Triangulum problem

[dlazzarini]

I’ve just recently built the Triangulum build. It’s a working build but something sounds off. When I turn the level up to a decent level or about half way up I get a really bassy heavily saturated sound that starts to cut out and break apart when heavy power chords are hit. Like it’s being overwhelmed. Ive got 9volts on pins 1/8 which are connected at VCC from what I can tell I’ve only got 5.6 volts

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

What schematic has an incorrect pinout?

Never mind, I was misreading the IC1.1 symbols on Triangulum & Integral. The power pins are shown correctly down at the bottom of the schematic as IC1.2.

 

[AlexSwan]

What is your build doing?

Absolutley same problems. Bypass is ok, but when pedal engaged no sound... ( 9v on pin1/8 ic100, when ic100 is out, about 6.5v when ic100 is pushed, and 5.6v on pin7 tl071, all diodes d101-106 and conders c102-107 correct (, i try 7660scpaz , same result. And 100% all parts working, i tested even part with tester, expet IC (

I try make new build.

 

[dlazzarini]

Absolutley same problems. Bypass is ok, but when pedal engaged no sound... ( 9v on pin1/8 ic100, when ic100 is out, about 6.5v when ic100 is pushed, and 5.6v on pin7 tl071, all diodes d101-106 and conders c102-107 correct (, i try 7660scpaz , same result. And 100% all parts working, i tested even part with tester, expet IC (

I try make new build.

I’ve been on vacation but I’m back now and gonna play with it some more. Let you know if I come up with anything

 

[dlazzarini]

I would not solder the charge pump directly into your board, but would replace the socket if your socket is bad. Much easier to swap out a part if it is socketed so long as your socket is not the problem : ^ ) You can use your DMM to see if you have continuity between the pins on your charge pump and whatever they are supposed to connect to as shown in your circuit diagram.

I understand the ease of swapping out parts but am I also in danger of burning up the IC? I’m pretty fluent at soldering but I’m not too familiar with how fragile or not fragile op amps are.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

ICs & silicon transistors can tolerate soldering just fine, but keep the time where the iron is touching the leads to a minimum. Here's my method for soldering ICs: first solder two opposite corner leads to keep it in place while soldering the other leads. Wait several sec for the device to cool down, then solder a lead, wait, solder another lead, wait, etc. If you have multiple ICs, alternate between them so while one is being soldered, the others are cooling. Use a temperature-controlled iron and a small tip. Semiconductors always get installed at the end, so they're not getting heated while you solder everything else. The only exception is board-mounted pots go on at the very last because they obscure some of the other solder joints. Through-plated holes do not need to be completely filled from top to bottom, just all the way around on one side of the board. Here's how the NASA-trained pros solder: 1. apply a tiny drop of flux to each joint to be soldered. 2. melt a good sized puddle of solder onto the soldering iron tip and then transfer that to the solder joint. With most joints, you will not need to feed any more solder than that. The advantage of this method is that you're not heating the joint while you're waiting for the solder to melt because it's already molten. Inspect the joints with a magnifier and touch-up as req'd. At the end, flood the board with alcohol and scrub off the excess flux with a toothbrush.

 

[dlazzarini]

ICs & silicon transistors can tolerate soldering just fine, but keep the time where the iron is touching the leads to a minimum. Here's my method for soldering ICs: first solder two opposite corner leads to keep it in place while soldering the other leads. Wait several sec for the device to cool down, then solder a lead, wait, solder another lead, wait, etc. If you have multiple ICs, alternate between them so while one is being soldered, the others are cooling. Use a temperature-controlled iron and a small tip. Semiconductors always get installed at the end, so they're not getting heated while you solder everything else. The only exception is board-mounted pots go on at the very last because they obscure some of the other solder joints. Through-plated holes do not need to be completely filled from top to bottom, just all the way around on one side of the board. Here's how the NASA-trained pros solder: 1. apply a tiny drop of flux to each joint to be soldered. 2. melt a good sized puddle of solder onto the soldering iron tip and then transfer that to the solder joint. With most joints, you will not need to feed any more solder than that. The advantage of this method is that you're not heating the joint while you're waiting for the solder to melt because it's already molten. Inspect the joints with a magnifier and touch-up as req'd. At the end, flood the board with alcohol and scrub off the excess flux with a toothbrush.

Thank you again Chuck. You have been extremely helpful through this build. I’m in the process of making some changes now to see if I can get this thing going. It’s too easy and inexpensive to just order another board and parts. I’m really enjoying the challenge. Keeps my brain busy.

 

[dlazzarini]

Thank you again Chuck. You have been extremely helpful through this build. I’m in the process of making some changes now to see if I can get this thing going. It’s too easy and inexpensive to just order another board and parts. I’m really enjoying the challenge. Keeps my brain busy.

