How to clean a dirty mixing console
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- This poor Peavey RQ2310 had been neglected for many years, doing humdrum duty in the corner of a studio. Time to make him look like new!
Guidelines in this video can be applied to any mixing console, analog or digital. Always remember to power down and disconnect the equipment before any sort of cleaning or maintenance procedure.
If your mixer is badly contaminated with any sort of liquid, especially things like beer or soft drinks, the procedures described here will not work - you will need to take the mixer to a pro audio repair facility where it can be properly disassembled, evaluated and cleaned. All the more reason to keep drunks away from your mix area ;)
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i came here to learn how to clean my mixer but stayed for your voice
While brushing it's good to also blow the dust away. Optimal would be to use compressed air (if it doesn't condensate). And you can use a vacuum on the bottom fader grooves (they are most prone to dust coming in). Just be careful not to vacuum any knobs off ;)
Great advice. Thank you...I have a old Yamaha MG 24/14FX mixer in the Theatre of a school that has hired me to teach their tech, both lights and sound. A very sad and neglected beauty. This should help a lot. Cheers.
You're welcome Beverly, glad the video was helpful. If the mixer is installed in a venue such as that using a vacuum cleaner to follow the paintbrush (or with a soft brush attachment) works even better. Hope the training goes well!
Bob Ross of mixer cleaner ;) thank you very much!!
You're welcome, paint brushes have many uses 😄
Another awesome video by GLB!!!!
Thanks for the ArmorAll tip. OK, so what I do 1st of all on really dirty gear including mixers is use a vacuum brush on the assumption that the bulk of the dust is sucked away form the equipment. You may well shudder but I have used a very slightly damp cloth (one that has been rung out and then sandwiched in the folds of a towel to ensure that while the fibers are damp, there is no free water. This seems to pick up dust pretty well. The same can be done with a brush and I have never had an electrical issue resulting from this over 30 years. I usually remove knobs but you do risk destroying pots and faders sometimes, usually easy enough to replace though. The other thing is that no matter how careful you are, over time the pots and particularly the faders can get contaminated with dust but also they dry out and go stiff. Can try compressed air to blow dust out, this sometimes works. On occasion, I have lost controls like channel EQ due to pot contact failure. I use Deoxit F5 cleaner lube, it's expensive but is supposed to be compatible with most track materials and leaves the controls feeling and working silky smooth with no crackles or dropouts. I sometimes use a hypodermic needle as a spray tip to get into difficult pots. You may notice that some boards have trimmer pots. Often these have gone completely open circuit and a little smear of F5 can improve that. Of course, this isn't resetting to specification but arguably better than leaving it open. I would take gear to a reliable repairer but the nearest one to me is 3h 30m drive away or more than a week each way by courier.
Now then, this naturally leads to the question of cleaning plug and socket contacts. I suppose if things are getting plugged and unplugged a lot, this abrasion keep contact surfaces relatively clean. However I have found that sound quality can deteriorate in time possibly due to oxidation of interconnect contacts. Again, I use a Deoxit cleaning and conditioning kit. I'm starting to sound like an add I suppose, there probably are other brands but I use what I can get locally and reviews seem to suggest this as good as it gets. The conditioner helps to seal the contacts from further oxidation and seems to improve clarity of the system overall. Anyway, it's a heck of a lot of work to do all the system connections but the results seem to me, very good.
I watched your cable cleaning as well, Just like to suggest adding alcohol to the cleaning water. In chemistry, water is known as a polar molecule and is a most excellent solvent for polar molecule substances. However, it is incomparable for non polar substances. Alcohol molecules have a polar and a non polar end which makes it both soluble in water and able to dissolve some non polar substances. So adding Alcohol to water makes a much more versatile solvent. Not strong enough to be destructive but increases the range of substances that can be removed, getting things cleaner faster.
Thanks for the long response, I hope others benefit from it too!
Nothing wrong with using a damp cloth - in fact I know a lot of pros who use a damp paintbrush to do the same thing. You need to know what you're doing through, which is why I don't show that technique in this video.
Yup Deoxit is great stuff!
I'll try the alcohol + water idea next time I have some dirty cables to clean, thanks for the tip!
Ok maybe a stupid suggestion. If you want to clean the mixer with no chance of really getting dirt in between the gutters of the faders, what if you used a tape that isn't really sticky, like that green masking tape for dry walling/painting, and then proceed to clean all of your board and then do each individual channel last :)
Sure, or you could use a vacuum cleaner :)
I use a vacuum cleaner with a round brush head and it works just as good without having to worry about the dust falling into the crevices.
