SOLVED Warden (regular version) distorting and LED not lighting up

[Stephenthegun]

I built this pedal from a Musikding kit (they didn't have the boneyard edition) for my dad. I am not super familiar with optical compressors, but this one does not seem to be working right. The LED did not appear to be lighting up so I removed it and tested the LED and it worked fine. I socked the holes and have since tried a few LED's and none of them seemed to light up. I even went into my bathroom, turned off the lights, strummed some chords, and turned the potentiometers and couldn't see a bit of light. Relatedly, as I turn up the sustain knob it acts like a gain control. The more I turn it the more distorted things get. At about 9 o'clock it is pretty near clean but after that, it starts distorting. Any ideas what this fool has done wrong? I Would love to finish this and get it off to my dad. Many thanks!

 

[carlinb17]

Do you have any solder bridges under your breakout board? I would check continuity across all of them to see if that’s what’s going on

 

[Stephenthegun]

Nothing on the breakout board. I have checked for solder bridges and can't find any and I even reflowed a few joints that looked a little on the dodgy side.

 

[carlinb17]

Nothing on the breakout board. I have checked for solder bridges and can't find any and I even reflowed a few joints that looked a little on the dodgy side.

Ok, have you tried it outside the enclosure, it’s hard to tell if you have something backing the pots the meet up with the back of the board, if you don’t they could be grounding/shorting/ causing issues.

Since we know the led works how are you powering the enclosure?

With a dmm start taking voltages at the dc jack, d100, and at the + side of your LED let’s see if it’s getting power.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

The LED not lighting up would explain the other symptoms.
Do you have a DMM?
Do you know how to use it?
Did you verify that the Musikding kit matches the PedalPCB BOM?
Have you performed a thorough visual inspection under magnification to ensure that all of the correct parts are installed in the correct orientation, that all of the solder joints are good and there are no bits of conductive debris?

Your photos are inadequate. They have to be much larger and better lit if we are going to see anything that's amiss.

 

[Stephenthegun]

Ok, have you tried it outside the enclosure, it’s hard to tell if you have something backing the pots the meet up with the back of the board, if you don’t they could be grounding/shorting/ causing issues.

Since we know the led works how are you powering the enclosure?

With a dmm start taking voltages at the dc jack, d100, and at the + side of your LED let’s see if it’s getting power.

Sorry for the late reply, I did not see the notification that you and @Chuck D. Bones had responded. I do know how to basically use a DMM. I took the voltages and the pedal is getting 9.34v, D100 is measuring 6.1v, and the LED is measuring all over the place. I would say this is where the problem lies, I will try and resolder the joint. I thought it looked good but obviously, this is a problem. Any idea what it should be measuring?

 

[Stephenthegun]

The LED not lighting up would explain the other symptoms.
Do you have a DMM?
Do you know how to use it?
Did you verify that the Musikding kit matches the PedalPCB BOM?
Have you performed a thorough visual inspection under magnification to ensure that all of the correct parts are installed in the correct orientation, that all of the solder joints are good and there are no bits of conductive debris?

Your photos are inadequate. They have to be much larger and better lit if we are going to see anything that's amiss.

The kit does match the BOM. I have looked at orientation and it seems correct. I thought all of the joints were good, but I obviously have an issue at the LED.

I will post better photos if this does not work. Thanks Chuck and @carlinb17!

 

[fig]

Can you verify R11 as a 4k7Ω and not a 47kΩ? That controls the LED resistance.

 

[Stephenthegun]

Can you verify R11 as a 4k7Ω and not a 47kΩ? That controls the LED resistance.

@Chuck D. Bones asked the right question earlier (as usual). I looked over the pedal several times and did not catch this. That's the problem, I put a 47k instead of 4.7k. Thanks so much @fig!

 

[fig]

Cool! Since this was a kit, I’d look for a 4k7 out of place somewhere as well before assuming it was a mistake in the kit.

 

[Stephenthegun]

Cool! Since this was a kit, I’d look for a 4k7 out of place somewhere as well before assuming it was a mistake in the kit.

Yep, R19 is a 4.7k instead of the 47k. Thanks for the reminder to look. I didn't figure this was Musikding's fault. Someday I am going to figure all of this out––I am an idiot.

 

[Chuck D. Bones]

Not an idiot.

You are not the first (nor the last) to get a screwed-up kit from Musikding. When you buy a kit, it is on you to verify you received and are installing all the right parts.