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Oof! My mistake. I had been reading the Silver Pony troubleshooting thread and got them confused. Noob moderator mistake!

_________________
Scott

My band, Austin Hollow

Hate to bump this but I could use some help. Thanks...

We should take a step back and just look at bypass and the bypass signal before getting into what's going on with the actual drive circuit.

Test the voltage at the emitters of Q1 and Q2. Do you get 5v at Q1 when the drive channel is "on" and nothing (or almost nothing) when the drive channel is off? Same with the boost channel at Q2.

Next:

1. Put the first/toggle in last position.
2. If you are looking at the pins of the first/last switch from the topside of the PCB, imagine that they are labelled as follows

1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9

3. With the drive and boost "off", test for continuity between the tip of the input jack and pins 1, 2, and 9. Test for signal at any of these points.
4. With the drive and boost "off", test for continuity between pins 3, 4, and 5. Test for signal at any of these points.
5. Still with both channels "off", test for continuity between the tip of the out jack and pins 6, 7, and 8. Test for signal.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

Thank you Keith.

Battery @ 8.76v
Topside of PCB (with the components)
If Q-1 emitter is upper left pin of the relay:
Drive On=4.31v
Drive Off=0v
If Q-2 emitter is the lower right of the relay:
Drive ON=4.31v
Drive Off= 0v

Switch in last position Boost and Drive LED’s off:
Tip input to 1, 2, 9 = Yes Continuity
1, 2, 9 =No signal

Tip input to 3, 4, 5 No continuity.
3, 4, 5 – Yes Signal

Tip Output to 6, 7, 8 = Yes continuity
6, 7, 8 = Yes Signal

The signal consists of a howl with low volume distorted guitar.

It doesn't make any sense that you would have continuity from the tip to 1, 2, and/or 9, but no signal. Are you sure about that? What is the signal like at the tip of the input jack? Do you get the howl there?

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

Sorry Keith,

There is clean bypass signal and continuity from the tip of the input jack to 1, 2, 3 of the switch. I think I missed it yesterday due to having the amp volume low to avoid the loud howl of the signal everywhere else. The tip of the input jack is clean signal too.

Okay.

Are you certain you don't have continuity between the tip of the in jack and pins 3, 4, or 5 when the drive channel is in bypass (off) and you have the boost in last position?

If not, do you get any continuity/signal at the start of C9 (the side of the cap closest to the A100k level eyelets)? It may be difficult to get to it from the top of the PCB, but you should be able to jab a probe in there well enough.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

I re-checked, No continuity between Tip of input jack and 3, 4, 5.
Is there a photo showing me where C9 is located?
I have the board out go the enclosure so I can get to the other side if need be.

Just beneath the A100K Level pot eyelets (VR7):

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

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

This image is helpful.
I thought Q1 and Q2 were the #1 pin of the relay.

New Battery @ 9.19v
Q-1 emitter
Drive On=4.31v
Drive Off=0v
Q-2 emitter
Drive ON=0v
Drive Off= 0v

Clean signal at the North end of C9 – No continuity to ground.

There is no signal from either Q with Drive on or Drive off.

I hope everyone had a good holiday and New Year celebration.
I'm still hoping to get the pedal working. What can I try next?

Sorry. I was without internet access for a while.

Q2 turns the boost relay on and off, so pressing the drive button would have no effect on that.

Make sure the first/last switch is in the last position for all of the following:

1. Does pressing the drive button turn the drive LED on and off? Do you have 5ish volts at the emitter of Q1 when the drive LED is on? How about when it's off?
2. Does pressing the boost button turn the boost LED on and off? Do you have 5ish volts at the emitter of Q2 when the boost LED is on? How about when it's off?
3. Do you have clean signal at the north end of C9 when the drive LED is off? How about when it is on?
4. Do you have continuity at 3,4, or 5 when the Drive LED is off? How about when it is on?
5. Do you have signal at 3,4, or 5 when the Drive LED is off? What does it sound like? How about when the drive LED is off.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

Both the Drive and Boost LED’s come on when buttons are pressed.
1. Drive =4.31 volts at Q1 emitter when LED is on and 0v when off.
2. Boost =4.31 volts at Q2 emitter when LED is on and 0v when off.
3. Clean signal at North end of C9 both on and off.
4. No Continuity to ground at 3,4,5 of the first-last switch either with Drive LED on or off.
5. Signal at switch 3,4,5 – Yes both on and off. Not clean. Has a boosted loud constant howl and a distorted guitar signal. Drive LED both on and off.

Thanks....

I think you have a bad drive channel relay. You should contact sales@buildyourownclone.com with your customer info and let them know tech support said to send you a replacement.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

Thanks, I'll get the request off right away.

I received the replacement relay, thank you BYOC.
I read the directions again on installing said relays and think maybe they were both installed backwards. Could someone look at the first photo in this chain and comment. The line on the end of the relay is supposed to go on the notch end of the PCB board. It appears that I may have them backwards. If I need to remove the boost side relay now would be the time. Thanks you.

According to the photo on page 4 of the build doc you have both relays in backwards.
http://byocelectronics.com/crownjewelinstructions.pdf

_________________
"It’s your soldering."

DAY-UM!! You're absolutely right--both relays are installed upside down in that first photo. The line on the relay chip should correspond to the notch position on the PCB silkscreen. Reference the photo on page 4 of the CJ instructions.

Wish one of us here had noticed that at some point, because we probably could have saved you a lot of time and frustration. Sorry for not being more observant. By all means, switch the boost side relay around when you install the new drive side relay. I really don't know enough about these relays to know if installing them backwards will damage them. Hopefully not, but presumably you'll find out when you fire up the pedal after the relay fixes.

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

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

Thanks guys. I broke one of the legs off the boost side relay getting the thing out. I'll order another so I start with (2) new ones and I'll install correctly.

Yeah, they're not easy to get out of the PCB with those skinny little legs. Check back in here when the 2nd replacement arrives.

Apologies again for not catching this build error earlier! :facepalm:

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

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

Damnit! How the hell did we miss that? Well...at least you know what the problem is now.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

Boy Howdy, de-soldering is not a speedy task. I certainly learned a lesson on making it right the first time. Thanks for the new relays.
They are now installed correctly and the pedal is working. LEDs come on when they should and there is clean bypass signal. Here is the current status. I’m not sure it is working properly. My pots go from 7 o'clock to dimed at 5 o'clock.

Boost side- Pot turned to 3 o’clock equals volume parity?

Drive side-
LEVEL - With all the pots at 12 o’clock the Level must be dimed (5 o'clock) to reach vol. parity.
DRIVE – this pot has no effect.
PRES. – this pot appears to adjust
M. FREQ – This pot appears to work too.

TREBLE – OK
MIDS – This pot has huge volume ramifications and starts to howl and feedback at 3 o’clock
BASS – OK

18V/9V – Switch pops and no difference between settings
MID Q – No discernable difference
SOFT – LED- only one LED is dimly lit
Mid – no sound
Si –Sim to LED setting
HARD – No difference between settings.

_________________
*patience is a virtue*

Please do not PM me. email is prefered. keith@buildyourownclone.com

Thanks for the explanation on audio vs linier pots. I’m good with boost unity at 3 o’clock.

I did reflow everything I could get at while I had some of the pots out replacing the Relays. I also inspected the solder job before installing the pots during the initial build. I’m pretty confident they are OK.