Byrdhouse (or general) LED troubles.

[MacGuffin_]

So, I am new to electronics and just kind of blindly followed the CLR value when adding a LED to my board. I assembled everything, sounds great, but the LED doesnt shine. I tried testing it with my multimeter diode mode, still didn't shine. Tested all the other types of LEDs I got from Tayda with the multimeter, no shine. What am I doing wrong here?

 

[Cybercow]

Did you try reversing the orientation for polarity?

 

[jhaneyzz]

I test mine with a 3 volt button battery.

 

[jhaneyzz]

Are you referring to a specific PrdalPCB board?

 

[MacGuffin_]

Did you try reversing the orientation for polarity?

Yep, checked that the anode was indeed the longer pin. Just to be sure I tried both orientations on a lot of them, still no shine

 

[MacGuffin_]

Are you referring to a specific PrdalPCB board?

Yes and no. I am trying to get Byrdhouse to light up, but testing all my LEDs is yielding no results

 

[jhaneyzz]

Do you have a source of 3 V? I.e. a 3v battery or a holder for a pair of AA or AAA cells?

 

[jhaneyzz]

Take the pedal out of the equation. I don’t test LEDs with my multimeter. So not sure if that is a way to light them or not.

 

[MacGuffin_]

Take the pedal out of the equation. I don’t test LEDs with my multimeter. So not sure if that is a way to light them or not.

Found a disc batt laying around. Turns out, my MM doesnt have enough forward voltage for diode testing I guess. So the LEDs light up (including the one installed in the pedal), now to figure out why its not turning on when I stomp the 3PDT. Since 3v worked, and I assume CLR in the standard build docs yields somewhere close to 3v, maybe something in the switch wiring.

 

[jhaneyzz]

Robert uses 4.7k for CLR always as far as I’ve ever seen. The CLR is built into the pCB circuit. You aren’t trying to add an additional CLR are you?

 

[MacGuffin_]

Robert uses 4.7k for CLR always as far as I’ve ever seen. The CLR is built into the pCB circuit. You aren’t trying to add an additional CLR are you?

Nope, 4k7 is the only resistor in that part of the circuit

 

[jhaneyzz]

It ALWAYS the wiring or the soldering…

If you’re still stuck, take some nice clear pictures of both sides of the board and post them here. This is a very friendly crew of pirates.

I’m headed to bed but I’ll check back tomorrow.

 

[Erik S]

Is the led oriented correctly in the board? I’ve always wondered why the positive lead on capacitors gets a square pad, but for LEDs it’s the opposite. I’m always worried I’m gonna put one in backwards.

 

[MacGuffin_]

It ALWAYS the wiring or the soldering…

If you’re still stuck, take some nice clear pictures of both sides of the board and post them here. This is a very friendly crew of pirates.

I’m headed to bed but I’ll check back tomorrow.

Probably so: Ive attached pics (that isnt a bridge between A and +, I just left the leads long and the camera angle doesnt help)

Is the led oriented correctly in the board? I’ve always wondered why the positive lead on capacitors gets a square pad, but for LEDs it’s the opposite. I’m always worried I’m gonna put one in backwards.

A to anode (long), K to cathode (short)

 

[Erik S]

Can you measure voltage at the led when you hit the switch?

 

[MacGuffin_]

Can you measure voltage at the led when you hit the switch?

How do I do that safely? Hot(red) to anode, black to cathode or any ground?

Edit: tried A to K, V is wobbly

 

[Erik S]

Yes. Sounds like you’ve got that right. There’s no high voltage and not much that’s delicate or sensitive in guitar pedals, you can pretty much poke around with your meter to your heart’s content and you’re not going to mess anything up or run into any safety concerns.

 

[MacGuffin_]

Yes. Sounds like you’ve got that right. There’s no high voltage and not much that’s delicate or sensitive in guitar pedals, you can pretty much poke around with your meter to your heart’s content and you’re not going to mess anything up or run into any safety concerns.

Probably will start tomorrow, will check in then. All in all, the pedal sounds great. Just would like the LED to work lol

 

[jhaneyzz]

I’m going to guess that you soldered the foot switch PCB on upside down. I’ve done that at least twice myself.

 

[MacGuffin_]

I figured it out!! There was no docs on the footswitch PCB, so I assumed that it worked like any other. Turns out you MUST jump the LED pins in the back if you aren't going to use a LED attatched to the footswitch