TIMEFACTOR suddenly goes bonkers…

[apelachi]

I've got a TIMEFACTOR that's 3-4 years old; not sure exactly…I got it within a year of their release if I remember correctly. Anyway, it's been in use 3 times a week in primarily church worship band settings & studio stuff. It is well cared for & doesn't leave the board other than to be cleaned every few months. It has had all 3 buttons replaced about 1-1/2 ago, & Eventide updated it at that time to the 100 preset version, which I personally don't care for. I wish I could restore it back to 10 banks of 10 original presets as it was when brand new. (sigh)

Anyway… about a year ago, I was at a rehearsal in church & suddenly the digital display began to display absolute garbage random letters & characters & the 1940s space ship sound it made was quite astonishing. It happened a couple of times over a two month period after that. Each time it was quite embarrassing, as everyone on the stage (except me) thought the space ship sound was hilarious. It's gone about a year without doing this but about two weeks ago, just out of nowhere, we're firing up for rehearsal & BANG! The display went wacko & the goofiest noise you ever heard was being generated. I stepped on the button, disengaging it & stopping the noise. I selected another preset & it was fine. What in the world is this unit doing? I'm powering it with a Visual Sound power supply that is plugged into my Furman SPB-8, the original model. I'm playing & recording with a signed artist now & this is not what I need in my rig. Don't want to get a new one since I'm eying an Eventide reverb pedal & don't have unlimited funds, but I guess I may have to if this one is toast.

Has anyone here experienced their TIMEFACTOR going wacko like this?

[Honch]

Sorry for this quick answer: Have you checked that the unit receives PROPER current? Not only 9 volts but mA? It requires a minimum of 300 mA. THe more things you have connected to it at the back, external switches, Expression pedals and so on. I have not the TimeFactor, but a friend of mine had PitchFactor, and had the same problem. After he had daisy chained another pedal to the current cable… the power unit wasn't enough. I don't know about Visual Sound, but it seems to be a class d adapter of some sorts.

[nickrose]

As Mr Honch implies, power supplies are important. You may want to try using the original one for a while.

A second possibility is an internal cabling fault.

[apelachi]

Hi. My TIMEFACTOR is powered by a Visual Sound 1 Stop which supplies 9-V with up to 1700ma. The 1 Spot powers only the TIMEFACTOR, so as to minimize potential issues. The 1 Spot  is plugged into the Furman SPB 8 which has power conditioning, RF suppression, etc. so it should be a good, clean power source to the unit. However, this latest flare up has me thinking of going with an Eventide power supply….just to feel warm & fuzzy with quality Eventide stuff.

[rabiddiabetic13]

you can set the number of banks

The factory default sets the number of active Banks to 50. To limit the number of active

Banks:

1) Press and hold the Encoder and Right Footswitch simultaneously for a few

seconds to enter System Mode. Release the Encoder.

2) Turn the Encoder until [UTILITY] is displayed.

3) Momentarily press the Encoder.

4) Turn the Encoder until [BANKS] is displayed.

5) Momentarily press the Encoder.

6) Press the Left Footswitch and turn the Encoder to set the lower Bank limit.

7) Press the Right Footswitch and turn the Encoder to set the upper Bank limit.

8) Press and hold the Encoder and Right Footswitch simultaneously for a few

seconds to exit System Mode.

[rabiddiabetic13]

oh and the glitching thing.  Do you have a expression pedal plugged in?  I did and the same thing would happen.  I plugged the expression pedal plug in and out several times and the problem went bye bye.

[apelachi]

I've got mine set to 4 banks, actually. Thanks much for the heads up but I knew how to do this already. 😉  My reference to fewer presets in my OP was to the original presets when I got it because I much prefer those "few" usable presets to the many unusable, for me at least, in the updated version. Hope I'm making sense, bro. And I do not have an expression pedal plugged into my unit but I will on my new board rig so thanks for your input on that. After looking around I think I'm going with the Voodoo Lab digital power supply. It's $100 cheaper than the EVENTIDE power supply & will supply 4 EVENTIDE pedals. I'm wondering if my unit just "sees" something odd with power from time to time & the wacko behavior is simply the result? I wish I'd had the presence of mind to grab my cell phone & shoot a video…. 

