Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Hi everyone

Currently building crown jewel.

Two problems I come across:

1) two of the five 1n914 or 1n4148 diodes are that close together on the circuit board that their solder has mixed. Is this a problem? Will they short circuit? Its the top two in the group of three (this group is horizontally orientated... The board is orientated as such yhat the letters are readable left right and 'crown jewel' is printed at the bottom to the left).

2) my solder tends to accumulate at the other (component) side of the board. Am I doing something wrong?

Hope to hear from you soon. Thanks in advance.

Neither of those things are a problem. The diodes form a signal clipping array and are connected on the board head-to-tail, so it doesn't matter that the solder runs together between those already-connected eyelets. And it is generally a positive sign when solder "peeks through" the eyelets on the component side of the board, since it indicates good solder flow, which is important to forming high quality joints. So it's actually a good thing, as long as you aren't seeing excessive amounts of solder flowing through the eyelets, which could cause shorting between adjacent components.

We'd be happy to look at a couple of photos, if you want to post them here for visual confirmation.

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

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

Trying to upload photo but says board attachment wuata has been reached.. what does that mean?

EDIT:

Email them to me and I'll see if I can post them for you.

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The tone is in my hands?!
Email: nick@buildyourownclone.com

Thanks Nick.
Ive sent you an email.

Im still worried bout my solder skills. I would like to have more solder on the solder side but instead it seems to leak to the component side. In some places there is quite a lot of solder on the component side whereas the solder side seems lacking the nice dullop. As if it were water dleaking. I have succesfully build byoc pedals before and a 5f1 and 5e3 tube amp.Dont understand why i am making such a mess now. Id like.the solder.work to be much neater. what am i doing wrong?

How big/wide is the tip on your soldering iron, what is its wattage, and is it a temperature-controlled iron? Also, what is the diameter of the solder you're using?

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

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

15w soldering iron. Simple one. No temperature regulation just on or off. 370 degrees celcius. Everything came in one piece though i can unscrew the tip. Doesnt say size tip but measured it its about 3,5 mm. Looks like the tip has had its best time though. Bit rusty.

Solder diameter is 1 mm.

Most of that sounds fine. I prefer a smaller tip for pedal work (~2 mm), but yours shouldn't be a problem. But if it's rusty/corroded, I would replace it. A smooth, clean tip will give you better flow/control.

Try reducing the amount of solder you apply on each joint. Some of your joints just look over-applied, so to speak.

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

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

Wouldd it be better to buy a soldering station with more power in case i want to do an amp again? Or just replace the tip on this one? Thats cheaper hahaha. And ive build 2 amps with my other soldering iron which is 20w...

If you know that this (pedal & amp building) is something you're going to be doing on a regular basis, I would go ahead and invest in a good quality soldering station with temperature control. I have a Hakko 936 station that I've owned for 8 years that has served me very well. I'm still using the original tip and it looks almost new! I have a heavier tip for amp work, as well. The 936 has since been replaced by a newer model,the FX-888; they sell for about $90 - $100 here in the US. Obviously, there are several other good brands, as well.

In the short term, I'd just go ahead and replace the tip on the iron you have. 15W is more than adequate for pedal work.

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

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

Thank you so much for your quick and educating answers!!