So those of you who recommend deoxit (or similar products), have you used it on the OT with success or are is this from experience with other devices.
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So I tested, it’s ok for my minimum 6 years old OT.
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I mean that I encountered such problem on my OT (I had had it for 2 years and it had been bought 2nd hand).
And asking Elektron to fix it was like getting a new OT. Just trying to help, not to judge.
Sure, I just found it funny.
Thanks man!
Other devices, but it’s relevant to any encoders that use a similar techology.
But I’ve never done it on push encoders so I can’t vouch for it being effective on them (although it likely is).
Also I’ve never had success using the technique of aplying it to the shaft and letting it work its way in. For encoders, the only thing that has worked for me is physically opening them up and cleaning the contacts by hand. I did get some improvement in an especially jumpy encoder in an old DR660 without opening it up, and it’s usable now but it still jumps when I turn it fast.
For potentiometers I’ve always been able to spray the deoxit in through an opening (the location depends on the specific design) with non-sealed varieties, and for the sealed kind I’ve never had to clean one yet, I’ve got stuff with sealed pots that go back to the 80s that haven’t worn out or gone scratchy yet.
But it wouldn’t do any harm to give it a shot. Just be sure to use control cleaner (i.e. lubricated cleaner) rather than contact cleaner (no lubrication)!
The encoder in the S5000 was so far gone that it hardly worked at all and when it did it was jsut spitting out random values. It took about 5 minutes to open it up, clean it, relubricate it and put it back together, and it has worked absolutely flawlessly ever sicne. The only reservation I’d have with the OT is the fact that they’re push encoders, sicne that might make it more ifficult to take apart and reassemble, but beyond that it would probably work very well.
But also if it’s still on warranty that’s WAY too soon for encoders to fail, so it might be worth replacing them altogether jsut to be on the safe side. It’s extremely unlikely there’s anything mechanically wrong with them beyond being a bit diry but if you ca get it done free, then why not?
If it was off warranty I’d say clean it and also research compatible encoders of higher quality, and get a competent tech to swap them in for the originals (which is pretty simple, any skilled electronics hobbyist should have no trouble with it and if the OT wasn’t so expensive I’d be encouraging you to do it yourself, because it’s a great skill to have - not only can you do the most common type of repair on your gear yourself you can also find a lot of gear cheap or free that just needs to have controls replaced).
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Encoder available at Mouser for about $1.38 Part: Bourns PEC16-4020F-S0024
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Replacing my OT encoders was one of the most stressful soldering jobs I’ve ever done. Not particularly difficult, but having to actually destroy the old encoders in order to remove them made me quite anxious!
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Can’t you remove them just with unsoldering?
I did with MC307 encoders.
They’d be very difficult to remove simply by desoldering, as the legs kinda “grip” the board. It’s much easier to just dismantle the encoder.
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I’ve seen that video. It’s freightening 
One of my OT’s encoders had those jumping values, and after a few weeks of gathering courage i ordered some spare encoders and this afternoon i replaced the bad one with help from the video.
And now i have a perfect working OT again!!
It’s not very easy, but when you have a bit of soldering experience and some guts it can be done.
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Oh no…it was an actual issue with the encoders?
I started having issues yesterday with my MD.
I was hoping it might be a weakening battery, or some midi stuff going on that i wasnt paying attention to.
The last time i tried some soldering on my MD, i had to order a new UI board. I murdered the first one 
I have this issue currently. Elektron is sending me new encoders for shipping and I got someone local to do the de/soldering. They stated “We always recommend you find a local tech…” Person is confident so I’m excited to get a “new” OT.
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I recommend ask Elektrons’s support for repairing. They’re very helpful. My device is currently being in their workshop because of this issue. Second time, as after they replaced three encoders, a new one started behaving badly
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Hmmm now that i think of it…i have a new UI board. Its only a year old. Odd it would start acting up. my murdered UI board if FULL of usuable encoders.
I murdered it when i tried screen replacement on my own. I think thats considerably more difficult to do than the encoders. Should i give it a go…?
No fucking way 
Yeah it was a bad encoder (i tried everything). That’s too bad you damaged you’re MD UI board… 
It is a risc doing it yourself ffcoz. I didn’t do it if i had some experience and watched the video a couple of times.
Sounds too bad you;re new encoders are acting up
update: took my gratis encoders and OT with me to my local tech and now everything is a-OK.
However: only after the tech had removed the old encoders (75% of the job) we realized that 4 (of 7) encoders were ratcheted. I would have had to pay for the techs work either way so I just said do it.
Now I don’t want to cast Elektrons generosity in a bad light. But had they given me the option of 4 free but ratcheted encoders or I would have to source them myself, I would have chosen the latter. A small detail on paper but a big difference in practice.
Just a heads up for anyone being offered parts from Elektron: ensure what theyre offering you is what you want.
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Reviving this thread. Pretty much ALL of the main parameter knobs on my OT have started jumping values or moving really slowly. What are the chances that all the knobs got dirty enough for that to happen all at once vs. some other problem? Would a factory reset possibly fix issues like that?