Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Hello,

I'm a bit new here, so please forgive me. I just finished a Silver Pony II. I have built a Klon and TS clone previously from BYOC, which both work well. However, the silver pony II does not produce any sound when the foot switches are engaged. The bypass seems to be working fine, and I'm not getting any weird noises or anything. Just an absence of any sound when the pedal is 'on'. I soldered everything very carefully and everything looks good, as far as I can tell.

One thing I was unsure about from the directions, but is there supposed to be a wire between lugs 7 and 8 on the foot switches? I did not do that because i was unsure...but the diagram indicated some kind of connection between the two.

What pictures should i provide, or what readings do i need to take to begin to troubleshoot this issue? Or what additional information can i provide that is helpful?

TIA

You should post photos--large, well-focused & well-lit--of both sides of the PCB and all of the jack and switch wiring. Use the file attachment function here in the forum (1MB/image limit) or post them to a publicly accessible hosting site, like imgur.


That would be lugs 3 and 6, actually--you count down the columns rather than across the rows. That connection is not strictly required, but it can avoid some switching noise under certain circumstances.

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

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

Here are some pictures I took. Please let me know if these are helpful or if I need to try another approach. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of the underside of the PCB before I wired it all up. I will say that I was very careful to completely will all the solder joints so there was no light penetrating, I snipped all the excess leads, and I was was very careful to leave space between the pots and the PCB when they were soldered in place.

A couple of comments:

I know it's a bit of a pain taking the "guts" out of the enclosure, but seeing the back (solder side) of the PCB is very important for effectively troubleshooting this type of problem. While defective components can and do happen, poor solder quality issues are BY FAR the most common cause of these problems. I see a lot of blobby, misshapen, and dull joints, several of which do not completely cover the solder pad. High quality solder joints should be shiny, smooth and conical in shape and completely cover the pad on the PCB. I have posted links below to some informational posts that you may find useful. My recommendation would be to completely reflow the solder joints....all of them. It doesn't take as long as you might think, and it's amazingly effective in solving the "no sound when engaged" problem. BTW, what kind of solder and soldering iron are you using?

If this issue persists after a solder reflow, it would be time to get a full set of pin voltages on the four ICs. Do you have access to a multimeter and know how to use one to measure DC voltage?

Links:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=52211

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=52188

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6401

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

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

Thanks for taking a look. Looking at those super zoomed in pictures, I agree there are a couple solder joints that could have came out better. I will try to get the board out and re-flow everything.

Here's the solder i'm using: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076Q ... UTF8&psc=1
And the soldering iron: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RV ... UTF8&psc=1

I'm typically keeping the soldering iron at about 675 degrees when i'm working on a pedal. That's about right, isn't it? I did buy a multi-meter, and I have the instructions so I could test if needed.

Thanks

Solder and iron look good. I would recommend a temp. setting of 700 F for pedal work. And clean and tin your tip frequently as you work.

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

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