SOLVED Park and (NOT) Riding

[DyeNaturally]

So beginner builder here. Have 3 completed circuits under my belt. The El Sol is only one with correct sound, and I have no troubles with really. Sounds great actually.
my carbon Black fuzz is another thread….makes sound but no fuzz.

this thread is for my park and ride. I can’t get any sound from this.

I socketed some capacitors since I didn’t have the right ones. I did use close values to the missing ones but not exact.
otherwise this is the only build I can’t get any sound out of.
Hoping to get some newbie tips for figuring this out. Not entirely sure on the correct testing procedures, I was getting voltage from input to output. And did a few other tests I seen on another thread, and seemed to be getting some voltage threw.

Could it be bad ic’s?? Ones were from tayda. Other China eBay people.
Also got the wrong pots(solder posts not pcb threw) and have them wired to the pcb, why so many wires coming off it. But should be fine if the wires correlate to the pins???

thanks

I just swapped the ic’s and still nothing.
Thanks for helping a newbie.

 

[fig]

I read "can't get any sound", does that include no sound when bypassed?

 

[Big Monk]

So beginner builder here. Have 3 completed circuits under my belt. The El Sol is only one with correct sound, and I have no troubles with really. Sounds great actually.
my carbon Black fuzz is another thread….makes sound but no fuzz.

this thread is for my park and ride. I can’t get any sound from this.

I socketed some capacitors since I didn’t have the right ones. I did use close values to the missing ones but not exact.
otherwise this is the only build I can’t get any sound out of.
Hoping to get some newbie tips for figuring this out. Not entirely sure on the correct testing procedures, I was getting voltage from input to output. And did a few other tests I seen on another thread, and seemed to be getting some voltage threw.

Could it be bad ic’s?? Ones were from tayda. Other China eBay people.
Also got the wrong pots(solder posts not pcb threw) and have them wired to the pcb, why so many wires coming off it. But should be fine if the wires correlate to the pins???

thanks

I just swapped the ic’s and still nothing.
Thanks for helping a newbie.

On of the best things i ever did was committing to using PCBs, either my own or from Pedal PCB or Aion, that use PCB mounted pots.

With that said, check whether you get bypass signal per @fig and then double check some of the pot leads. Some of the connections to the pots on the board look a little dodgy. Double check connections to the pots themselves as well.

Also, snap a picture of the underside of the board and the pots as well and post here.

 

[Mcknib]

Post some pics of the offboard wiring to DC jack, in and out jacks 3PDT etc so it can be traced

Your pic is a bit dull and it's difficult to check all resistor colour bands etc post a well lit pic of both sides of the board oriented the same way up as the build doc pots to the top

Don't swap anything until you know it's a problem troubleshooting is basically a process of elimination especially if you're fairly new to it

The first thing to do is visually check all values and orientation of polarized components and wiring it's very easy as we all know to put your IN wiring to your OUT side with your enclosure wrong way up or put a wrong value resistor in

Next check your solder side make sure there's no dry joints, solder bridges, wire strands touching stuff it shouldn't and everything has actually been soldered it's again easy to stick a component in place bend the legs and forget to solder one side I know I've done it recently

Until you know the colour band values use something like this to check

Sam's tech library resistor colour codes

It's a good idea to get to know colour band values there's only 9 of them and you'll quickly see if you've got a 4K7 where you should have a 47K etc

 

[DyeNaturally]

Will get more pics up tomorrow. Sorry the kid sleeps on the couch usually, and have my stuff in same room(living room/den) until I get my garage space setup.

Just some quick notes. I don’t have a switch on the thing yet. My other builds seem to work with no switch on it. Could that be an issue for this build??

Will check all the joints/positions/etc and put up some more pics tomorrow. I kind of already looked at this, but definitely worth another look. Wish I had some more time to tinker with this stuff. Sorry for the slow responses.

Oh, and could having the wrong resistor/capacitor make the circuit NOT work??? Or would the sound/effect just be different???
I know the polarized caps have to be +\- and have checked those to be good. The values are also correct for this build. But just for future knowledge changing these values of caps/res should just change the sound, not stop it??

