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PostPosted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 3:38 pm 
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Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2006 5:14 pm
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Location: Truckee, CA
If you are experiencing a problem with your BYOC build, you've come to the right place. In order for us to help you, please read the rest of this post. Between all of us here, we will come up with a solution.

The first thing you should do when a build doesn't work is walk away. Take a break, clear your mind, and come back to the build fresh. Compare your build with photos of known working builds here on the forum, and compare your resistor placement by color bands, your cap placement and orientation, diode placement and orientation, etc. Make sure you don't have anything backwards or connected wrong. Did you forget to install any chips or transistors? Does the pedal have power? Is it correct power (a fresh 9 volt battery, or 9 volt DC center-negative power supply)? Is your guitar connected backwards? Is your amp on? :wink:

The second thing I recommend everyone does when a build does not work is go back over the soldering. Believe it or not, the simple fact is that a very high percentage of builds are fixed by re-doing the soldering. It is extremely common for an otherwise healthy looking solder joint to not conduct electricity or signal for some reason. And finding the one solder joint that is bad can be an exercise in futility. This is what I do every time I have a build that doesn't work, after I've confirmed that the wiring and component placement is good, because this happens to me frequently too; I take the pcb out of the enclosure, I remove any socketed components such as chips (ICs) or transistors, and I go back over every one of the solder joints until I'm satisfied that the solder has melted and cooled properly, creating an even, shiny joint. By "go back over" I mean that the tip of my solder iron is clean, shiny, and hot, and I reheat each solder joint so that it re-melts and re-solidifies, giving it a chance to form a good connection and rectify any coldness or lumpiness that may have been there after the first pass. I add a touch more solder if the solder joint is not even or looks a bit starved. I remove excess solder where appropriate. I also clean the solder side of the pcb with an old toothbrush and some acetone or rubbing alcohol to remove solder and flux residue, which sometimes can conduct. And if the pedal still doesn't work, I go back and do it again.

Your problem is probably not unique. Search this lounge and the other lounges on the forum to see if someone has had the same or a similar problem. A solution may have already been found.

If you can’t find a solution already in the posted somewhere on the forum, then feel free to post your issue here. We’ll be happy to help. Please don’t email or send a private message with your problem. Its better to post it in the forum where everyone can chime in on what the problem may be and what the solution is.

Please note that while bad components do surface occasionally, the most frequent cause, by far, of a non-functioning pedal is a mistake during the build process.

STEPS IN POSTING:

Please follow this format. By doing so, you will get the help you need faster:

First off, you should title your thread accordingly. The reason for this is so that if someone else is having the exact same problem, they may benefit from your experience. If everyone titles their thread "HELP!!!!!!!!" then that makes the search engine less effective.

Second, when posting pictures, please make them big enough to see, but not so big we need to scroll off the screen to see the whole thing. Sometimes it's very helpful to take in the "big picture" all at once.

Also, please post pictures that are well lit and in focus. There's no point in posting a picture that is so out of focus that we can't even make out the color codes on the resistors.

This is what your initial post should include:

1. Picture of the top side of your PCB.

2. Picture of the underside of your PCB.

3. Picture that clearly shows your footswitch/jack wiring and any wires going to the PCB

4. Picture that clearly shows your wiring going from the PCB to the off board components

5. Is bypass working?

6. Does the LED come on?

7. If you answer yes to 5 and 6, what does the pedal do when it is "on"? Please be as specific as possible.

8. Do all of the controls work properly? Just 1 or 2 not working?

9. Does the problem change if you switch from battery to a power supply or visa versa.

Submit your tech support thread in this manner and we'll get you going as soon as we can.

Thanks!

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MasterDelayer/Reverbrador/Ampaholic/TopJacker


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