Author Topic: New Crimson Mesh owner  (Read 1361 times)

New Crimson Mesh owner
« on: November 27, 2019, 02:58:20 PM »
I just picked up a used Crimson Mesh kit a couple weeks ago. Got it pretty cheap as the previous owner broke the 10" tom. He had been using it as a snare and it quit functioning properly, so he put the whole set up for sale on eBay. Got it for $500 (including shipping)

I looked at the instrumentalparts website to get a replacement 10", but they only had a 12" tom/snare. It was $103, so I figured, "why not?".

I then took apart the 10" to see if I could figure out what was wrong. Cleaned it, put it back together and it worked slightly better, but still really poor response w/ low volume.

Contacted Alesis parts, they directed me to service. Service advised replacing the whole 10" tom for $107 through their parts department.

Well, I wasn't about to admit defeat yet, so I took it apart again. I didn't have a right-angle screwdriver to get at the screws holding the innards on the base, so I improvised. I drilled holes in the sensor plate to get the screws, took the outer sensor plate loose enough to get to the inner plate screws.

Bottom line, it appears that the wires to the inner sensor sheared from movement differential between inner and outer plates. I'll have to break out my soldering iron and see if I can fix it.

Meanwhile, I just acquired a Crimson II module at Goodwill for $140. Considering that I had seen them previously on eBay for $300-400, I figure it was a good find. It didn't have cable snake or power supply, but I already have those for my 1st-gen Crimson module.

Re: New Crimson Mesh owner
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2020, 02:30:13 PM »
Any updates ?

Re: New Crimson Mesh owner
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2020, 08:39:18 PM »
Yep. I took the 10" tom all apart, found the wires to the center impact sensor broken. I soldered them, put on some heatshrink tubing and put it all back together. It works great!

Regarding the Crimson II module: it turns on for a few seconds then turns off again. I contacted Goodwill about returning it, but no returns. I suppose I'll have to try surgery on that as well.

If it's been unplugged for a while, it'll stay on for 5-10 seconds, but successive restarts only have it on for 2 seconds.

Offline Chaser

Re: New Crimson Mesh owner
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2020, 12:54:45 AM »
Make sure power supply is 9 VDC, 500 mA, center-positive
Try a Factory reset...Hold down < and > simultaneously when powering on you should see RST.. for a brief moment.

Re: New Crimson Mesh owner
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2020, 11:03:19 AM »
I was using my Crimson power supply for the Crimson II. My research online seems to indicate that they both use the same power supply. I'll try the reset and see if that helps.

Thanks.

Re: New Crimson Mesh owner
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2020, 07:41:53 PM »
I performed a factory reset, and it worked, for 6 or 7 minutes, then it shut off again. Successive starts had it shutting off after 2 seconds.

One thing I noticed though while it was working: Hitting the crash symbol also started and stopped song play. Seems like there might be a short between the two. I was using my Crimson cable snake, and the snake works perfectly fine with the Crimson, so the problem with the Crimson II has to be inside the case.

I did take it apart just to see what the innards looked like. Basically two circuit boards tied together by two wire sets and a ribbon cable. I disconnected and reconnected the two wire connectors but haven't messed with the ribbon cable yet.