Question for those who know about troubleshooting electrical problems with pedals

[MGR]

The pedal shall remain nameless so as not to affect the builders business, but I recently received a pedal that is exhibiting a weird problem. The builder said it's the only time he ever heard of it.

Basically, the pedal will not pass signal when engaged unless I touch it with another pedal or piece of metal, then it passes signal. When it is not passing signal, all I hear is a staticky whooshing sound.

Any ideas on what might be wrong?

 

[blizward]

The pedal shall remain nameless so as not to affect the builders business

The pedal will not pass signal when engaged unless I touch it

So I gather it's a touchy subject, right?

 

[MGR]

So I gather it's a touchy subject, right?

Not funny dude.

 

[blizward]

Not funny dude.

I'm wondering if the problem may be caused by a bad grounding of the pedal since it's "solved" when you touch it and therefore ground it.
Is the pedal powered with a battery or a power supply?

 

[MGR]

I'm wondering if the problem may be caused by a bad grounding of the pedal since it's "solved" when you touch it and therefore ground it.

Well, it may be, but you keep referring to me touching it but in actuality I wrote I need to touch it with a piece of metal or another pedal. It does nothing when I touch it with my hand alone.

 

[jumblemind]

Well, it may be, but you keep referring to me touching it but in actuality I wrote I need to touch it with a piece of metal or another pedal. It does nothing when I touch it with my hand alone.

The result is the same, it sounds like it could be a ground issue; let it go and answer the power question. Help us help you.

Also, does the pedal have a finish on it or is it bare metal?

 

[MGR]

The result is the same, it sounds like it could be a ground issue; let it go and answer the power question. Help us help you.

Thanks. I don't quite understand what you're trying to convey after the semi-colon, but given that it's probably a ground issue, how can this be fixed?

 

[jumblemind]

Thanks. I don't quite understand what you're trying to convey after the semi-colon, but given that it's probably a ground issue, how can this be fixed?

Well, can't say until you give more info. How are you powering it? Is the issue the same if you try a different power supply? Is the case bare metal or does it have a finish on it?

 

[MGR]

Well, can't say until you give more info. How are you powering it? Is the issue the same if you try a different power supply? Is the case bare metal or does it have a finish on it?

Ah, I get it. Thanks. Well, I tried it with my DC brick and with a battery and it happened both times. It is a painted enclosure. None of my other pedals exhibit the problem while using the DC brick. Just this one. The builder said make sure the back is screwed on tight, and it happened with it tight, loose and completely off.

 

[jumblemind]

Ah, I get it. Thanks. Well, I tried it with my DC brick and with a battery and it happened both times. It is a painted enclosure. None of my other pedals exhibit the problem while using the DC brick. Just this one. The builder said make sure the back is screwed on tight, and it happened with it tight, loose and completely off.

Hmmm...that is weird. When you take off the back, does anything look loose or out of place? Can you post a guts shot?

Seems like the builder would want to take a look at it and fix it for you.

 

[blizward]

There might be a cold solder joint. If you feel confident, you can try and open the pedal and touch (sorry but the term sticks) different points along the signal path with a metal object and see if you can narrow down the possible source of the problem.
Thta said, even though you find where the problem is, do you think you can fix it yourself? If not, can you send it back to the builder or have someone tech-savvy who can actually get his hands on the pedal have a look?

 

[bongomania]

Does it behave the same when there are no other pedals connected to the chain, as it does with them connected? Does it change if you rearrange the order of the chain?

 

[blizward]

Invalid Link Removed
That's as far as I can help. Sorry.

 

[MGR]

Hmmm...that is weird. When you take off the back, does anything look loose or out of place? Can you post a guts shot?

Seems like the builder would want to take a look at it and fix it for you.

Very hard to tell since the PCB is upside down and I can't really see the components. Nothing looks out of place though. The builder responded quickly to my email about it, but didn't really have anything to offer. Since the pedal was under $100 bucks, it just doesn't make much sense for me to spend the time packing it up and going to the post office and paying to ship it back. I just took it off the board and maybe will use it for recording.

 

[MGR]

There might be a cold solder joint. If you feel confident, you can try and open the pedal and touch (sorry but the term sticks) different points along the signal path with a metal object and see if you can narrow down the possible source of the problem.
Thta said, even though you find where the problem is, do you think you can fix it yourself? If not, can you send it back to the builder or have someone tech-savvy who can actually get his hands on the pedal have a look?

Thanks man. I'm about as uselss with electronics as the next guy, so I wouldn't be able to troubleshoot myself.

 

[MGR]

Does it behave the same when there are no other pedals connected to the chain, as it does with them connected? Does it change if you rearrange the order of the chain?

Thanks Bongo. It happens no matter what. Alone, in a chain, powered by DC, powered by battery, back tight, loose, off. It always does the same thing.....doesn't pass signal unless I touch it with metal.

 

[blizward]

I really don't want to expose the brand though since the builder is a small, one man operation and said he never had another one do this.

I don't think it's exposing the builder because the problem seems so odd that it falls in the "s**t happens" category. Anyway, even if you did tell what pedal it is, I doubt it would help solve the problem. Good luck.

 

[jumblemind]

I took pics, but am having a hard time uploading them to this site.

You may need to make them smaller in file size. I do this in Photoshop but there should be plenty of other options

 

[MGR]

Ok, here are some shots. I can't tell crap from shinola.

 

[MGR]

You may need to make them smaller in file size. I do this in Photoshop but there should be plenty of other options

Figured it out. Pics above