
Appendix B: Troubleshooting
should also be aware that it is extremely easy to damage your heads and other sensitive parts of your ADAT. Do not open up your ADAT to clean the heads.
What it comes to is this: ADAT is a very sophisticated piece of digital technology. It is going to be used for your important projects so take the best care of your ADAT and your ADAT heads possible.
ADAT HEAD MAINTENANCE
The heads of each ADAT are
If head cleaning is necessary and you are unable to bring your ADAT to a service center, you may try using a DRY VHS head cleaning cassette. We recommend
3M VHSHC Black Watch Head Cleaner Video Cassette or 3M ASD HC Digital Audio Head Cleaning Cassette.
•Do NOT use any other type of head cleaning cassette. They are abrasive and will damage or wear out your heads.
•Do NOT use head cleaning cassettes that require any kind of liquid.
•Do not use the Black Watch cassette any more often than necessary. Over- cleaning the heads wears them down, reducing their life span.
•Do NOT attempt to clean the heads yourself unless you are a skilled technician experienced in the maintenance of video cassette recorders. Information for such technicians is available from Alesis Product Support. ADAT head cleaning requires different materials and procedures from analog head cleaning, similar to VCR maintenance. Cleaning the heads with a cotton swab, or rubbing in the wrong direction, will destroy them. Opening the case of your ADAT will void the warranty.
Maintenance of the ADAT should be based on the Interpolation Indicator (or Error Count Display, see p. 74) or if the unit begins to behave erratically. To determine if these symptoms are caused by dirty heads, (not a defective or worn tape), keep a “benchmark” tape from the first weeks of operation set aside in a safe place (see page 40). If the Interpolation Indicator lights frequently when playing back this tape, it is likely that head cleaning is needed, particularly if several hundred
Call Alesis Product Support for more information about head cleaning and authorized Alesis Service Centers.
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