Traktor S4 Mk1 & Mk2 Fader replacements... How often will I need to replace?

NeilDil

Hi everyone,

If you've had problems with your faders and had to replace them, have you ever had the fault appear again?

I've had an S4 Mk1 for over 10 years and have always had a reocurring problem with the faders.

The problem being: Faders move on their own in the software, due to intermittance caused by a fault in the hardware.

I bought an S4 MK2 second hand from cash converters instead of replacing my Mk1 faders.

My newly bought S4 MK2 has the same fader fault, as I guessed. It was a bargain at £200 including an official flightcase and a decksaver. Cash Converters said they'd honor costs for repair which is good, but is this something which always happens to S4s?

I'm wondering whether to get my money back instead and seek a different 4 deck controller. I love the S4 though but, I'd like to know how common of a fault this is and if I was to get a repair through NI, whether I can be sure it'd give me at least 5-10 years before the faders start to fail again (if they do).

Look forward to hear your thoughts on this. Cheers

apford

This happened to my S4Mk1 and S4MK2. I bought another MK2 and I keep that in a bag all the time and only take it out when I need to use it for events. This has definitely helped the faders last longer.

I could not find suitable replacement faders for the MK2 to repair it myself. If you do find some, please share your source. If you do get it repaired by NI, it would be nice to know the cost of the repair.

NeilDil

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/13078#Comment_13078

That's a shame to hear. How long did it last untill the faders started going faulty?

In my situation, since cash converters said they'd honor the cost of repair, I'm lucky (well, fingers crossed it goes ahead) since they'll bear that cost.

As it happens, I've just heard back from NI this morning with details on the cost of out of warranty repair...

"The repair costs are 58,31€ to 105,91€. Depending on how many faders are bad."

I guess that 58 euros would be to replace the main board and 105 to replace that + the cross fader, I'll get back to them to confirm. In a previous conversation on a ticket about my MK1 when I asked about prices for repair of the fader board/parts, I discovered they replace the full board when they repair them, as opposed to the individual components / POTS.

I'd asked them what components they use for the faders so I could avoid the cost, but they said they replace the whole board as it can be tricky to soldier, but I never asked again from there and closed the ticket, since I'd got my eyes set on a second hand MK2. I would like to know this too though, because then I could (potentiometly) replace the POTS myself too.

I saw some which looked identical on RS components, but I didn't have enough detail to compare and never got back to persist in asking which components they use.

Now as it happens, I saw a thread on here yesterday talking about Innofader. They're about £60 I've seen, & apparantly have better longevity than the parts used in these devices. I tried to look it up to show a link, but if you just type innofader into this forum you'll get a thread about it. I only gave it a glance, but it's on my radar to look up, ready for when it comes to fixing up my MK1 faders.