# Champion 600 volume knob replacement



## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

Had to replace the volume pot on my champion 600 today-
since the stock one is crap, i have to assume other folks will have to do this at some point as well-
so i took some pics in case it helps anyone in the future.

the stock pot is really a little trim pot, with a shaft on it.
mine did last 3 years, so it does work, but mine eventually failed.
first i tried loosening the solder joints with a gun and some wick, but eventually gave up and crushed the little bugger-
then pulled the legs out one at a time with tweezers-
had i known what was to follow, i wouldnt have bothered- theres no room for a full sized pot in there if you leave the little board intact.
so if i was to advise anyone in the future, id say leave the pot attached, dont bother with it, then follow the rest of the procedure.

heres the board- you can see the remains of the silly old pot at the top of this pic-










it would be easy to do away with the whole board altogether- using regular switchcraft type jacks, and wiring the 3 resistors to them, point to point-
i only had one jack on hand though- so i just did the following.
i cut the section of the board that holds the pot- just beside the j19 connector



















then cut the first three wires that go to the ji9 connector- youll know wich ones by looking at the traces on the board- or looking at this pic










then wired them to the jack- all installed and working great.










btw- it takes a 1meg audio taper pot. easy for anyone to do, no skills needed- hope this helps somebody one day!


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

fraser said:


> Had to replace the volume pot on my champion 600 today-
> since the stock one is crap, the stock pot is really a little trim pot, with a shaft on it......
> first i tried loosening the solder joints with a gun and some wick, but eventually *gave up and crushed the little bugger-
> then pulled the legs out one at a time with tweezers-*


Electronics is such an exact science !!...j/k

Great thread with very helpful pics and advice.

cheers

Dave


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

greco said:


> Electronics is such an exact science !!...j/k


lol dave- i know. and the humour wasnt lost on me at the time-
i started out with all my tools laid carefully in front of me, the board clamped carefully in my third hand- glasses off and magnifying glass in place, clean, hot tip on iron-
10 minutes later im manhandling the board, with the pot in a pair of pliers, crushing it like a walnut. 
i was chuckling to myself-
best part is, that whole part of the process was totally unnecessary lol

one other thing i forgot to mention-
for the full sized pot to work, i had to drill out the hole on the faceplate.
the stock hole is too small a diameter for the pot i used- something to take into account should anyone need to do this.

i hope nobody takes this posting as a negative on the champion 600.
i love the little thing- and at that price, youve got to expect to replace some things eventually.
this simple fix took about an hour, and the replacement pot should last a decade or longer.


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