[apelachi]

Here we are in 2016 & this unit is still doing this behavior, albeit very intermittently. It did it a few months ago, while I was rehearsing at home. I shot a video of the display going wacko. And this past Sunday night while rehearsing with a band for an upcoming new year’s eve gig, it got “lost in space” again. This time when it happened, my volume dropped & the unit started making those “alien love secret” sounds again. I suppose it’s time to take it out of commission & replace it, since it’s long been out of warranty. But costing $400 to replace it, well…pulling the trigger on a new one makes me hesitate. There’s always a compromise pedal like the TC Electronics FLASHBACK X4 for $250…..or the BOSS DD-500 for $300….Yeah…$400 that’s a lot of scratch & no one *EVER* has any kind of discount on EVENTIDE pedals. Plus, it’s hard to replace it when it doesn’t do this on a regular basis. Then again, playing in church every other Sunday morning makes me wonder when is it going to do it live, in front of 1500 people, at a most innapropriate time, like during a slow ballad?! Not a confidence builder at all. I’ve been using a Voodoo Lab Digital power unit with it for about 3 years now, so it’s getting good clean, isolated power.

Has anyone else had any kind of situation where their TIMEFACTOR loses it’s mind, makes the display roll/spin wildly & suddenly 1940s space sounds come out of the unit?

[gkellum]

apelachi wrote:

Here we are in 2016 & this unit is still doing this behavior, albeit very intermittently. 

It sounds like the ribbon cable that connects the TimeFactor's top and bottom boards might be loose.  If you write support@eventide.com, they could give you instructions for reseating that if you feel confident opening it up and doing that.  Alternatively, you could send it in to Eventide to be repaired for a flat fee which will be much less than the $400 you mentioned for a new unit.

 

[sic]

gkellum wrote:

apelachi wrote:

Here we are in 2016 & this unit is still doing this behavior, albeit very intermittently. 

It sounds like the ribbon cable that connects the TimeFactor’s top and bottom boards might be loose.  If you write support@eventide.com, they could give you instructions for reseating that if you feel confident opening it up and doing that.  Alternatively, you could send it in to Eventide to be repaired for a flat fee which will be much less than the $400 you mentioned for a new unit.

 

I’ll write them and reference this thread. I think I can open the unit myself and see if it gets fixed.

[dickywink]

Hi apelachi

Mine started doing this last week … like yours mine is 3 years old now it had random stuff on the display …  made stranges noises and would not change delay types

powered down .. on power up ok for 10 mins then it locked up again … powered it up today and did the same thing … so i went online and updated it to the latest firmware

it has now been on for 2 hours without locking up and the random display stuff … so fingers cross its fixed it .. 

i will update next week after a gig 🙂

all the best …  

Dickywink

[sic]

Hi, 

Mine does this too. It’s about 6 years old. I’ll post a link later when the video upload is complete.

 

[sic]

sic wrote:

Hi, 

Mine does this too. It’s about 6 years old. I’ll post a link later when the video upload is complete.

 

 

here’s my timefactor going bonkers:

 

https://youtu.be/WsxBfEXVPCs

 

[apelachi]

Saw your video. Mine goes wack just like that. I’m hooking it up & leaving it on this week, hoping to catch it acting up so that I can record it. I wish EVENTIDE would let those of us who were *original* owners who *still* own our pedals return them for at least a $100 discount on a new one. As long as the user can validate that they are the original purchaser/owner of the pedal & this can be verified by EVENTIDE in their online registrations. Seems fair to me: you get my unusable TIMEFACTOR & I get a price break on a new one. FAIR & JUST. Reward my brand loyalty. Don’t make me go EMPRESS or BOSS…..

 

[Given To Fly]

apelachi wrote:

Saw your video. Mine goes wack just like that. I’m hooking it up & leaving it on this week, hoping to catch it acting up so that I can record it. I wish EVENTIDE would let those of us who were *original* owners who *still* own our pedals return them for at least a $100 discount on a new one. As long as the user can validate that they are the original purchaser/owner of the pedal & this can be verified by EVENTIDE in their online registrations. Seems fair to me: you get my unusable TIMEFACTOR & I get a price break on a new one. FAIR & JUST. Reward my brand loyalty. Don’t make me go EMPRESS or BOSS…..

My PitchFactor was doing the same thing. If you contact Eventide, they will tell you how to fix it. Here is an analogy of the problem:

When headphones are not plugged in all the way, you usually only get sound on one side with some cutting “in and out” on the other side. Pushing the headphone connector all the way in, fixes the problem. The headphones were never broken, but they were not plugged in all the way. This is essentially what is happening with your TimeFactor. There is a ribbon cable inside that simply needs to be plugged in all the way. 

I fixed my PitchFactor once I understood what needed to be done. It is not hard. If you have ever changed batteries in an electronic device or used headphones, you are fully qualified to fix your TimeFactor. Again, it is not hard. 

 

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