UPGRADING THE JACK SOCKETS ON YOUR RM4

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Graham Pearson

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Mar 27, 2011
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The back-panel jack sockets of my Randall RM4 were beginning to be problematic. I decided to upgrade them with REAN NYS216G TRS sockets that I purchased from Mouser Electronics:
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/REAN-Neutrik/NYS216G/?qs=R5cXQUTKuHUK7EXEex/wbg==

These new connectors have gold-plated contacts, are dimensionally exact replacements and have solved the problem perfectly.

Below are the steps I took to replace the jack sockets. There are 8 jack sockets attached to the back panel and 1 socket attached to the front panel.

1. Remove the top cover. Undo 25 screws - 22 on the top cover and 3 from the top of the front panel.

2. Detach the MIDI printed circuit board from the back panel. The PCB is secured to the back panel with screws and locking nuts. Loosen the locking nuts before attempting to loosen the screws.

3. Remove the 8 black jack socket nuts from the back panel using a 15 mm driver.

4. Remove the I/O printed-circuit board from the chassis. As you disconnect each of the 4 connectors from the PCB, I strongly recommend you label each of the connectors with a felt-tipped pen.

5. Remove the single black jack socket nut from the front panel using a 15 mm driver.

6. Remove the small jack socket printed-circuit board from the chassis. As you disconnect each of the 3 connectors from the PCB, I strongly recommend you label each of the connectors with a felt-tipped pen.

7. You are now ready to upgrade the jack sockets.


To upgrade the jack sockets, the hardest part of this whole process is removing the old sockets from the printed-circuit boards. You?ll need some kind of de-soldering device. I bought a Weller 7874B Desoldering Pump and use it together with a soldering iron. Here's a link to some excellent on-line instructions about how to de-solder components from a printed-circuit board:
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/How-To-Desolder-Components/164

To reassemble your RM4, simply reverse the above steps. Before reassembly, I use this as an opportunity to clean the potentiometers with some electronic cleaner. I also affix a business card to the inside of the chassis in case my beloved RM4 is stolen!

Please forgive this lengthy post.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO SEND YOU A WORD DOCUMENT FILE CONTAINING THE ABOVE INSTRUCTIONS, PLEASE SEND ME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.
 
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