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First Pedal Build Problems

T

TheBassBoss

Feb 17, 2012
67
0
Tennessee
#1
All this weekend, I've been working on my first pedal build, a Buzz Box: http://www.home-wrecker.com/buzzbox.png
I've really just been figuring out everything as I go, and now I have almost everything wired, but I have some problems.:help:

First, I've been teaching myself how to solder with this project, and it seems like soldering has gotten more difficult the more I work on this now, even though I've been cleaning the iron with steel wool every few minutes. I've looked up all the soldering tutorials, but I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. It has gotten to the point that when I spend 5 minutes waiting for the solder to start melting.

Second, wires and legs keep breaking when I solder them. I've had to solder some wire 7-8 times because as soon as I finish soldering, the wire breaks off inside the joint. Also, I've somehow broken 3 2N3904 transistors, because the emitter leg breaks as soon as I solder a wire to it. It's always the emitter, and it always breaks off inside the transistor so I have to get a new one. I don't know what's wrong, I use a heat sink, I don't bend it around to much, the leg just breaks.

I've put in about 20 hours this weekend trying to build this "simple" pedal, but I'm about to give up, and the perfboard is slowly becoming a blob of solder. So any pedal builders out there... HELP!
 
#2
DO NOT CLEAN THE IRON WITH STEEL WOOL.

You have to "Tin" a soldering iron. This means that you clean off the old used solder, and then you put some new stuff on and let it sit. This protects the iron from oxidization as well as keeps it hot enough to melt solder almost immediately.

What you do-

1. Solder your joint.
2. Wipe the solder off on a damp sponge.
3. Apply enough solder to cover the WHOLE tip of the iron.
4. Place iron back in holder.
5. Wipe off solder before doing the next joint.

This should solve your soldering issue.


As for the leg breaking off, where are you getting your transistors? If the answer is Radio Shack, then there is your answer :hiding:
 
#5
The iron is from Radioshack, and it doesn't have temperature settings, just an on/off switch, but it is 20 watts. I just wet it on the sponge, then tried to melt some solder on it. After 10 minutes, the solder still wouldn't melt on the tip, although it did melt father back. The tip has some kind of black crusty stuff on it that isn't there farther back. Since the tip is detachable, is there any way I can clean that black stuff off?
 
#7
TheBassBoss said:
The iron is from Radioshack, and it doesn't have temperature settings, just an on/off switch, but it is 20 watts. I just wet it on the sponge, then tried to melt some solder on it. After 10 minutes, the solder still wouldn't melt on the tip, although it did melt father back. The tip has some kind of black crusty stuff on it that isn't there farther back. Since the tip is detachable, is there any way I can clean that black stuff off?
Click to expand...

It sounds like you used your iron, then left it and didn't tin it (like I mentioned in the post above). This is the oxidization of the tip, and you should take it off and clean it. I'm not sure of the best method to clean off a tip, but what I use is some steel wool. Once it's clean, tin it properly and it shouldn't get black and crusty again!
 
#11
and if you are planning on doing this more often, ditch that radioshack iron and get one of these or a better model. Trust me. It will save you ALLLL sorts of headaches.
 
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#12
I started w/ a RS iron. Went through like 30 tips in a year. Worst iron EVER. Like Dan said, if you're gonna do this more, invest in a real set up. Hakko has some around $100.
I can confirm that they don't get hot enough. It's not the parts' problem, it's your soldering (no offense intended b/c I've been in your position). Your best bet, if you want to keep soldering is to stop, order a real iron, decent solder, a sponge, and start over. You most likely burned your components out by heating them too long too.
 
#13
Weller... has many many excellent products that IME far surpass any other brand. My dad has a Weller WP35 (IIRC) that he's had for countless years (since before I was born, I think). Still solders like a champ. If you still want more, my recommendation would be the WES51 or WESD51.

+1 to Woods on both counts, and good luck man.

--Silvie
 
#14
Woodsbass said:
DO NOT CLEAN THE IRON WITH STEEL WOOL.

You have to "Tin" a soldering iron. This means that you clean off the old used solder, and then you put some new stuff on and let it sit. This protects the iron from oxidization as well as keeps it hot enough to melt solder almost immediately.

What you do-

1. Solder your joint.
2. Wipe the solder off on a damp sponge.
3. Apply enough solder to cover the WHOLE tip of the iron.
4. Place iron back in holder.
5. Wipe off solder before doing the next joint.

This should solve your soldering issue.


As for the leg breaking off, where are you getting your transistors? If the answer is Radio Shack, then there is your answer :hiding:
Click to expand...

What he said...

I would add when you complete soldering something don't blow on the hot solder joint. It can distort and or weaken it.

As others have said, If you are planning on soldering anything in the future invest in a decent Iron and then take care of it. I have been using the same Weller with the original tip for 10 years now and I solder pretty frequently. I went through most irons at Radio Shack and they just don't hold up. You can get a good iron for around $50.
 
#15
If you iron is still not working, by tinning it, because of all the crude try this.

Turn the iron off, let it cool completely.
Get a file and clean the thing off. Scrape all the residue off, you could very well have a bunch of plastic from wires and stiuff on there.

Then, do the tinning thing again.

I've been using a little pencil-like radio shack iron with a cone point for about a year and it does fine, you've just got to keep that tip tinned and clean.
 
#16
OK, so I cleaned and tinned the iron, got the transistors in alright, and assembled everything. So when I turn the pedal on with everything plugged in, the LED is on, but when I push the footswitch, it stays on. I eventually determined that the LED turns on and off regularly when only the input jack is plugged in, but when the output jack is plugged in, the LED stays on and can't turn off. There is static coming out the speaker when the pedal is "on", and muted when it is "off"(I can only tell if it's on or off by unplugging the out, seeing whether the light is on or not, and then plugging it back in.)
Does anyone have any ideas on what I should try to get it to work? The inside is a mess of wires, so it's possible something is shorting against a wire.
 
#18
TheBassBoss said:
OK, so I cleaned and tinned the iron, got the transistors in alright, and assembled everything. So when I turn the pedal on with everything plugged in, the LED is on, but when I push the footswitch, it stays on. I eventually determined that the LED turns on and off regularly when only the input jack is plugged in, but when the output jack is plugged in, the LED stays on and can't turn off. There is static coming out the speaker when the pedal is "on", and muted when it is "off"(I can only tell if it's on or off by unplugging the out, seeing whether the light is on or not, and then plugging it back in.)
Does anyone have any ideas on what I should try to get it to work? The inside is a mess of wires, so it's possible something is shorting against a wire.
Click to expand...

Check your grounds. Are you using a battery? Check your wiring on your footswitch. Check your wires. Pics will help.
 
#20

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