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Hi everyone,

Pulled out my Scrambled Octave to paint the enclosure and thought that I would experiment with making the LED brighter, unfortunately I should have probably consulted you guys before experimenting and need some help figuring out what I broke. I identified, by following the trace what I believed to be the resistor that regulated the voltage to the LED, on the circuit this was marked as a 4k7 resistor. I've attached a photo with the resistor I identified circled. When I built this pedal, I used a BYOC 5mm purple clear LED and it just has never been as bright as I would like. I decided to test my theory by using a piece of wire and holding it with my hands to jump the resistor temporarily. Immediately the LED got extremely bright, but then began to go dim and then turned off, it also go extremely hot to the touch. Crap.

I have plugged the pedal in and it plays great, just no LED now. If I jump the resistor, the LED goes bright, then quickly dims and gets very hot. I checked, and I am getting 8.2v from the actual 9V battery, I identified that 8.2 volts is going into the resistor in question and 2v are coming out of the resistor... so it would reason the resistor and circuit are fine. Did I just blow out the LED? If I wanted to make the LED brighter, think Earthquaker Devices bright, what would I need to do? I assume I'd need to swap out that resistor, but I never stopped to question if maybe it affected something else in the circuit...

Yep, it’s blown. Look for some water clear LEDs, they’re extremely bright.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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The resistor is required, but you can substitute the value. Try a 1k. You will need a new LED, that one is blown. Search 'current limiting resistor'.

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Ok cool. Are the colored clear LED's just dimmer?

I don't see any 1K current limiters on the site, will check my local electronics store. Thanks guys.

Not usually. In fact, in my experience, they're brighter.


It's just a regular 1/4W 1Kohm resistor. It's being used to limit the current through the LED. It's too much current that burns them out, not the voltage level.

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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

Got a new clear LED and it works fine, got a 1k resistor on the way, so will see what that does and go from there.

Thanks for your help everyone. I got the limiting resistor and some new LEDS and I got exactly the aesthetic I was looking for! Unfortunately after I was all done and taking readings with my multi meter, my hand slipped and no joke, I shorted out the brand new LED for a 1/2 a second... trashed.

Can't make this stuff up!

Doh! I've done that before.

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