Film cap dimensions, and a few other questions.

[Josh_Shoe]

Hello all just a bit of background and banter..

I've decided since to dive into pedal building since I have some downtime in my work season, but also since I discovered (thanks to Chuck D. Bones pedal comparison !) my thoughts for combining a BE OD and Dirty Shirley (The thermionic deluxe) was already printed on a DIY PCB!! Although I have pretty decent soldering skills I still would not feel comfortable as my first. So I have commissioned myself to at least building the Son of Ben preamp before giving it a go.

I've done a good bit of reading, watching videos, analyzing gut shots, and have been for sourcing parts primarily from Mouser. I have everything I need mostly ready to order. But would like to confirm and inquiry a few other things.

For the box film capacitors 7.2x2.5 (with 5mm spacing?) but what height should I look for? I also assume the caps that are ceramic should fit within those dimensions as well?

Is there a way I can have either a bi-color LED similar to this to signify which channel I'm on?

I am a tweaker and i love turning knobs. But on the thermionic deluxe there are trim pots for the amount of gain. Would it be a dumb idea to wire up a 100k linear pot in its place granted I'd have room ?

And just out of curiosity what denotes a pedal to allow 18v? Is it just the power section?


I think I have covered all of my questions, and I'm excited to get to building!

 

[jeffwhitfield]

Take a look at some of the AionFX PCB listings (https://aionfx.com). They have links to Google spreadsheets that list parts and include Mouser part numbers. These are pretty good to base your decisions on. They do list good parts.

As for film caps, it's rare that height is an issue. The ones that should be a concern are the electrolytic capacitors, which can sometimes be pretty high and wide for larger values. Not uncommon for those to get upwards of 11mm...which still fit for most applications.

Most pedals that allow for 18v should be listed as such. If it doesn't specifically say you can plug it into an 18v power supply, definitely don't do it. It's all in the way the circuit itself is designed. Most of the 18v pedals on PedalPCB use a charge pump so you can still use a 9v input (ie. Paragon overdrive).

 

[Barry]

As for the Bicolor LED (great idea btw) that center bottom lug of the channel switch would likely do it, just need to be sure you get the correct bi-color, @PedalPCB could probably tell if it would need common anode or common cathode, looks like the center lug is cathode so it would be common cathode if I'm correct

 

[Josh_Shoe]

Take a look at some of the AionFX PCB listings (https://aionfx.com). They have links to Google spreadsheets that list parts and include Mouser part numbers. These are pretty good to base your decisions on. They do list good parts.

As for film caps, it's rare that height is an issue. The ones that should be a concern are the electrolytic capacitors, which can sometimes be pretty high and wide for larger values. Not uncommon for those to get upwards of 11mm...which still fit for most applications.

Most pedals that allow for 18v should be listed as such. If it doesn't specifically say you can plug it into an 18v power supply, definitely don't do it. It's all in the way the circuit itself is designed. Most of the 18v pedals on PedalPCB use a charge pump so you can still use a 9v input (ie. Paragon overdrive).

Awesome! Coincidently the website is pointing me to most of the parts i already have carted up on Mouser. But a quick double check. For the build sheet the letter after number corresponds like. P is pf, n is nf and u is µF, and if thats so can i use this calculator to decipher the values?

 

[Barry]

Awesome! Coincidently the website is pointing me to most of the parts i already have carted up on Mouser. But a quick double check. For the build sheet the letter after number corresponds like. P is pf, n is nf and u is µF, and if thats so can i use this calculator to decipher the values?

yes

 

[Barry]

PM me a mailing address, I have some postcards with capacitor charts, I'll be happy to send you a couple

 

[jeffwhitfield]

Awesome! Coincidently the website is pointing me to most of the parts i already have carted up on Mouser. But a quick double check. For the build sheet the letter after number corresponds like. P is pf, n is nf and u is µF, and if thats so can i use this calculator to decipher the values?

You can. I use this one myself:

Capacitor Conversion Chart