Nobels ODR-1 crackling noise troubleshooting help needed

[LarsMüller]

Hi there,
I have recently acquired a Nobels odr1, pre bass cut, reissue model. The pedal sounds great and exactly how it should except for a faint crackling noise. It sounds a bit like rain drops falling on a tent, like old nearly failing plate resistors in a tube amp.

Is there somebody who can help me with solving this?

The facts (so far)
- I tried multiple power supplies, no difference
- I tried more then one locations ie at home, at venues, rehearsal room etc, the same everywhere.
- I did the chopstick tapping thing, had the pedal out of its housing, no evidence for anything wrong
- I reflowed most of the solder joints, no change
- It seems that the crackling noise starts after 5-10 seconds after activating the pedal. (Before that no ps connected). Almost seems like a faulty cap charging?
- When rotating the ‘Spectrum’ knob, that rainy/crackling sound changes with it. (Getting duller/brighter like the guitar sound accordingly)
- I had a faint suspicion of the 3.3uf output np cap, swapped it with another, didn’t help….

I’m at a loss….

This is a video of the noise, its posted on facebook, I’ll try and upload a video asap

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1322347754608643/permalink/3043107529199315/?

 

[LarsMüller]

A very short video, due to restrictions on format, but clearly audible crackling/popping noise.

 

[LarsMüller]

Please?

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Inspect both sides of the board with good lighting and magnification for cracked solder joints & traces. I bought a Nobels CH-D on eBay and it had a cracked trace near the switch.

 

[LarsMüller]

I will! Thnx very much!

 

[jrg770]

The work on that board looks terrible. I am surprised to see the ribbon cable connecting the pots to the main board and all the silicon\glue goop. The crackling seemed to happen when you moved the connection? Use an audio probe and tap into the circuit along the audio path, see if you can isolate the spot where the crackling occurs. (Search audio probe if you are unfamiliar).

 

[LarsMüller]

Follow up: it turned out, it was one of the opamps. I pulled the old ones out both, installed sockets and installed new ones. Thnx anybody for thinking with me!