Two Sticks of Derm...no audio, no nothing.

[cgreg714]

Hello everyone,
I recently got into pedal building and decided to try this PCB as it looked dead simple. Ordered the parts from Tayda, followed the build docs, etc, and when everything was said and done...I get nothing out of it. The LED lights up when the footswitch is engaged, and that about all. I have it mounted temporarily in a trash enclosure with the input, output and 2.1 DC just twisted together for testing purposes, and have rechecked the connections there which all seem to be good enough for testing.

This is the top of the populated board:

https://imgur.com/4YfX55B

This is the underside of the populated board:

https://imgur.com/yB9R8QQ

(I know, my soldering is shit on a shingle. I'm still learning.)

I built an audio probe yesterday, which was a fun experiment, but poking around didn't yield anything that was an "Ah-HA!" moment. I could get some sound to come out, but the pot didn't seem to affect it, and after a while I relized that I was just poking around like I knew what I was doing, but I clearly don't. Is there the realistic possibility of multiple faulty compnents, or is it more likely I'm just a dummy? Any help would be appreciated.

This is the third build I've attempted, and the channel switch I built first is the only successful thing I've made. Starting to think this was a bad quarantine hobby to pick up.

Regards,
C

 

[Robert]

Do you have sound in bypass?

Can you post a pic of your jacks / switch wiring?

 

[moonlightpedalbuilds]

Get some isopropyl alcohol, old toothbrush, and a piece of cloth. Use a pick or a small flathead screwdriver to get those hard flux. Drop some alcohol and brush. Wipe them off while still a little wet or if you have Goo Gone, drop some into the cloth to clean the excess flux. Make sure that your solder bleed a little to the other side of the board.


take another high-res photo. If it is not the wiring to your switch and jacks, there might be some cold solders somewhere.

 

[cgreg714]

Do you have sound in bypass?

Can you post a pic of your jacks / switch wiring?

Yes. I get sound in bypass. I'll get a picture of the jacks, although they are just twisted to the board. Used the PedalPCB 3PDT board for the switch. More photos to come

 

[cgreg714]

Do you have sound in bypass?

Can you post a pic of your jacks / switch wiring?

Here's a photo of the whole (temporary) setup:

https://imgur.com/OK8zUdW

And the 3PDT up close:

https://imgur.com/0PLRjpH

 

[Betty Wont]

Are your jack tips and sleeves reversed? Ground should go sleeve to board, and signal goes tip to footswitch.

 

[cgreg714]

Are your jack tips and sleeves reversed? Ground should go sleeve to board, and signal goes tip to footswitch.

.....first of what I'm sure will be many dummy moments. Be right back....I'm gonna go swap them around.

 

[Nostradoomus]

Looks like it

 

[cgreg714]

Get some isopropyl alcohol, old toothbrush, and a piece of cloth. Use a pick or a small flathead screwdriver to get those hard flux. Drop some alcohol and brush. Wipe them off while still a little wet or if you have Goo Gone, drop some into the cloth to clean the excess flux. Make sure that your solder bleed a little to the other side of the board.


take another high-res photo. If it is not the wiring to your switch and jacks, there might be some cold solders somewhere.View attachment 5839

UPDATE:
Found a stiff bristled toothbrush. Got the board pretty clean. Here's a look:

0 new items by Christopher Matthews

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[cgreg714]

Are your jack tips and sleeves reversed? Ground should go sleeve to board, and signal goes tip to footswitch.

Okay, so yes, those wires were reversed. So now I get sound both in bypass, and when the pdeal in engaged, but no effect is taking place. The pot functions essentially as a volume knob. Turn it up, volume goes up. Turn it down, volume goes down. Disengage pedal and volume returns to normal level.
...oddly enough this is the same thing that occurs with the boost pedal I built last month that does not actually 'boost' anything. Just functions as a volume knob....might be able to kill two birds with one stone if I can suss out what's going on with this one.

 

[Nostradoomus]

Most of your solder joints look cold. They should be nice and shiny little volcano shapes. Have you got a decent temperature controlled iron?

 

[cgreg714]

Most of your solder joints look cold. They should be nice and shiny little volcano shapes. Have you got a decent temperature controlled iron?

View attachment 5840

Yeah, I have a temp controlled iron. I run it at 480 celcius.
I see what you mean...basically all of my solders look like 1,2,4,or 6 in the picture above. Probably gonna trash the board and order a new one. Or find a new hobby hahahaha. I'm laughably bad at this one.

EDIT: Just watched a youtube video. I used no flux when I did this. It appears that I should have, and that I might be able to salvage this one by reheating my joints with some flux applied.

 

[Nostradoomus]

I would just hold your iron on them for a few seconds until they melt a bit better. I run mine at about 350.

 

[Mcknib]

480's a wee bit high I run mine at 380 most solder will have rosin in the core depending on the type it's just a case of heating the pad and component leg at the same time and applying solder until it pools and flows nicely about 3 or 4 seconds

At a high temperature solder tends to blob up or go kinda flakey