Anyone who built the Wrecking Ball from C2C Electronics ?

Hi All, long time lurker, first time poster.
Nice to be a member of this great forum.

I started to build this pedal, I built a few solid state & tube pedals in the past and also three tube amplifiers.
This is the first time I build a project with a SMPS voltage charge pump.

Usually when I start to build a tube amplifier/pedal, first thing I do I check the power transformer output after rectification.
So for this project I soldered all the power supply components and checked voltages.
The HV on C14(9.2 VDC) is almost the same as the input(8.8 VDC)🫥.

So excuse my SMPS nooby question.
Is this normal for SMPS power supply without load not to present the HV or there is something faulty?
Will it work when all the components of the pedal are soldered?

Any help will be much appreciated.

Cheers.
 
fetsenior said:
Hi All, long time lurker, first time poster.
Nice to be a member of this great forum.

I started to build this pedal, I built a few solid state & tube pedals in the past and also three tube amplifiers.
This is the first time I build a project with a SMPS voltage charge pump.

Usually when I start to build a tube amplifier/pedal, first thing I do I check the power transformer output after rectification.
So for this project I soldered all the power supply components and checked voltages.
The HV on C14(9.2 VDC) is almost the same as the input(8.8 VDC)🫥.

So excuse my SMPS nooby question.
Is this normal for SMPS power supply without load not to present the HV or there is something faulty?
Will it work when all the components of the pedal are soldered?

Any help will be much appreciated.

Cheers.
Click to expand...
That is not normal, there is something wrong with your SMPS. Make sure your NE555 is installed and double check the orientation, also check the orientation of your IRF470 and 2N3904. You should still be getting high voltage even with no load on this.
 
vigilante398 said:
That is not normal, there is something wrong with your SMPS. Make sure your NE555 is installed and double check the orientation, also check the orientation of your IRF470 and 2N3904. You should still be getting high voltage even with no load on this.
Click to expand...
Thank You!
So it's not normal.
I will start debugging.
 
Well...
Checked all resistors values, checked diodes, checked pin outs of 555, 2N3904 & IRF740, All are OK.
Checked for shorts between solder joints.
Connected ground to chassis.
Everything is OK!
I went even further and replaced the 555, 2N3904, IRF740 and the inductor...

Guess what? now I get 4.5VDC, the IRF740 is cooking and the Power supply is warming up🤯
I have no idea what I messed up.

Since my spare time is very scarce I'm gonna go old skool with this.
Put it in a bigger box and power this baby with a regular power supply.

These little parts are killing my eyes and give me headaches!!!:cry:

I'm going back to building tube amplifiers where everything is BIG and you don't need a magnifying glass!
Last pedal for me.
 
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