Workaround for broken level pot on looper, using a simple mixer

[cab42]

I dropped my Nux Loop Core looper and the Loop Level Pot is broken, so the level is maxed out no matter the position of the pot. I have looked inside and replacing the pot is not an option with my abilities.

Instead I thought I could make a simple passive mixer like this:



Can I get away with something this simple? Or should I build an active mixer/blender circuit instead?

[Kevin Mitchell]

I have looked inside and replacing the pot is not an option with my abilities.

Now now, I'd like to encourage you to try! You'll be happy that you did. If you can build a workaround then you can surely do a repair job.

Share some photos of what you're working with if you're interested. We'll try to point you to everything you need.
Need to know what the potentiometer looks like and also it's value which is likely printed on it's body somewhere.

[cab42]

Thanks Kevin, for the encouragement!

I will try replacing the pot at some point It's a standard 9mm Alpha dual concentric 100kb pot. I even have a spare from another broken unit I was given. So it's not so much not knowing what to do.

But my soldering skills are not that good. I usually break something when desoldering old parts. And I would definitely need a finer tip on my soldering iron. I would also guess that unleaded solder is used, and I'm not very good friends with that.

So the mixer is considered a temporary measure, and I also became curious on how simple a mixer I could use.

[ElectricDruid]

The secret to getting stuff like pots out of a board where there's several pins holding it in is to snip it to bits first! 

You get some good sharp wire cutters and snip the pot body off the legs. Then the three legs are each individual problems, and you can turn the board upside down, heat each one up one at a time and knock the board when they're hot and they'll fall right out. There's no way that works with the whole pot because there's always two cold legs holding the damn thing in!

It's the same with soldered-in ICs (e.g. the ones not in sockets!). Cut all the legs so the body of the IC falls out, and then remove the legs from the board one by one. Much easier.

HTH

[cab42]

That's a really good tip! Never thought of that! How about tips removing solder when you have something you need to get out undamaged? I have never been very successful with desoldering braid or solder sucker, so I am probably doing something wrong!

Thing is that I realised that the pot is mounted on a small vertical daughter board, and I think it is easier to replace the entire board. As I mentioned earlier, I have a spare. But I think I need to remove the existing solder first in order to get it out as there is solder on both sides.