Build Your Own Clone Message Board

I've never been quite so stuck on a byoc build (they are so well put together), but here I am.

I populated the board and all offboard components, as described in the build doc, to the point of testing as described in Keith's video. However, this was halted at the first stage of plugging in to a power supply (I was using a 200mA 9v supply), as no LEDs lit up. I did a little poking and prodding of the LEDs to no avail, switched the loop/preset switch, then fired up my dmm to start checking voltages.

I should note that I am somewhat embarrassed to say that once a circuit starts putting actual components in my path I am woefully lacking in knowledge of how to trace, read and interpret voltage readings.

After checking that I was getting power to the board I noticed it smelled hot, then stupidly touched the heatsink to... we will say "confirm." At this point I unplugged and began looking for mistakes and obvious visual signs of bridged solder joints etc.

I am hesitant to plug the power source back in, and now feel stuck. My next move is to post this and reflow joints. After that I'm not sure what to do given my hesitance to power up without guidance.

Edit: apologies for the link to photos. This is the best I can do at the moment.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/g8D5Z8zxBy0NH9ZF2

_________________
fiancee:
"You make bad decisions before coffee."
me:
"I make bad decisions after rum. Perhaps drinking has nothing to do with it."

Update.

I've re-flowed all component joints, inspected for bridges, and have checked to ensure proper components are in proper places and orientations. ICs were removed before any reflow activities.

No change to LED status: none of them light up.

I then began checking voltages in a few places.

Power to voltage Regulator: 9.37v
Out of regulator: 5.04v
Opamp voltages:
1=2.5v 8=5.04v
2=2.5v 7=0
3=2.3v 6=0
4=0 5=0
All eight 2n3904 transistors: e=0V, b=145mV (range between 129 and 158) c=5.04V

Edit: the regulator did not heat up when I took these readings.

Thoughts?

_________________
fiancee:
"You make bad decisions before coffee."
me:
"I make bad decisions after rum. Perhaps drinking has nothing to do with it."

Are you getting any voltage at the current limiting resistor before each LED? What are the input voltage readings for the plc at pins 1 / 11 / 32? You should hear a gentle, mechanical click when the relays open and close. Do the relays seem to work when you push the loop buttons?

Does anything pass any signal?

_________________
MasterDelayer/Reverbrador/Ampaholic/TopJacker

Thanks for giving me some things to check. I am jammed up until later tonight, but will likely check these things and report back before turning in.

Cheers!
1,2
red-blue

_________________
fiancee:
"You make bad decisions before coffee."
me:
"I make bad decisions after rum. Perhaps drinking has nothing to do with it."

Report:

There is little to no voltage going into any LED limiting resistor.

Plc voltages on pins 1, 11, and 36 all = 5.04V

There are no sounds from any of the relays when I activate switches.

Signal passes from UNbuffered input to output, but that is the only combination I could get to do so. Admittedly, I am perhaps unfamiliar enough with the operation of the pedal (given switching options and lack of LEDs) to know if this was thorough, but I am reasonably confident nothing else passes signal.

Cheers!
1,2
Red-blue

_________________
fiancee:
"You make bad decisions before coffee."
me:
"I make bad decisions after rum. Perhaps drinking has nothing to do with it."

I was thinking it was the micro controller, but you should still get signal through the buffered input. Hmmm...

When you power it on and hook it up so you get signal in bypass, does the signal get interrupted if you hit any of the channel switches? Without anything in, say, loop 1, if you hit the switch for that channel, the signal would go dead. That would tell us if the relay is switching or not.

_________________
MasterDelayer/Reverbrador/Ampaholic/TopJacker

Given your surprise at not having signal pass on the buffered input, I tested and scrutinized again. I can't believe I did this, but I had connected that jack at the ring, not the tip. I fixed this, so now signal does pass there, as well.

I also tried the switches with signal on both buffered and unbuffered, and for both of those, SW2 cuts the signal. No other switch does this. I still do not hear the relays, and it seems like that should be distinct.

Do you still feel it is the microcontroller?

FWIW, I have not had anything plugged into the loops, other than messing about to see if signal was passing. Should I be doing something for this?

Thank you for these efforts!

_________________
fiancee:
"You make bad decisions before coffee."
me:
"I make bad decisions after rum. Perhaps drinking has nothing to do with it."

I think you should email BYOC and see about a replacement microcontroller.

_________________
MasterDelayer/Reverbrador/Ampaholic/TopJacker

Okay, will do. I’ll report back here when the time comes. In the meantime, I truly appreciate your guidance. Thanks!

_________________
fiancee:
"You make bad decisions before coffee."
me:
"I make bad decisions after rum. Perhaps drinking has nothing to do with it."

I am happy to say the pedal is complete and seems to be fully functioning. Thank you so much for your help in tracking down the issue, Morgan.

Also thanks to byoc folks for quick shipping of a tested replacement micro-controller.

Now for the hard part of designing a pedal board layout and settling on pedals for this bad boy!

1,2
red-blue

_________________
fiancee:
"You make bad decisions before coffee."
me:
"I make bad decisions after rum. Perhaps drinking has nothing to do with it."