Yes a vacuum cleaner is ideal but often unavailable in the field.
Gaffers tape over the fader slots is a good way to protect them from dust during cleaning
Sean Kent That's a great idea - the only thing to be wary of is that the adhesive can strip the paint off the panel. I would use something like low tack painter's tape. Thanks for the suggestion!
The moisture can cause damage..........unless it's a Mackie. LOL Those things are like SM58s, they CANNOT be killed. Good to see you back making vids, buddy.
By the way, DeoxIT will dissolve any oxidation and clear out any dust or dirt that gets into the pots/input jacks and causes crackling or bad connections...I know you said the book says that's a no-no, but it doesn't do anything to the solder joints. I've used it for over 10 years and it's never done anything bad. I can only assume that it would work magically on dirty fader strips. It's great stuff. I use it to clean my electric guitar pots mainly, but have used it on my mixer's pots and it's worked great.
Eric Pederson Yup, I pretty much agree with you there! I've got a break in my teaching schedule at the moment so trying to get as many videos done as possible. Thanks for the support.
it works great with everything BUT faders. you need a different more expensive version with lithium grease for sliders and faders.
I'd like to offer a suggestion for the people who don't like armour-all on their knobs.....
Tedious as it is, the results are great. Take all the knobs off, find an appropriately sized dish and fill with warm water and add some dishwashing detergent, or even car wash detergent. Using a toothbrush, clean each of the knobs, rinse in clear water, set aside to air dry, or dry using compressed air if available.
+guitarrelic Thanks for your contribution. Personally I wouldn't use armor all on the knobs, only on the panel. The knobs I would clean with a damp cloth or as you suggest above.
Hi Bruno ,,Great tip for cleaning,I also use a anti static duster the ones used for cleaning window blinds once a week keeps the dust away it works also, on drum kits and other music instruments sometimes with guitars it hooks up on the string ends sometimes..
thanks a lot ! my console now produce less noise and the potentiometers are working better than ever :)
That's great! Nothing like a clean mixer that also sounds better!
I have only had my mixer for a few months, so I've been blowing the dust away, or trying to, and using a micro fiber cloth on the more open spaces. I will be mounting it more vertically to more easily see the exact position of the sliders as I use it for streaming, and I sit while doing that, and all of it will be easier to reach. But I will make a cover over it to stop some dust from reaching it. I will definitely get a brush, that looked a lot easier to remove the dust compared to a cloth. And if I can get my knobs off, I will treat it with ArmorAll (or similar) to make the dust settle less. Great video (and sorry for the long comment :P).
Thanks for watching Alex. The armor all treatment should not be necessary for a new mixer - just use a dry paintbrush and you should be fine. A cover is definitely a very good idea!
Thx so much, I have a used XENYX 1202fx and I am about to start using it for my schools choir.
You're welcome, hope it cleans up nice!
@@GLBProductions thx
Thank you very much. This weekend I'll go out and buy a brush and start working on my mixer . Great video.
A great idea! Glad the video was helpful.
Thank you so much for this tutorial.
The clean dry paint brush is genius.
I used to use rubbing alcohol and Q
tips. Lots and lots of Q-tips. I'll still
use alcohol and Q-tips for the corners
But I'll definitely use a brush and
Armour-all
Ty
Yes in fact you can also use the paint brush damp for cleaning very dirty consoles - never a wet brush though!
This was a VERY well done video! I enjoyed watching this! :D
Thanks for watching!
Thank you for the video 🙏 we love you 🏆
Thanks for watching and supporting the channel :)
Great stuff. Learnt to make my mixer kinda brand new.
Glad to hear that!
I wonder couldn't you use a vacuum cleaner to get most of the excess dust off? A vacuum cleaner might also be useful for getting any dust out of the xlr, plug or fader holes couldn't it?
Yes, but most sound engineers do not carry a vacuum cleaner in the field 😊 Even with a vacuum cleaner, you still need a long-brush attachment to reach in between the knobs. There is also a danger, especially on older consoles, of loose knobs being ingested by the vacuum! I find that a paintbrush does about 90% of the work, although of course a vacuum will be best.
You can get Armorall in wipes as well,!
Very useful presentation...Thanks a lot..
You're welcome, thanks for watching!
I use a compressor and cleaning with compressed air. Very carefully. However, it takes the most.
Yes that's a great way of doing it, the only problem is that the dust often ends up on everything else, so you need to make sure the mixer is located away from other gear when blowing it off.