Boy I’m having one hell of a time with this build for some reason. I went ahead and got rid of the sockets and soldered the IC’s straight to the board. I’ve now got the correct voltages that you told me I should get. 9v at pin1 on IC100 and 31v at pin 7 on IC1. Problem is now I’ve got no sound at all. Bypass I have sound, engage I’ve got nothing but a blue led. I don’t see any wires physically broken or crossed. I had sound when engaged before but it was weak and broken up. Now I’ve got the voltage but no sound. Might be time to walk away for a bit, lol

 

[zgrav]

It's pretty easy to destroy a trace on a PCB when you are unsoldering components from it, especially a number of points in a row. You could check for continuity of the IC pins to make sure they actually connect to the others parts as shown on the circuit diagram. Seems likely you may have a broken trace in the audio path now.

 

[dlazzarini]

It's pretty easy to destroy a trace on a PCB when you are unsoldering components from it, especially a number of points in a row. You could check for continuity of the IC pins to make sure they actually connect to the others parts as shown on the circuit diagram. Seems likely you may have a broken trace in the audio path now.

Thanks for the advice. That’s a possibility although I think I was pretty careful. I think I may take a few days away from it and come back fresh. I built the integrated eq and it fired up the first go. I know this build is very similar. Funny thing is I own a Fortin 33 but there’s just something about building your own stuff. I’ll get back to it. Thanks again

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Look for a broken wire. If you had the unit fully assembled and then pulled the board up to work on it, there is a good chance one or more of the wires was stressed and broke.

 

[dlazzarini]

Look for a broken wire. If you had the unit fully assembled and then pulled the board up to work on it, there is a good chance one or more of the wires was stressed and broke.

Yeah thanks that was what I was thinking as well. I haven’t went back to it yet. Just finished the muzzle. What an awesome gate. Smokes my ns-2.

 

[dlazzarini]

Look for a broken wire. If you had the unit fully assembled and then pulled the board up to work on it, there is a good chance one or more of the wires was stressed and broke.

Hey Chuck, got this bad boy working tonight. I’m not 100% positive what the problem was but I’m still leaning towards a broken wire/connection somewhere. I did too many things to pinpoint what it was. Asides from soldering the IC’s directly to the board, I touched up all the solder on the pads to make sure there was no cold joints. Ran all new hook up wire and and hardwired the 3pdt. Fired right up. Ran it side by side with my fortin33 and I really can’t notice any difference whatsoever. They really sound identical to me. Thanks for all your help. You’re a lifesaver.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

You're very welcome. It can be quite satisfying to get the ^%&# thing working after fighting with it for a week. And it makes us appreciate it all the more when they work the first time they're fired up.

They should sound identical because there is no voodoo going on inside that pedal. Why someone would pay over $500 for a used one is baffling.

 

[Mourguitars]

Judging by this photo above 1st page it looks like I wired the BC550's in wrong (face palm ) ...also I have the pot wired maybe upside down main body is over the IC chips on the backside, I tacked that in . By the looks of this picture above the Pot is facing upward towards the input jack correct ?

Mike

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

The LEVEL pot should not be overlapping the board. Only one of the transistors (Q1) does anything. Q2 does nothing, no point in reinstalling it in that location. Hooking Q1 up backwards could have damaged or degraded it, so when you remove Q1, I recommend replacing it with Q2.

 

[Mourguitars]

The LEVEL pot should not be overlapping the board. Only one of the transistors (Q1) does anything. Q2 does nothing, no point in reinstalling it in that location. Hooking Q1 up backwards could have damaged or degraded it, so when you remove Q1, I recommend replacing it with Q2.

Thank you for the reply and great info Chuck D , I know ill make mistakes that's how you learn tho...should have caught the transistors just tired eyes , the pot I second guessed my self...im learning !

Thanks again !

Mike

 

[dlazzarini]

Thank you for the reply and great info Chuck D , I know ill make mistakes that's how you learn tho...should have caught the transistors just tired eyes , the pot I second guessed my self...im learning !

Thanks again !

Mike

Took me 3 times to get this one right. It was one of my first pedals. I’m getting much better. Just finished the VHS and it works great. Live and learn. Lots of helpful people on this forum.

 

[Mourguitars]

Took me 3 times to get this one right. It was one of my first pedals. I’m getting much better. Just finished the VHS and it works great. Live and learn. Lots of helpful people on this forum.

Yea i took my time with this one but still made mistakes , i did better with my first build i believe because i had other peoples builds gut shots..pics help a lot when you learning..and i agree there are helpful forum members here !

Mike

 

[dlazzarini]

Yea i took my time with this one but still made mistakes , i did better with my first build i believe because i had other peoples builds gut shots..pics help a lot when you learning..and i agree there are helpful forum members here !

Mike

It’s been a while since this build. I just went back and looked at the gut shot. I see that I’ve got much better and more neat. The reason the level pot may have been confusing for you is because I didn’t have one of the correct value with PCB mounts so I just wired it in. The PCB is sitting further forward in the box than it would have been if I had the proper pot. In that pic I believe it’s just floating there. The current finished build I have now is corrected. I swapped out the pot and removed the cheap style sockets. Soldered the ic’s To the board.

 

[Anotherpedalbuild]

I don't mean to sound critical, but there's quite a bit of copper showing where the pcb has been scratched, it may be an idea to check for track damage or bridges where you can. I recommend using a pcb holder for soldering (the rotating double clamp ones rather than the crocodile clip version). Good luck, the Triangulum is great.