Upgrade faceplate - vol knob won't come off

Hi,

I'm taking the player apart to change the colour screen, but I'm having a nightmare getting the volume knob off - it just doesn't want to move.

I don't want to break anything, but is this normal, or has it been glued onto the shaft or something?

Cheers,

Paul.

Paul Haigh, Reg. 4120
(mk1) 6GB, Blue, 00254
(mk2) 12GB, Red, 00357

Forget it - I just used Brute Force and the thang came off.

Never mind.

Paul.

Paul Haigh, Reg. 4120
(mk1) 6GB, Blue, 00254
(mk2) 12GB, Red, 00357

Soak the entire until in soapy water.... hehe

seriously, did you have any luck? Maybe leave it in a hot car for a bit before attempting (a dry car w. no soap.)...

32GB (JUST UPGRADED!) Mk. II BLUE
Detroit, MI USA
www.PfeifferBeer.com

Forget it - I just used Brute Force and the thang came off.

I'm glad you got it off... but you were lucky! I'm guessing you have one of the new non-slip knobs with the o-ring in it; those can grip the shaft pretty tightly. I have one of those knobs and I deliberately installed it incorrectly (with the O-ring just sitting on the shaft rather than inside the knob) as I have not yet had the infamous slipping knob problem and didn't want my knob installed so tightly that it couldn't be easily removed, yet I still have the option of installing the O-ring properly should the need arise.

Anyway, you were lucky -- because brute force pulling on that knob/shaft assembly has been known to result in a broken fill nipple on the display board (see here -- sorry if I brought back some unhappy memories, David...) and that's a pretty expensive repair.

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

So, uhhh...how are you supposed to get the knob off if you want to upgrade the faceplate, if not with brute force?

-Adam

"It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care..."
-office space

So, uhhh...how are you supposed to get the knob off if you want to upgrade the faceplate, if not with brute force?

I was going to come back with some smart-ass remark like "Use gentle force, dummy..." but on reflection, that is a pretty darned good question.

If that knob is on really tight, there aren't a lot of options. I think Hugo said that as the unit gets warm, that O-ring grips even tighter, so my first thought of using a hair dryer to heat the knob probably would be counter-productive. So maybe if you put the empeg in the freezer for an hour or so, would that make the knob easier to remove?

Or, maybe you have to pull REALLY hard in order to damage the VFD?

I dunno -- my knob comes off pretty easily; any easier and I would have the slipping knob problem that others have had.

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"

Yeah, It's done - I just needed to be more forceful that I had been.

I was worried about breaking something, but so far, so good.

Paul

Paul Haigh, Reg. 4120
(mk1) 6GB, Blue, 00254
(mk2) 12GB, Red, 00357

That's a good point.

I have got an o-ring in the knob. This made it very difficult to get off, and I was unhappy with the amount of force it required to get it off, and actually back on again.

I tried for a long time to get the bloody thing off, by gently rotating and moving from side to side (rocking) it off the shaft, but nothing.

In the end I put a screwdriver behind the knob, but against the edge of the casing (not the display), to apply some additional force, which seemed to be fine.

Paul.

Paul Haigh, Reg. 4120
(mk1) 6GB, Blue, 00254
(mk2) 12GB, Red, 00357

The trick with the screwdriver (see below) definitely helped, but I was pulling pretty hard - the shaft has a bit of play in it's in/out movement, but I felt like I was pulling the guts out a lot of the time.

Paul.

Paul Haigh, Reg. 4120
(mk1) 6GB, Blue, 00254
(mk2) 12GB, Red, 00357