Urei 539 Equalizer fader/slider question

[thepaulthomas]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that there were batches of Urei 539
EQ's with white plastic sliders and some with black plastic sliders
and that one version was far more problematic than the other (with
faders either getting very sticky or scratchy rather quickly). I
searched the Google archives for r.a.p. and couldn't find any mention
of this so perhaps I read or heard it elsewhere. Does anyone recall
anything of the sort?

[Scott Dorsey]

Post by thepaulthomas
I seem to recall reading somewhere that there were batches of Urei 539
EQ's with white plastic sliders and some with black plastic sliders
and that one version was far more problematic than the other (with
faders either getting very sticky or scratchy rather quickly). I
searched the Google archives for r.a.p. and couldn't find any mention
of this so perhaps I read or heard it elsewhere. Does anyone recall
anything of the sort?

I do not recall anything like that. However, I occasionally work in a
place that has a 539 with black plastic sliders and the faders are very
very sticky. One of these days I'll take them apart and regrease them
but the Orban 672s are higher on the list for that.
--scott

[Gareth Magennis]

Post by Scott Dorsey

Post by thepaulthomas
I seem to recall reading somewhere that there were batches of Urei 539
EQ's with white plastic sliders and some with black plastic sliders
and that one version was far more problematic than the other (with
faders either getting very sticky or scratchy rather quickly). I
searched the Google archives for r.a.p. and couldn't find any mention
of this so perhaps I read or heard it elsewhere. Does anyone recall
anything of the sort?

I do not recall anything like that. However, I occasionally work in a
place that has a 539 with black plastic sliders and the faders are very
very sticky. One of these days I'll take them apart and regrease them
but the Orban 672s are higher on the list for that.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

I worked in a place (Funky Junk) that saw quite a few Urei EQ's per annum,
and they ALL had gummed up faders, presumably because they were shit faders
to start with. I haven't seen this level of consistancy of crap faders
anywhere else, my mind has always been boggled by this phenomenon. Any
explanations? How did they get away with it?



Gareth.

[thepaulthomas]

Post by thepaulthomas
I seem to recall reading somewhere that there were batches of Urei 539
EQ's with white plastic sliders and some with black plastic sliders
and that one version was far more problematic than the other (with
faders either getting very sticky or scratchy rather quickly). I
searched the Google archives for r.a.p. and couldn't find any mention
of this so perhaps I read or heard it elsewhere. Does anyone recall
anything of the sort?

I do not recall anything like that.  However, I occasionally work in a
place that has a 539 with black plastic sliders and the faders are very
very sticky.  One of these days I'll take them apart and regrease them
but the Orban 672s are higher on the list for that.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra.  C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

What do you recommend using to regrease the rails? I seem to recall
you once mentioning oil for watches. If that's correct, is there
anything commonly available from a hardware store?

[Scott Dorsey]

Post by thepaulthomas

Post by thepaulthomas
I seem to recall reading somewhere that there were batches of Urei 539
EQ's with white plastic sliders and some with black plastic sliders
and that one version was far more problematic than the other (with
faders either getting very sticky or scratchy rather quickly). I
searched the Google archives for r.a.p. and couldn't find any mention
of this so perhaps I read or heard it elsewhere. Does anyone recall
anything of the sort?

I do not recall anything like that. =A0However, I occasionally work in a
place that has a 539 with black plastic sliders and the faders are very
very sticky. =A0One of these days I'll take them apart and regrease them
but the Orban 672s are higher on the list for that.

What do you recommend using to regrease the rails? I seem to recall
you once mentioning oil for watches. If that's correct, is there
anything commonly available from a hardware store?

Watch oil is about the thinnest oil there is. Really too thin for that
kind of stuff.

Regular sliders like P&G types have actual rails, which can be cleaned
and lubricated (and I recommend Zoom Spout oil which is actually rebadged
turbine oil, Castrol OC-11 or equivalent.... Ace Hardware carries it).

The problem is that the sliders on these equalizers aren't built like
that.... they are metal cases with a sliding element that moves back and
forth using the top of the case as a guide. There is a thick layer of
grease right under the top of the case to make the movement smooth, and
if you squirt Cramolin in there it just cleans the grease out and makes
the problem worse. I have taken these things apart and put white lithium
grease in them and they were much better.... there is probably some way to
do this without disassembling them and desoldering but I haven't found it
yet. These things were never designed to be repaired.
--scott

[p***@juno.com]

Post by thepaulthomas

I seem to recall reading somewhere that there were batches ofUrei539
EQ's with white plastic sliders and some with black plastic sliders
and that one version was far more problematic than the other (with
faders either getting very sticky or scratchy rather quickly). I
searched the Google archives for r.a.p. and couldn't find any mention
of this so perhaps I read or heard it elsewhere. Does anyone recall
anything of the sort?

I do not recall anything like that. =A0However, I occasionally work in a
place that has a539with black plastic sliders and the faders are very
very sticky. =A0One of these days I'll take them apart and regrease them
but the Orban 672s are higher on the list for that.

What do you recommend using to regrease the rails? I seem to recall
you once mentioning oil for watches. If that's correct, is there
anything commonly available from a hardware store?

Watch oil is about the thinnest oil there is.  Really too thin for that
kind of stuff.
Regular sliders like P&G types have actual rails, which can be cleaned
and lubricated (and I recommend Zoom Spout oil which is actually rebadged
turbine oil, Castrol OC-11 or equivalent.... Ace Hardware carries it).
The problem is that the sliders on these equalizers aren't built like
that.... they are metal cases with a sliding element that moves back and
forth using the top of the case as a guide.  There is a thick layer of
grease right under the top of the case to make the movement smooth, and
if you squirt Cramolin in there it just cleans the grease out and makes
the problem worse.  I have taken these things apart and put white lithium
grease in them and they were much better.... there is probably some way to
do this without disassembling them and desoldering but I haven't found it
yet.  These things were never designed to be repaired.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra.  C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

I posted this back in August of 2005 regard a similar Urei equalizer
where I replaced the faders.

Re-post:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi all,

The UREI 535 is a dual-channel, 10-band EQ that can be found
relatively
cheaply, but may require some service to get them working properly
again.

I recently purchased one for $50, but the faders were horrible. I
tried
cleaning them, but that did not improve them, so I decided to replace
them.
I found linear sliders from Mouser (312-9201-20K) and associated
knobs
(450-0154) that worked for me. The faders are certainly not a direct
replacement and required a little adjustment to get them to work. They
are
not PCB-mount style and their shafts are 5mm shorter than the original
part,
so I created leads with 18 ga. solid-core wire and mounted them on the
PCB
such that their shaft heights were the same as the originals'.

These new faders also have metal shafts as apposed to the orignials'
plastic
ones. So, I believe the final quality is better than that of the
original.

I just thought I'd let people know in case they have an old UREI 535
that
they want to put back into service. I know that 20K replacement
sliders are
hard to find.

Just and FYI.

Mike Putrino