Yes. I usually open the mixer and blows it inside too .. it is also the best for a computer too .. Better than using a vacuum cleaner
@Simon Tempo 409 is the bomb for cleaning outer surfaces. you can dilute it 1/10 and it's less soapy. That and a good can of contact cleaner is what to do after dusting the exterior of the unit. I recommend removing all knobs when starting.
+Guitar Whores Thanks for your contribution.
I have found that Armour All has consistently led to plastic ending up CRACKED after it has dried.
PLEDGE would be a better product as it too will prevent dust buildup and will not cause plastic to crack.
Also using WD40 and GOO GONE (almost the same product) works perfect for removing sticky finger grime and tape residue.
Can you please do a detailed video on connecting Mixture, amplifiers and microphone channels setups for church⛪. Would appreciate it❤
Thanks for the suggestion 🙂
Thanks. I like your vids. Well explained.
I too am a fan of DeoxIT.
I have that same board, have ordered the book so I had better get to work.
JimE
blackemmons Yes, DeoxIT is definitely one of my favourite cleaners when it comes to cleaning plugs and connectors in general. I'm just wary of using any sort of spray cleaner on a mixing console because it's hard to control exactly where the stuff goes. I'm sure you'll find the book interesting. Just one caveat though - for some strange reason this particular book does not have any illustrations! There is tons of useful information but no pictures, so it's best suited to those who are already familiar with what the tools of the trade look like :)Thanks for your support, all the best with your music.
Awesome video. Thanks for the tips.
You're welcome, Thanks for watching!
Hello hello Mia have a mixer that the right output main channel stop working suddenly and left channel there was lots of cracking sound when moving up and down. I used the air blow spray and I also applied drop of oil on the fades and now suddenly it became new again
That's great! I recommend not using oil on the faders as it will attract more dust in future.
@@GLBProductions i use dust air compress spray before adding oil and after to also lubricate the levers. In my case it worked
Brilliant idea! Thanks.
What about "Dust-Off" compressed air or similar products? Especially for the inputs etc.
Yup those products work great - however not everyone has access to them in the field.
Satisfying. 😌 Thanks dude
You're welcome!
you cleaned the shit out of that..great vid
Yeah it really needed it! Thanks for watching.
You do not mention using a vacuum hose and brush attachment. I was wondering what your thoughts are on this. My church has recently done some structural improvements and I have a moderate amount of dry wall compound dust in my booth.
Dennis Neuhaus That would work well *if* the brush attachment had bristles that were at least half again as long as the mixer knobs are tall, otherwise the possibility of damaging the knobs with the head of the attachment would exist.
There is also the issue of the suction of the vacuum literally pulling small parts off the mixer - some faders are only loosely press fit and if they get sucked up they may get damaged or lost.
It thus may be best to use a hand-held brush to remove the dust, whilst holding the vacuum nozzle nearby with your other hand - this would stop the dust from going everywhere yet keep the suction a safe distance from the console.
Thank you that is helpful considerations. I have just found your channel and enjoy what I have seen and hope to view many more videos.
Dennis Neuhaus You could just hold the vacuum nozzle close to the paint brush, as you clean/brush with it. that way, the loosened dust/dirt will be picked up by the vacuum, while avoiding possible impact damage from the vacuum wand.
Nice video, Thanks!
I would attempt to remove the knobs (as suggested), as well as cleaning in an inverted (upside down) position (not suggested). I'm going to give Armor All a try. Thanks!
Cleaning the mixer upside down would be ideal, but I'm not sure how you would support the mixer or be able to see what you were doing...
After brushing, and using a vacuum, do you recommend using some form of dry compressed air (from a spray can, or air compressor)?... Perhaps use a "Swiffer" wand vs a paintbrush! Have you ever heard of using one of those dry 'sponge' (latex) products- recommended for such uses as cleaning walls, brick (fireplace soot), tile surfaces, etc. Perhaps it might help to gently 'scour' the painted surfaces, without risk of moisture, or loose particles, etc. Check it out. Another Great GLB Productions Demo, ....(as usual)!!!
guloguloguy Hmm, what would be the purpose of using compressed air?
You really do not want to use anything even remotely abrasive on the mixer panel - the risk of damaging the printed legends is too great, and if any of the abrasive particles find their way into the mixer track they can very effectively abrade away your contact material until your fader stops working!
Any tips on cleaning the knobs? Any harm in a water/mild soap wash in a basket and air dry?
Yeah that'll be fine - if they are really filthy try scrubbing lightly with a toothbrush. Make sure they are really really dry before re-attaching, blow out with compressed air if necessary.
