Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Hello! my silver pony just stopped working. was kicking ass for a few weeks, then just stopped. a little background is i had installed the chips incorrectly when i first built the pedal, corrected it. pedal ran like a scalded hog, then just up and quit. bypass is still working. also, i had the enclosure powdercoated, the shop that did this coated the inside of the enclosure as well as the outside. im not sure if i should have exposed any ground points to the chassis. any thoughts? none of the caps or resistors look burned, nor is there any evidence of a short or anything in the wiring. ive inspected the entire board and the soldering, wiring is clean and in great condition other than it just not working anymore. could i have fried the chips by not installing them corectly, or possibly from not grounding the chassis to the circuit board? ill post pics if necessary.

Do you have a multimeter and know how to measure DC voltage with it?

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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

yes i do have a multimeter and i know how to use it.

I would start by getting a set of DC voltage readings on the pins of the charge pump IC (1054 or 7660S). Both the overdrive and boost stages of the pedal draw their power from this IC, so if neither side of the pedal is working, failure of that component is a prime suspect. See left side of the image below for the numbering of the pins. Please report your results here.

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

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

Ok, it looks like the only pins im getting readings on are pin 2 (.038) and pin 5 (.003). i would assume by this that my chip is no good. before i replace the IC should i go ahead and expose some metal around the chassis for grounding to the pots and or switches? im not sure which ones may need proper grounding if not all of them.

Those seem like very odd readings. Are you sure you're using the DC setting of the meter and not AC? What are you using for the ground connection for the black probe? Is it an auto-ranging meter or manual range setting @ 20V?

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

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

yea, i was using the wrong setting. i just ordered a couple new IC Chips, when they come in ill see if that fixes it. i did set my crappy meter to 20k ohms resistance and got the following readings if that helps. Pin 1- 0.18 Pin 2- 0.95 Pin 3- ground (black probe) Pin 4- 1. Pin 5- 7.98. Pin 6- 1. Pin 7- 0.19 and Pin 8- 0.12

im not sure what any of that means, but i just figure i would replace the chip anyway. they are cheap enough.