 

[Mcknib]

No switch wouldn't matter as long as you've got it connected properly ie everything's grounded, power and ground and in and out are connected correctly

The 3PDT just switches your guitar signal to either go through the effect circuit or bypass it so all you wouldn't get is bypass

Incorrect values will either stop the circuit working or change how it works, it really depends on where it is, what it does, the difference in value and if the component is polarized

If for example you use a larger value capacitor in a filter it'll let more low frequency through and sound different but it'll still work

If you put a resistor of a different value in a voltage divider like R101 or 102 it's gonna divide the voltage differently and change your VREF bias voltage either making it sound sh*t or stopping audio completely

 

[DyeNaturally]

No switch wouldn't matter as long as you've got it connected properly ie everything's grounded, power and ground and in and out are connected correctly

The 3PDT just switches your guitar signal to either go through the effect circuit or bypass it so all you wouldn't get is bypass

Incorrect values will either stop the circuit working or change how it works, it really depends on where it is, what it does, the difference in value and if the component is polarized

If for example you use a larger value capacitor in a filter it'll let more low frequency through and sound different but it'll still work

If you put a resistor of a different value in a voltage divider like R101 or 102 it's gonna divide the voltage differently and change your VREF bias voltage either making it sound sh*t or stopping audio completely

Okay I have 2 capacitors changed out until I get more parts. I soldered sockets so I could change easy.
I am using a 100uf instead of the 220uf. And a 2.2nf instead of the 270p. Also just tried a 1nf. Also didn’t work.

Thanks for your switch explanation, pretty much what I was thinking. But nice to know for sure that my thinking was correct.

 

[DyeNaturally]

Here are more pics.

I get to practice my desoldering skills, as I have the one set of wires for the middle pot on the wrong side I realize now!

I will stick to pcb mounted pots from now on. Got these on clearance from pedal parts…

Think I may have been talking about my other build when I said the caps were the same. Because I do have different value caps on this build until I get the correct ones from tayda. Should have ordered express again. But the stated times were not that much apart, even though it’s turning out to be a lot more!!! Haha.

Thanks.

 

[Mcknib]

Are your grounds soldered to the in and out jacks difficult to see

I'd reflow most of the solder joints they don't look like the solders flowed too well

 

[DyeNaturally]

Okay so I took a razor and cleaned up around my soldering points. And then I soldered over some contacts that looked weak. And alas I have sound!!!!

Still not a good wah sound though. Hoping that once I get the pots soldered in the interference will abate, and I will get a good wah out of it. Otherwise just sounds like a wah pressed all the way down. No cycling of sound. Although when I jiggle the pots it does a little, so I am hoping it’s just the loose connections I have.
Also maybe with the 2 wrong caps in there it isnt allowing the difference in tone…??..

I may have time later today to get those soldered and will see if that helps.

Thanks.

 

[DyeNaturally]

Are your grounds soldered to the in and out jacks difficult to see

I'd reflow most of the solder joints they don't look like the solders flowed too well

Yeah they are. And new to soldering. Didn’t want to get too much solder on them. But in doing that I think I got too little. I did reflow a few and now I have sound… not a great wah cycling though. Just sounds like it’s stuck open, pressed down on the wah. But at least I have sound!! I think between the wrong caps and the loose connections I purposefully left so I didn’t have to desolder them…once I do solder them hopefully that will clean up the sound. As I get some nice cycling when I jiggle it a little, but can’t seem to keep whatever connection I made.
But obviously I still have wires just twisted around the connections.

Would a loose connection allow sound to flow, but cause the effect to not fully work????
I mean it seems like this, but nice to hear “yes that’s definitely a possibility.”

 

[Mcknib]

It could cause it to be intermittent you want good solder joints on your jacks put more solder on to get a good connection

Hold your iron on the joint for around 4 seconds until you see a nice solder pool

You realise it's a fixed wah

Try moving the peak control backwards and forwards to see if you get a wah effect

Your caps won't stop it working the 220u is in the power section and it looks to me like the 270p is in the boost part that'll affect the sound but won't stop it working

 

[DyeNaturally]

You realise it's a fixed wah

I thought I did. Haha. Shoot I looked up videos for an auto wah, not a fixed wah. I am an idiot.
It’s working now.

but sounds MUCH better with everything soldered up as well.

Thanks for your help and your tips.