Helpful video
Glad to hear that :)
I was never a fan or ArmourAll didn't like the way it shined, I'm more of a flat look. I was thinking as I watched the video that I would try spraying the paint brush which will get between the knobs easier then the cloth. What's your thinking on that? Yamaha MX400 - 24, great analog board. I'm not going to keep this one much longer which is why I'm looking for instruction on cleaning.
+Tommy Cramer I would say it depends on how dirty your mixer is - if it's just dust then using a dry brush should be sufficient. The mixer in the video was incredibly dirty and the dirt had actually stuck to the panel which was why I decided to try out the ArmorAll. I know a pro who cleans his mixers with a wet paintbrush, but I wouldn't use any sort of chemical on the brush - too much danger of residue ending up where you can't get to it. Finally I think that in order to do a thorough cleaning job on any mixer the knobs really do need to be removed, but your mixer might not be that dirty.
I’ve used paint brushes for years to clean my mixer . I have to say it’s okay but not recommended for relatively clean consoles and defiantly NOT for a very dirty console. The reason I say this is the brush method actually stirs up the dust and adds to dust build up in pots , faders ect. A static charged duster is more effective to keep the dust from getting air born. The best way is a scratch free fabric and evaporated water stay away from chemical cleaners they do more harm than good in the long run (careful your cloth is ever so slightly moist NOT wet). Never clean equipment on/powered (always turn off and unplug just to be safe). Imo,This is the best way to keep the dust from going airborne and doing more damage to the price of equipment being cleaned as well as damage to any other equipment you have in your recording area. That’s why I also recommend you clean your super dirty equipment in a different room (preferable a garage or outside on a nice day not to hot or cold with ideal humidity). Cheers hope someone finds this useful :)
Thanks for the post - many good points there.
Put the cloth around the paint brush? Makes it easyer to get inbetween the knowbs on the mixer. Just a thought, really. I imagne a digital mixer culd be easyer to clean, since it does not have souch tight spaces between the knobs.
Good video! I wil go straigt to clean "my" mixer when I get home :D
+Mr89netrom Digital mixers are cleaned in much the same way, although you have the slight added complication of cleaning LCD touch screens! And yes they have far fewer knobs and a generally less complex control surface so are easier to dust.
Scotch tape? For the LCD screen i mean. Cut it flat at the ebd to get it in the corners?
+Mr89netrom No I just use a lens cleaning cloth. If the screen is really filthy I use some lens cleaning solution or a slightly damp cloth.
What about using a low powered vacuum with a brush head, would this also be a good way to clean?.
Clatten Strait Yes, although you'd need to find a brush head with very soft bristles which were longer than the tallest knobs on the console - this is not easy in practice! In addition, there would be the risk of cross-contamination from the vacuum cleaner. There are some vacuum cleaner attachments made specifically for cleaning computer keyboards, those might work better.
I had a mixer so dirty that I took it apart and washed all the knobs and top plate. Then I used deoxit on all the pots and put it back together. It was a mackie 1604vlz
I'll bet that is one happy mixer :)
Which Deoxit did you use?
Thanks for the video. I have to disagree with using armor all. It is horrible for plastic parts. I have been in the automotive business for nearly 20 years. It will almost always cause cracks on the interior of a vehicle. They should not be allowed to market it as a protective coating. It is not a polish and it destroys most plastics in as little as a few applications. Not to mention, it will cause it to collect more dust and grime as time goes on. I would ban armor all altogether if I could.
Yes I have heard this concern from several people - what would you recommend as an alternative?
nice job
Thanks for watching!
Use the armour all but put some in a small tray or dish, then use a paint brush.
Thanks for the suggestion. What would be the advantage of that over what is shown in the video?
good teacher
Thanks for watching!
Bruno,can you make video about how to daisy chain compact mixers,you know,mixers made with mixers,like you have one ,its not enough, but you have two,how could their amp be integrated,so as to raise their watts and connect it to a total mixer ?
Mixers made with amps
Start with this video: ua-cam.com/video/HgeVInOV1Kk/v-deo.html
i did this to my peavey xr800f i took it fully apart cleaning the fan components and faders was going to get contact cleaner but dont think its needed
Yeah don't clean the faders unless they're noisy.
Cool. Thanks.
in our school we have behringer SX2442FX mixer but it have dust aside from the brush can i use air blower machine like the one used in computer to clean its dust ? is it harmful to the mixer ?
nice_q8t You can as long as the blower is gentle - too much pressure and you will force dust into the inside of the mixer where it will cause even more problems.
