Digitech whammy Wh1 Rotary knob

[Tonmon]

Recently purchased a second hand whammy wh1 that has a problem with the rotary selector knob as in it doesn't select all the presets. It looks like someone already changed it as it's different to ones in pictures of wh1 circuit board I've seen online.  I'm looking to change it but I'm not sure what part I need to order. I emailed digitech and they could only help by emailing me the wh1 schematics. Still didn't help as I'm not great with schematics. Does anyone know what rotary (encoder I think)  that I need to order as otherwise the pedal functions great,
Thanks in advance.   

[Deepend]

Hello, I've had two original WH1 pedals for the past 15 years and I've had them repaired at least four times.  They always had the same problem.  The damn encoder goes out of wack and it just needs a new one.  I had them repaired twice by Digitech and twice by a repair service in California.  The last two times I was turned down by Digitech and told that they only repair the newer whammys, (way to back up your product).  Hardly anyone wants to work on the damn thing and it's as if any insight is shrouded in mystery and kept ultra secret in the same vault where they keep the names of the real men who shot JFK from the grassy knoll.   Hell, one time I even got in contact with Tom Morello's guitar tech and he told me that Tom has six whammys but that Digitech does repairs for him because he's endorsed.  Another time I contacted IVL technologies and they just sent me schematics.  What I can never find on the internet is a clear and definitive replacement encoder for the WH1.  If anyone has any info please share it.  So far this is the closest thing I could find http://www.fullcompass.com/product/435825.html it is a 16 step encoder for line 6 pedals.  I am going to try and wire it up to my busted whammy although the size of the shaft is a little bigger so I will need to adapt it a little.

[Tonmon]

Thanks so much reply. Yep it's really difficult to find any info and surely there is an ideal replacement encoder out there that Digitech could recommend.  I might resort to opening the encoder on mine which looks like it already was replaced and see if I can repair it. Keep me posted if you get anymore info on this and I'll do likewise.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Correct me if I am wrong but... doesn't the Digitech schematic list a BOM for the pedal? Doesn't it have a part number for the encoder? I know the XP pedal schematics all have BOMs with part numbers.

[Tonmon]

I tried the line 6 encoder today had a broken DL1 lying around. Good news is it worked bad news is the presets aren't in order but all sounds appear to be present just in a confusing order but better than what I had. As far as schematics goes I can't seem to find any part number for the encoder just labeled J4 as it is on circuit board. There's 3 pages but all seem like schematics to my untrained eyes. Really frustating that Digitech won't just suggest a suitable encoder or part number as the Line 6 one is very close.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Could it be that the connections from the encoder to the PCB are wrong? Do you have any pre and post pictures of the encoder in the circuit?

Couple pictures I found of the encoder.




It looks like part of the encoder on one of the versions was "wired" and the wires were twisted.

[Tonmon]

Hi thanks for posting pics. Unfortunately I didnt take any pics before replacing encoder. I think the encoder that was in it wasn't the correct one anyway and was definitely replaced. The circuit board in my WH1 looks more like the one without the twisted wires but rewiring is definitely worth trying. I'm happy I've all my sounds back but would be nice to have them in the correct order

[Govmnt_Lacky]

The circuit board in my WH1 looks more like the one without the twisted wires...

If you notice... each of the boards in the pictures above have a "Rev" number. One is Rev B and the other is Rev G. Just look on your board and see which one you have. Look like it is marked right by the Input jack.

[Deepend]

Ok, I tried taking apart the original encoder and cleaning it but even though my voltmeter said the encoder had the proper continuity at all the positions, it still would not work and don't understand why.  

I tried the line 6 encoder and I got the same results as Tonmon, IT FREAKIN' WORKS!!!  http://www.fullcompass.com/product/435825.html  All the whammy programs are there, just in a different order.  I too wish I could have them in the proper positions but at least the damn pedal works.  It beats sending off the pedal for repairs and paying another 150$.  Both of my WH1 whammy's have the same problem, the stupid original encoders are crap, the rest of the pedal works fine.

Meanwhile I have been doing some research and sending some e-mails to see if I could get an original encoder and this is what I found.  The good news is the original encoder is made by CTS and it is a 4 bit gray code encoder.  Here is all the info right from their website http://www.ctscorp.com/components/datasheets/288.pdf  The pdf even has a chart with all the proper codes vs lugs vs position.  This was very helpful in knowing what program I was using while testing the encoders for continuity.  The 2 octave up whammy setting is position 9.  The bad news is that they are currently out of stock/production.  I e-mailed them along with Mouser and Digikey and they all said the samething, "if you want this encoder, you will have to make a large order of 500+ encoders because it is currently out of production.  I don't think so.  At least now I know what was going on, my whammy works and I know what the proper encoder is.  I will keep searching for a proper replacement.  If anyone has any knowledge, please share. it's our best bet at keeping this awesome pedal alive and well.    

[Tonmon]

Thanks for info Deepend at least as you say it now works with all available sounds!

[freefuzz]

hi guys, i just came across the same problem and was happy to find this info here. Deepend is correct about the CTS 288, if you find one of these anywhere in 4 bit "gray code" it should be the 288X***F162A2 type. * meaning whatever this is you can still make it fit the whammy.
the problem i came across (and that is probalbly also the problem with the line6 encoder) is that the CTS is NOT implementing the gray code every one else is using.



while this is the CTS gray code used in the wh1 encoder, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_code for how it is actually defined.
so, if you can't find the cts encoder, you can't easily get the effects in the right order without involving further logic converters.
but at least with these 2 tables you can figure out which sound is where.