on a console are obviously subject to ordinary wear and tear.
Abusive treatment of the controls will result in a substantial reduction of their life expectan-
cy. Be aware of the average use each control in the console is subjected to. It is possible
to predict the life expectancy of a switch by noting it’s frequency of use and comparing
that to the switch’s life expectancy rating. Provisions can then be made to schedule main-
tenance and request budgeting for replacement parts. For example, consider a channel
ON switch. this switch can typically be operated 4 million times before a failure can be
expected (4,000,000 operations MTBF). If this switch is operated once every 3 minutes,
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, this this switch has an expected life of almost 23 years!
MANUFACTURER SUGGESTED LIFE EXPECTANCY:
ON/OFF Switches - 4,000,000 operations
Momentary Switches (TALKBACK) - 50,000 operations
Latching Switches (PGM, AUD, MONITOR etc)
Faders - 100,000 operations (10% resistance change)
Lamps - 40,000 hours continuous operation