Vh drive Aion FX Help

[MidknightWoodsman]

Hello just built the VH drive Aion FX and IAM having noise issues like a few people have posted , I have used hook up wire for the inputs originally but changed to coaxial for the inputs , re soldered what I thought needed to be done , all my test on the multi come back all good for grounding . I have cleaned the board which I will do again . Now wondering if any one else have had the squealing noise issues . At low volumes it's ok but gain mid and volume all act differently at different levels . If I pulled the jack out of the guitar and makes a high pitch noise as well . Ive pushed the wires around inside and no change in high pitch noise.

 

[Vild]

Post some decent pictures so we can take a look. Maybe somebody will find something.

 

[MidknightWoodsman]

Hello just built the VH drive Aion FX and IAM having noise issues like a few people have posted , I have used hook up wire for the inputs originally but changed to coaxial for the inputs , re soldered what I thought needed to be done , all my test on the multi come back all good for grounding . I have cleaned the board which I will do again . Now wondering if any one else have had the squealing noise issues . At low volumes it's ok but gain mid and volume all act differently at different levels . If I pulled the jack out of the guitar and makes a high pitch noise as well . Ive pushed the wires around inside and no change in high pitch noise

 

[anevilspar7an]

Where did you source your IC's? People unfortunately sell counterfeits so I want to eliminate that from the equation first.

 

[MidknightWoodsman]

View attachment 127036

The photo with the yellow mat is the new photo , I have rewired a few times changed to coaxial for the jacks , cleaned and re flowed where i could added more solder to the pots . Now after all of this nothing changed the high pitch oscillation i think its called .

Now the only think i did different was I cut the jumper from the dc to the input ground the tone sounded lower and not as brutal and changed that was the only thing i did that changed that noise .

Even after changing wires , pushing move wires around with a wooden stick adjusted dust covers , cleaning , using an amp changing leads and guitars , still had that noise oscillation i think its called . so I think the first noise was some ground looping issues .

The pedal always turned on and worked it was getting that higher pitch nose when when the input lead wasn't connected to the guitar and when it was . if i adjusted the mid , vol,gain things changed a bit , if the volume is lower no real back ground noise just the hum .

So still kinda stumped . the pedal dose sound good just when certain or all are dimed thats where there are issues . Iam using the voodoo pedal plus isolated power as well . I hope this makes sense this is my first ever pedal build

 

[MidknightWoodsman]

Where did you source your IC's? People unfortunately sell counterfeits so I want to eliminate that from the equation first.

I got all the components from Mouser and got the pots from Pedal Parts Australia , I do have some of the TL072 i can try at some stage , i did try the other night but that was before i rewired the grounds and still had the same noise it just sounded like it changed frequency's a bit

 

[anevilspar7an]

When I can sit down I'll see if any components look off. I would recommend that you do that too, I've been had by putting the wrong resistors on a board and having to go over it with a fine tooth comb afterwards.

 

[MidknightWoodsman]

When I can sit down I'll see if any components look off. I would recommend that you do that too, I've been had by putting the wrong resistors on a board and having to go over it with a fine tooth comb afterwards.

Ok sweet cheers

 

[MidknightWoodsman]

Ok so I got. Chance to use my amp and my Revvg3 pedal in the same power supply and IAM getting the sound from both the pedals everything cranked etc there both acting the same into the guitar and lead in the air so i think the build is ok

 

[MidknightWoodsman]

Ok so after a few tear downs over the week , I finally got the RF oscillation and grounding issues sorted .

So when I cut the DC jumper the oscillation kinda stopped the high pitched noise stopped but had a lower tone it also killed the LED , so I cut the output ground jumper and then I isolated the output from the enclosure I then used the empty ground eyelet on the bottom right daughter board for the output ground .

Now this didn't sound to bad when I tested it and matches my revvg3, I could still hear undertones of something when I was playing.

so I thought , ill isolate the input from the enclosure and see what happens , as when I tested the enclosure for ground I tested the front pots and foot switch and the all beeped so my theory was the PCB must be my star ground as the pots were mounted to the enclosure. (This was not true the pots and PCB aren't connected like that and the PCB in my build was not the star ground)

Now when the input was isolated I lost the pedal in bypass only played when the pedal was engaged and still had a noise , so because I cut both jumpers and isolated the jacks from the enclosure I lost the bypass and led .

Now after some testing I figured out that the DC Has to be jumpered to the input for the LED to work and the input has to make contact for the bypass to work . Once I put those two back I kept the output isolated and I fixed the oscillation and RF noise if that what its called

It gets a bit of a high pitch whine when the volume is Dimed but not like before now it sounds like an amp I can hear the hum even having a a boost in front it still has that hum after unplugging the pedal it sounds like it should with a slight hum .

So the only thing I did different to the Aion FX wiring is I isolate the output jack with a nylon washer and heat shrink and used the Empty ground on the daughter board on the far right of the diagram . I also run the DC power up the middle with the grounded twisted and the jacks and grounds underneath on the side .

I think how the foot switch is wired is why I lost the led and bypass when I cut the jumpers ,

Now the daughter board took a Beating with my rewires , broken wires , desoldering etc and that thing still works and is pretty tough and I was lucky.

Now this was my first ever guitar pedal build and took me a week of tear downs and rewires to get it sorted people mention they get noise with this circuit and seem to fix it but I thought I'd mention this as it helped my situation and might save people some trouble shooting

 

[andrewsrea]

An additional overlooked source of RF oscillation is ensuring a single ground connection to the cover plate. Ensure one of the cover plate screw indents is totally stripped of paint and run a screw in and out of the threads a few times to allow continuity.