GLB Productions
okay :)
Armorall is a bad choice. It is known, especially amongst all the car groups to cause cracking of platic pieces like dashes and vents, and your knobs and faders in situations where they are exposed a lot to the sun. windex, or Simple Green glass cleaners are better as they repell dust.
I agree that Armor All has a bad reputation in the auto detailing world but remember that in that situation we are talking about multiple applications on a weekly or daily basis. In this case we have a one-time use, mainly to clean the painted metal panel, not the knobs. This is a trick that I picked up from an old hand in the industry so am confident of passing it on to the viewers.
If you are concerned about Armor All cracking your knobs then just use a damp cloth, or remove the knobs before cleaning as shown in the video.
very helpful..by the my mixer going through some problem actualy left and right channel hear different i mean one is brighter and one is muddy can u pls help me to sort out what is the problem??pls..
+kforthy chris Swap over the left and right output connections and see if the problem changes sides. If it does the issue is your mixer, if it does not the issues is your speakers or amplifier. Let me know what you find.
ok will let you know thankz !!
when i swap the problem changes sides..
kforthy chris Then you'll need to see what the issue on your mixer is - I suspect it may be a graphic EQ that is adjusted differently on the left and right channels.
nopeee..i connected an ipod into a stereo channel with left and right nd did the procedure.!
thank you!
+Jocelyn Silver / No1AtAll You're welcome :)
Helpful! Thank you!! Witnessing here the gift of individual content creators. Nice work! You’re invited to our house for dinner.❤️🙏🏼
Aha, thank you for that :)
Sir how can I keep my mixer female ,male or jack dust free ...or my cable connectors ...?
Use a mixer cover :)
When the paintbrush is dirty, you could just use a pair of scissors to trim it down, no?
+Bloodbath and Beyond It depends how far up the bristles the dirt has travelled - that's one reason I like to use a light coloured brush. Of course liquid contaminants like solvents, paint etc will travel up the bristles by capillary action so no amount of trimming will get rid of those :P
Whats the Intro-Musics Title?
Stock music from my old video editor.
hi i have a yamaha mixing console 4 channel the line input its stereo or mono bacause i put a stereo jack its play mono i need your help plesae
Which console are you using?
hi i am very glad mister loucio for your response i use a yamaha 4 channel consol GLB Productions
Please tell me the model number, which will be on the front panel somewhere.
hi its a yamaha f 4
On that mixer the line input is mono and balanced on channels 1 and 2. On channels 3 and 4 channel 3 is routed to the left speaker and channel 4 is routed to the left speaker so you need to make two separate connections.
Won't it give scratch to the console?
If you're worried about that I would get a cover for the console instead.
dude i got a lot of crackling on a slider, how do i fix it?
MSK Chess I'd start by moving the fader back and forth along the full length of its travel 20-50 times. If that doesn't clean the contact track then you will probably need to take the mixer in for a professional cleaning. You *can* try spraying electrical contact cleaner into the slot but be warned that this may make things worse than they are already!
I searched other videos and some dude sprayed contact cleaner into the slider and it worked, why would it make it worse? kind regards Robbie
MSK Chess Depending on what sort of fader it is (carbon vs plastic film) and what sort of contact cleaner you use, the cleaner can dissolve the material of the fader track and then you will have no fader at all.
Its a very old mixing desk that i was given for free, its a Mynah 8-2-1 made by 3G Ltd. Perhaps i could blow the dust out with some kind of air pump? It just crackles a bit when i put the slider volume up and sometimes maxes out the audio signal.
I have ordered an electrical contact cleaner.
nobody thought at the vacuo solution? (with boar bristles extension)
That is of course the ultimate solution, however I don't know many live sound engineers who carry a vacuum cleaner in their tool bag :) A paintbrush is easy to carry and can be purchased anywhere in the world.
Do you ever hear about "Dream System Kirby"? That is a goood vacum not only works on the ground but It Can cleans everything u want (Also cloths)
where can i buy that book? thanks
You can get it on Amazon: amzn.to/2unDVj8 However bear in mind that it doesn't have a single picture or diagram so is really meant for more experienced engineers.
greaaaat!
good job ths
I need to invent a tool that rotates left and right to a certain percentage to rotate the knobs :)....hmmmm...I wonder if I could just hook a washing machine motor up to something...ok, I wasn't serious :)
Yes that would be nice :) Mind you those days are mostly behind us now with most large format consoles being digital.
How to repair sound not work..
Find your local pro audio repair shop.
Pressure wash and let dry for a week.
I'd like to see a video on that 😆
Way to much chatter in this video. When you got to the point though, you were spot on.