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PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2018 11:56 pm 
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OK, I'm getting a bit frustrated here.

I just built a 5 knob compressor, a large beaver, and TWO 27V boosts. The compressor and the beaver work great.

Both times, I built the boost, and it worked great for about half an hour, and then had the same problem: A pulsing, heartbeat sound. The first build was a few months back, and I posted a thread about my struggles. So, when I built the second one and got it working last yesterday, I was very happy. And then when I played it today, just a heartbeat.

It works fine in bypass mode, and the LED comes on when I turn on the switch.

When the problem first happened today with the circuit engaged, I just got a clicking, pulsing sound, and no signal. I re-flowed the solder joints several times, and still had problems. Now, I have finally got the signal coming through, but it's like someone is turning the volume down to zero and then back up, and then back up and back down. It's an interesting effect, but most definitely not the way it's supposed to work.

I suspect it's my soldering skills, which I realize are far from expert. But I have re-flowed the joints several times, and I'm still having problems, so either I'm not re-flowing correctly or it's a different problem.

It strikes me as odd that I'm having exactly the same problem both times I built the pedal. Is there some chance that maybe I have a part in the wrong place/orientation?

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PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 12:53 pm 
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In the past when I've gotten that pulsing heartbeat sound, it was the sound of my power supply repeatedly going into protection mode due to a short between 9V+ and GND. It was usually a symptom of swapping the wires at the power jack, but in your case since it worked fine for a while, I'd guess that something else is causing the short - maybe a stray bit of wire or component leg inside the enclosure? Take the cover off, stick one meter probe in a screw boss hole, and the other on the 9V+ eyelet on the PCB. If you meter shows continuity, you've got a short.

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I want Pterodactyl sounds dammit, not a nice little analog sustain.


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PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 2:32 pm 
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CaptainPeyote wrote:
In the past when I've gotten that pulsing heartbeat sound, it was the sound of my power supply repeatedly going into protection mode due to a short between 9V+ and GND.

Something that can cause such shorting is a lot of carbonized solder mask build up on a PCB--and yours shows a lot of that. I would gently scrape off as much of the "crud" as you can with a small flat-bladed screwdriver and then give the PCB a good cleaning with isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. Q-tips soaked with the alcohol work quite well for this purpose.

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PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 7:21 pm 
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That seems to have fixed it! (At least on the second pedal; I haven't finished the first one yet.) I spent half an hour cleaning up the black gunk, scraping carefully between each solder joint with a thin flat screwdriver, and dabbing as much as I could with a Q-tip and alcohol. I also re-flowed a couple that seemed close together, and replaced one ground wire going to a jack that seemed a bit flimsy. Not sure which was the culprit, but it seems to be working now. Hopefully it stays that way!

Thanks much for your help.

Quick follow-up question, though: What causes the carbonized gunk? Am I using too high heat on my soldering iron?


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PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 8:03 pm 
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Glad to hear that helped!

Kelby wrote:
Quick follow-up question, though: What causes the carbonized gunk? Am I using too high heat on my soldering iron?

Either too much heat, or applying heat for too long at a time, or both.

The solder you use can also be a factor. Are you using a good quality rosin-core solder?

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“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2


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PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2018 5:11 pm 
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Glad we got you running!

Yep, that gunk is flux from your rosin core solder.

I keep an old toothbrush and a shallow dish handy for cleaning when I'm done soldering a board. Scrub with rubbing alcohol, change the liquid and scrub again. Everything ends up nice and clean. If the board feels sticky when it dries, just give it another rinse. You can use the cheap stuff from the drug store, although the 99% pure electronics alcohol is better as you don't have to wait for water to dry like you do with the 70% drug store stuff.

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Muad'zin wrote:
I want Pterodactyl sounds dammit, not a nice little analog sustain.


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:14 am 
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Thanks, guys!

I am using rosin-core solder, but I'm not sure how to tell whether it's good quality. I'll probably replace it just to make sure.


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 10:06 am 
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Kelby wrote:
I am using rosin-core solder, but I'm not sure how to tell whether it's good quality.

What's the brand?

FYI, I swear by Kester. Also, for pedal work, you want to stay away from the larger diameter stuff. The 0.03" diameter size is perfect, IMO.

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“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2


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