Pedal popping fixes??

C

coachseeley

Member
Good evening,
I've used 3 different PCB manufacturers so far and I seem to encounter engagement popping with the majority of my PedalPCB builds (Modus Operandi, Transcendence, Arche, Shrapnel, Guardian, Magnetron, Spirit Box, Duocast, Ocelot, etc...). The circuits sound fantastic once they're on, but engaging a pedal in the middle of a song, and hearing that pop, is a bit of a nuisance.
I searched through some of the posts and I see that a 100k resistor on the output is a common fix - as well as switching to tantalum on some of the electrolytic caps.
Question is, "where is the best place to place the 100k resistor from output to ground?" Should I put it on the footswitch PCB? Do I need to go directly from the output pad on the main board?
Thanks for any help you kind folks can offer? I'm asking here because I'm not experiencing this issue with other PCB manufacturers. On some of the problematic builds, I've tried 3 different brands of 3PDT footswitch, soldered transistors instead of socketing them, put on some additional RPD, etc... I'm wondering if I'm building all of these pedal incorrectly. Thanks again. (Pic is the latest build - Guardian)
IMG_6118.JPG
 
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Popping switches are sometimes mysteries unto themselves. My circulator pedal only stopped popping after I put in a soft relay switch. For this question it is odd that the popping only appears with some PPCB boards, but it may have more to do with the parts sourced for them at the time.
 
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This worked for me when nothing else would. It's super simple...

VoodooLabs Optical Bypass

Hi folks This is a bit of a utility build report, but hopefully some others will find it useful? In any case, I've had a few builds lately with switch pop that wasn't cured through the usual methods. In digging around for a solution, I found the schematic for optocoupler-based bypass that...
forum.pedalpcb.com forum.pedalpcb.com
 
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mdc said:
This worked for me when nothing else would. It's super simple...

VoodooLabs Optical Bypass

Hi folks This is a bit of a utility build report, but hopefully some others will find it useful? In any case, I've had a few builds lately with switch pop that wasn't cured through the usual methods. In digging around for a solution, I found the schematic for optocoupler-based bypass that...
forum.pedalpcb.com forum.pedalpcb.com
Click to expand...
I was looking for your post to share on this one!
 
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Robert said:
Screen Shot 2022-05-06 at 6.52.22 PM.png
Just disconnect the LED temporarily, if the popping continues swapping the color won't help.
Click to expand...
When I took out the LED, the pop went away... therefore I proceeded to swap colors. First Ultra bright blue, then ultra bright red, then red diffused. They all popped the same. I even tried the Muzique method mentioned by tying in a 390R resistor and a 33uF cap to ground. It still pops...!!!! Next step might be to swap out the 4u7 caps for better quality ones.
 
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No need to change those two, C11 is responsible for blocking all the DC to the output. Strange that the RC filter on the led didn’t fix it even though removing the led did.
 
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mdc said:
This worked for me when nothing else would. It's super simple...

VoodooLabs Optical Bypass

Hi folks This is a bit of a utility build report, but hopefully some others will find it useful? In any case, I've had a few builds lately with switch pop that wasn't cured through the usual methods. In digging around for a solution, I found the schematic for optocoupler-based bypass that...
forum.pedalpcb.com forum.pedalpcb.com
Click to expand...
This is great!!
How would I use this with a PPCB board? They have the standard 4 pads at the bottom and the 2 pads for LED?
 
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coachseeley said:
This is great!!
How would I use this with a PPCB board? They have the standard 4 pads at the bottom and the 2 pads for LED?
Click to expand...

I'd remove the LED from the PCB; wire power and ground from the DC jack to the PCB as usual; omit the LED connection to the footswitch from the PCB; then wire everything else as shown in the diagram. If you're not familiar with vero builds this would be a pretty easy one to start with.
 
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coachseeley said:
Much more tolerable... This pedal will be part of my base tone - and I think I can get away with the minimal pop. Thank you.
Click to expand...
I'm Happy there was an improvement but I would still try a 1uf Tantalum Cap at C11!
Make sure you fit with correct Polarity!

I built this pedal with 9 & 18V Toggle switch power & it's Quiet when Footswitch is used!

Guardian OD ( Peacekeeper )

A great sounding Low to Medium Drive pedal. I modded for 9v & 18v. I was hanging out for the 18v PCB Charge Pump & PedalPCB had a Proto type that would suit me as I had the optional Battery. You will see the PedalPCB Charge Pump released version has been revised & updated with reliefs to suit...
forum.pedalpcb.com

I would look at using name brand like Nichicon or Rubycon or Worth Electrolytics in your builds!
 
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