Weird knob behaviour (sometimes fader and buttons too)

I got my S4 brand new a few months ago.

Since day one, the far right fx knob had a slight delay problem to it. If you turn it it takes some time for the program to see the change, and it goes smoothly to the position you let it in, instead of following the actual movements in real time.

Sometimes its worse, other times it behaves almost normaly. Calibrating it doesnt change anything.

Lately the delay and slowness of that knob is becoming too much.

Also, one day, the channel 2 fader started moving down slowly within traktor, while the actual fader was 100% on. If i moved it a little it got the real position, and then moved slowly down to around 70% again. This got fixed by calibrating and never happened again.

Last week, when i started a gig, the right play and hotcue4 buttons didnt work. With extreme pressure sometimes they worked, but they where in no way usable. I thought they were broken, played with a replacement on that gig, but the next day it started working fine. No extra pressure required, worked fine since then. This seemed weird since i never put any really pressure on any button and im careful with my gear.

Are those problems common? Does the warranty cover the buttons etc? I think its too late for a return, I was thinking of sending it for a repair but it will take time and I have some gigs in the meanwhile. I could get it fixed here for a very small fee if its just a matter of changing a button, we do it on cdjs all the time, but will that void the warranty?

 

Have you tried different USB leads in different USB ports?

 

The "lazy knob" problem happens regardless of cable, computer and setting.

The other problems happened only once so i wasnt able to replicate the problems again. I dont really think its a usb problem, I have no data errors etc.

 

Whatever you do don't take it apart.
Getting to the buttons is insane I found a post with pictures on the djtechtools forum. And the top plate is glued on over the buttons as well just a crazy amount of steps this person showed to do it. He marked and labeled everything. I put an innofader in mine but that was only a matter of getting to the back not much to that.

I had issues with my xfader and tried blowing it out with canned air, it would work for a while then begin again. So I eventually took it apart. It had a huge dust clod on the connecting slider sensor. Replacing it was an option at this point so I did.
A couple of buttons also had issues and the tempo faders.
So I bought some electric contact cleaner. Unplugged it and sprayed the stuff in all the areas. Then got a high powered vacuum and cleared it all out. This worked.
The contact cleaner is bad for plastics so let it set for only a few seconds before using the vacuum then clean it (I used windex wipes they don't break apart or leave any fibers behind to cause more problems). Then wait a few hours and repeat. The electric contact cleaner I used was a Radio Shack brand. But many swear by DeOxit you can find online.


The s4 is extremely vulnerable to dust and humidity.
Buy the cover. I bought a cover for my f1 also. I still vacuum it out and wipe it down at least once a month. Or after I take it anywhere.
Even brand new a week or so of use dust is inevitable.
I read about a guy in (I think it was South Africa) that had problems he said he was dropping sweat and had high humidity the s4 was malfunctioning. I think it was outdoors too so you can just imagine dust, sweat, and humidity eating that thing alive.
Also if you live on a beach or near saltwater and electronics are exposed they will eventually have problems. The cover is available from most DJ stores online.

 

I dont have the skills to mess with something so fragile and complicated.

Dust is an issue here, but I thought it would be almost immune to dust, like antispill keyuboards on laptops etc. Thats a big dissapointment.

Sometimes I dj near a beach, but the S4 is near the beach and uncovered only for the time im playing. I store it in a flightbag on my home when im not working. Again, if thats an issue thats extremely dissapointing for such an expensive and high end controller.

I remember djing a whole 5 month season on a beach bar, where two cdj1000mk2 and an xone92 where placed 10 meters from the beach water, never covered etc. Nothing ever happened, not even on the analog faders and knobs of the mixer, and the gear is still working on another place.

 

It not a low cost item. And yes it could be made better. Hope the competition pushes for better quality.

 

The buttons and fader to this day never gave me a problem again.

The laggy knob is still there. Do you know if the warranty will cover this easily or will they give me trouble, claiming its worn from use and stuff like that?

 

There have not been too many complaints on the forum about refusal of warranty but I have not dealt personally. But it does take a while. That would be my fear is waiting for a long time.

 

Did you try the cleaners I suggested. It really does not take much to do that. deoxit?
Once I did that with mine and bought the cover it has been a year with no problems.
I have had mine for 4+ years.
If it works then problem is solved. Why go through months of warranty if you don't need to.

 

I just purchased an S4 MK3 and it has lazy knob and buttons right out of the box. huge delay in clicking any buttons before they respond and knobs are delayed also. given that the buttons do the same I am assuming this is software related.