Old desk for spares

[Techie_v2]

So a year or two ago we had a leak over a weekend which drenched our FLX.

Insurance claim was made and we got a new one, however the insurance company didn't request we do anything with the old one.

After taking it apart to inspect the damage and dry it out, the desk still powers on but I haven't tested it any further than that. There was some corrosion and black marks on some of the internals so I deffinitly wouldn't trust it. Sopke to support and a few local industry people and a new desk was deffinitly the way to go vs repair/replacement parts.

So my question is, where do we stand and is there a market, if we wanted to try and raise some capital by selling it as spares on a generic auction type website?

Thanks

[kgallen]

Touch screen is probably still good. Bet the water can't get at that easily. Most at risk would probably be the button pads and faders. I think the CPU card is mounted under the front panel so that might have avoided a soaking?

[Edward Z88]

34 minutes ago, Techie_v2 said:

So a year or two ago we had a leak over a weekend which drenched our FLX.

 

Oh yes I remember this. I’m glad you were able to get a replacement, and hope the insurance company was easy to deal with. 

35 minutes ago, Techie_v2 said:

So my question is, where do we stand and is there a market, if we wanted to try and raise some capital by selling it as spares on a generic auction type website?

FLX is still a bit too new for there to be much of a spares market for it.

If someone at your venue is pretty handy with swapping out boards/touchscreens, I think I’d be tempted to keep hold of it as spares for your good FLX. Or, you could even source replacements for damaged components, and give yourself a second console (as a spare, or Tracking Backup).

However, if you don’t ever think you’d make use of it, and aren’t in a hurry to get rid of it, it might be worth sticking it on an online auction site for a buy it now price, as spares/repairs. 

[iank99]

@Techie_v2 It all depends what's corroded to be honest - as @kgallen says - much of the vital stuff is mounted to the front panel, it's only the processor & PSU mounted on the base of the FLX so it's feasible the unit might be OK.

If you want someone to look at it & give you some reassurance about it then I offer an inspection service which costs £25 plus return carriage & I'll give the unit a good going over & check the state of the PCB's. Being honest I'd expect perhaps a couple of faders to need replacing but otherwise the buttons & encoders are sealed so shouldn't have suffered much - especially if the unit was given chance to dry out.

I have some spares around for FLX including fader boards & encoders but not things like processors & displays but they're still obtainable from Zero but probably more costly than you'd want to spend for having a working spare desk. I don't have a loan/slave FLX either & having one would be handy - depending on the state of yours and what you're looking to get for it should an inspection not bring good news.

[Techie_v2]

Thanks for the replies. I'm not looking to get it up and running for ourselves. If our main one does fail I could get hold of one pretty quickly in an emergency. Just interested if it's worth anything to get some much needed funding for things like new fixtures etc.

As Edward says there isn't really a market for spares so I wouldn't even know what price to put on it.

[iank99]

11 hours ago, Techie_v2 said:

Thanks for the replies. I'm not looking to get it up and running for ourselves. If our main one does fail I could get hold of one pretty quickly in an emergency. Just interested if it's worth anything to get some much needed funding for things like new fixtures etc.

As Edward says there isn't really a market for spares so I wouldn't even know what price to put on it.

@Techie_v2 Tricky call to be honest - there's no certainty that the desk isn't badly damaged by water ingress or not (whether inspected or not) but just as a "for instance" - say the processor & mainboard needs replacing - that's £600 plus VAT, if the screen needs replacing - that's £690 plus VAT before it's even been established that the rest of the desk is OK. A new FLX S is around £1700 plus VAT and comes with a 3 year warranty.

The processor & display would be a gamble to buy & use for spares/repair - the fader board might have some value but then replacement faders can be bought separately as can encoders & buttons. I also don't get asked for FLX spares but I do get asked about FLX S screens (and they don't swap over sadly) so whoever considers buying the desk won't want to take a chance on spending more than carriage on a desk they can't be certain is able to be made work or can be used as a reliable spares source - they're taking on a chassis with some knobs potentially that might sit on the shelf (like my old Sirius 24's) to give up a fader cap once in a while.

Sounds harsh but I think honest

[Techie_v2]

8 hours ago, iank99 said:

@Techie_v2 Tricky call to be honest - there's no certainty that the desk isn't badly damaged by water ingress or not (whether inspected or not) but just as a "for instance" - say the processor & mainboard needs replacing - that's £600 plus VAT, if the screen needs replacing - that's £690 plus VAT before it's even been established that the rest of the desk is OK. A new FLX S is around £1700 plus VAT and comes with a 3 year warranty.

Exactly why we went with the insurance claim for a new one!

I'll do some more testing with it, just a bit treppid that the thing will catch go bang or catch on fire!