Broken tc electronic flashback

midiglitch

My flashback delay is broken

The fault, I think, is in the output jack socket or it's connection to the board. I thought it was a duff cable but I tried a few and the same problem occurs with all of them - in certain positions there is no sound from the pedal.  Wobble the output cable gently and sound comes back.

So I sent an email to tc electronics to see if they would fix it, and here is the reply:

Thanks for your email, in regards to the Flash back delay pedal we charge a minimum labour fee of £65.00 plus vat, plus parts (if required) plus return carriage so it would be uneconomical to repair the unit as it would be cheaper to purchase a new pedal.

 

That seems a shame to me, because I expected better support from them as they seem like a decent company who make good products. However, I am willing to accept that my expectations might be old fashioned and unrealistic...  What do you think?

guitargeek62

Depends if it's in warranty and covered under their normal terms or not. From the sounds of it, it sounds like it *might* be from undue stress on the jack at some point? I've not checked to see how they're mounted on mine.

digitalscream

Surely at this point you've got nothing to lose in trying to repair it yourself?

At the very least, I'd probably blast it with air, then Servisol (or similar) if that didn't work.

midiglitch

Agreed and indeed I will take a look at it tonight. Just didn't want to invalidate the warranty so was waiting until I heard from tc.

Guitargeek-I'm sure it is due to stress on the jack, though I would argue not 'undue' stress since I have been reasonably careful with it.

crunchman

I had problems with a Nova Delay.  Basically the £65 is the hourly rate from their authorised repair centre - looks like there is a minimum 1 hour charge.  By the time you add VAT, the cost of getting it to and from, and any parts, I concluded the same.  It wasn't worth it.

It might just be a bad solder connection to the board.  Depends on how small and fiddly it is, you might be able to touch up the solder joints where the jack socket connects to it.

chrispy108

There was a thread on HCFX about this, same deal in the US, repairs that are more expensive than the product. It's well worth trying to re-flow the jack connection, i had a MXR pedal with that's problem. If you can't/don't fancy giving it a go there's probably a forumite nearby who will?