Learning more about schematics?

[seangarland123]

Looking for some help learning & understanding schematics.

I am building the PedalPCB Cheesemonger, and realized that I was missing the 1N5 resistor (circled in yellow in the schematic). I've placed an order for one, but would love to know more about what it is doing, and what the impact would be if I replaced it with a higher or lower resistor?

I am still learning how to read schematics, and understand basic foundational info about electricity, so any help would be appreciated!

 

[mybud]

That’s an actually a 1n5 capacitor, not a resistor. They function differently: as resistors help control voltage, capacitors store electrical charge. That’s a very cheap and cheerful definition, which I hope will help you a bit.

Resistors and caps in combination are very often used as filters, which may or may not apply here.

 

[seangarland123]

That’s an actually a 1n5 capacitor, not a resistor. They function differently: as resistors help control voltage, capacitors store electrical charge. That’s a very cheap and cheerful definition, which I hope will help you a bit.

Resistors and caps in combination are very often used as filters, which may or may not apply here.

Yeah, my mistake. I knew it was a capacitor but wrote resistor accidentally.

I’m still learning how all the pieces work together. I’m about to get a breadboard so I can experiment more. Understanding how different capacitor values impact the circuit is one thing I’m looking forward to learning.

 

[swyse]

In this case the 1k ohm resistor and the 1.5nF cap are creating a low pass filter, so everything above a certain frequency is filtered. I assume this is to deal with oscillation or radio interference because its well above the audible range. You may not even notice a difference in sound by omitting it unless you come across one of the aforementioned issues.

 

[mybud]

Yeah, my mistake. I knew it was a capacitor but wrote resistor accidentally.

I’m still learning how all the pieces work together. I’m about to get a breadboard so I can experiment more. Understanding how different capacitor values impact the circuit is one thing I’m looking forward to learning.

No worries at all. I’m also still learning myself.

You might like this (one of the useful sources for breadboarding I started with):

Make: Electronics, 3rd Edition - Print

On Sale - Save 25% Completely re-re-written with most photos and schematics replaced and updated, this latest iteration of Charles Platt's seminal beginner's guide to electronics continues the "learning through discovery" model for which it has been praised since the text was first published in...

www.makershed.com

@BuddytheReow and @Chuck D. Bones have really useful primers on matters electronic right here. A wealth of expert info to get you started and keep you interested. Let me know if you need more readings, what have you.

 

[Feral Feline]

Often you'll see small-value caps like that in a similar location in schematics for reasons Swyse already noted. It's not uncommon.

To help you understand schematics better, I suggest looking at our own BuddytheReow's tutorial:

TUTORIAL - What Are All Those Symbols? - Intro to Schematic Reading

You've got your breadboard, jumper wires, offboard components, and breadboard components in hand and are ready to go. You download a build doc from PedalPCB website, skip the pretty picture of the PCB, skip the components listing since your order came in the mail 3 and a half minutes ago, get to...

forum.pedalpcb.com

More from the forum:

How did you learn to read schematics?

I have built about 5 pedals now and am enjoying it. Luckily I haven’t had any issues, but I know at some point I will. When that happens, I would like to know how to troubleshoot and reading schematics is a large part of that. What’s the best or easiest way to learn that skill?

forum.pedalpcb.com

Also check out:
BEAVIS AUDIO's website and
ELECTROSMASH's circuits-analyses.