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Hi. I've tried to go through as many other posts as I can but I'm still stuck. I get no output at all from either the boost or drive channel. Bypass works fine. This pedal worked briefly after I first got it together then all of a sudden it stopped. When I took it apart to try and figure out what was wrong I thought the switch wiring was sloppy and I had melted some of the material that the lugs are seated into. So I replaced them and wired them with some cloth solid core wire that I had leftover from another project. I'm confident the wiring is correct and there is no accidental bridging. I only mention this because I know the cloth covering makes it hard to see that wiring in my pictures.

Pics:
https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAVzyB

Based on what I read on this forum, I was convinced I just had a bad joint somewhere since I'm using a crappy soldering iron. So I first selectively reflowed some sketchy looking joints and when that didn't help I did another pass of all joints. No changes.

I went ahead and measured voltages at the IC's (with a cable plugged into the input jack and referenced to the jack's sleeve). I noticed they're significantly different than what other people have posted for working SP2s but I don't know what to make of that.

Left:
1- 6.9
2- 6.9
3- 6.2
4- 0
5- 6.9
6- 6.9
7- 7.1
8- 9.5

Charge pad
1- 9.4
2- 9.4
3- 0
4- 8.6
5- 7.5
6- 9.4
7- 9.0
8- 9.4

Center:
1- 7.5
2- 7
3- 7
4- 7.5
5- 7.0
6- 7.1
7- 7.5
8- 8.5

Right:
1- 7.5
2- 7.1
3- 7.0
4-7.5
5- 7.0
6- 7.0
7- 7.5
8- 8.5

Thanks in advance!

This image makes me suspect you still have a cold solder joint or two somewhere. Many of them are dull and or blobby. You really want them to be shiny and to have a smooth taper down to the surface of the board, rather than making a bubble.

Are you using lead-free solder by any chance? That is extremely hard to work with, especially with a lower-quality iron. You also need to make sure you are wiping the tip clean after each joint. If this were my build, I would slowly and carefully reflow everything again. I would also recommend trimming the leads down closer to the top of the solder joints if possible.

_________________
Scott

My band, Austin Hollow

On the IC pins, you should be seeing some negative voltages and some voltages up in the +16 to 18V if the charge pump is working correctly. The IC voltages in my fully functional Silver Pony 2 are shown below for comparison. So it looks to me like you've got a bad charge pump. I would suggest contacting sales@buildyourownclone.com and requesting a replacement.

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

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

I am using lead-free solder. I'm happy to reflow again but I didn't try to speed through it either time before this. I was convinced my problem was solder based so I did it about as carefully as I'm capable of. Also, I just went through and tested continuity between all PCB joints with my DMM and everything checked out. I'm curious how good of a test that is since I haven't seen anyone talking about doing it on this forum. Does a meter showing continuity give me confidence that I have a good joint? Or will a bad joint beep for continuity if you poke it enough? Obviously when I say everything checked out I'm not counting any split second beeps that weren't repeatable, but still. Is it a useful test with pedal circuits?

Also I requested another charge pump which should be on the way. I'm a little worried that if I install it right away I may still have an existing issue that destroys the new one. Is there a way I can test my voltages on the empty sockets or some other method that will ensure I don't ruin another charge pump? Or did I really just get a faulty one in the first place? Keep in mind that this pedal was working for about a week before it went out.

First thing I would say is to listen to duhvoodooman's advice ahead of mine, especially when it comes to the function of parts in a pedal circuit. If he says the charge pump is the problem, it most likely is. I don't think you will damage the new part when you install it. I might hold my finger on it for a few seconds after connecting power, and disconnect immediately if it gets hot. (Note that you will not have to have the pedal in the "on" position for power to be flowing through the circuit.)

Your continuity test mostly makes sense to me. I don't think it's foolproof, but it's probably at least partly useful. There are better tests to do with your meter, however, and you've already done one of them (voltage readings on the ICs) that seems to have been very effective in tracking down your likely issue.

As for lead free solder, we pretty much all hate it here. If you can legally buy the real stuff, I strongly encourage you to do so, and then throw the lead-free solder in the trash.

_________________
Scott

My band, Austin Hollow

I suspect that you just happened to get a "weak" one that failed after a short time in service. Still, it couldn't hurt to test the voltages on the socket itself after pulling out the existing charge pump IC. You should see your power source voltage on sockets 1 and 8, and ~7.5V (plus or minus a few tenths) on socket 5. The rest should be at or very close to zero.

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

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

New charge pump fixed everything! Sounds better than it did originally.

Thanks for the help!

Glad to hear that did the trick! Enjoy!!

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

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

Great news! I told ya DVM was the guy to listen to.

(But listen to me too, and throw that lead free solder into the bin.)

_________________
Scott

My band, Austin Hollow

Word!!

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

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