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Question for those who know about troubleshooting electrical problems with pedals

#23
MGR said:
Ok, here are some shots. I can't tell crap from shinola.
Click to expand...

Can you take a couple of different angles based on the first shot? Need to see a few more details around the wiring on the power jack and the input/output jacks. Initial guess is the problem is with one of those.

To be honest, the wiring connections are kind of sloppy. The frayed wire ends sticking out from a few places could be the problem, they may be touching something else or not making full contact.
 
#24
jumblemind said:
Can you take a couple of different angles based on the first shot? Need to see a few more details around the wiring on the power jack and the input/output jacks. Initial guess is the problem is with one of those.

To be honest, the wiring connections are kind of sloppy. The frayed wire ends sticking out from a few places could be the problem, they may be touching something else or not making full contact.
Click to expand...
Yes I can. Will need a little time though. Thanks Jumbly-Jumbly!
 
#26
rratajski said:
Not trying to stir the pot, but the company is not offering to take a look at it in person?
Click to expand...
No, they were totally cool and willing to work with me, but given it's a $99 pedal, I just didn't want to take my time to go thru the hassle of sending it back, waiting and paying for all the shipping. I figured it's a simple problem I may be able to fix myself first.
 
#27
jumblemind said:
Can you take a couple of different angles based on the first shot? Need to see a few more details around the wiring on the power jack and the input/output jacks. Initial guess is the problem is with one of those.

To be honest, the wiring connections are kind of sloppy. The frayed wire ends sticking out from a few places could be the problem, they may be touching something else or not making full contact.
Click to expand...
Jumbly, here are the shots you requested. I have no idea what I'm looking at.
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#28
I think the input jack is not solidly grounded. I can't tell for sure, but it seems the sleeve terminal is left unwired. It is the terminal that is on a beveled edge. It would seem the builder was trying to use the enclosure to make the ground connection, and this doesn't always work. Verify if there is a wire there...and if there isn't, you can run a wire from the input jack ground to the output jack ground (both are the terminals on an angle on the jacks).
 
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#29
MGR said:
No, they were totally cool and willing to work with me, but given it's a $99 pedal, I just didn't want to take my time to go thru the hassle of sending it back, waiting and paying for all the shipping. I figured it's a simple problem I may be able to fix myself first.
Click to expand...

How long have you owned the pedal before this issue occurred?
I would side with Azure here. Looks like the ground was wired to the enclosure. Follow his/her instructions about the jacks.
 
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#30
Azure Skies said:
I think the input jack is not solidly grounded. I can't tell for sure, but it seems the sleeve terminal is left unwired. It is the terminal that is on a beveled edge. It would seem the builder was trying to use the enclosure to make the ground connection, and this doesn't always work. Verify if there is a wire there...and if there isn't, you can run a wire from the input jack ground to the output jack ground (both are the terminals on an angle on the jacks).
Click to expand...

^^

MGR, it does look like the grounding is incomplete-ish. The board is grounded to the power jack, but the battery snap isn't...it's connected to the sleeve of the input jack, so as the experts have noted, it's depending on the enclosure being the ground for the power and the connection between input and output grounds. In addition to connecting the ground terminals on the input and output jacks, it may help to connect one of those to the ground terminal on the power jack (it's the one that's connected to the board).

Still, if the design intentionally depends on the enclosure as a ground and that's the problem, it would seem like the builder would have heard of this issue from others.
 
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#31
MGR said:
No, they were totally cool and willing to work with me, but given it's a $99 pedal, I just didn't want to take my time to go thru the hassle of sending it back, waiting and paying for all the shipping. I figured it's a simple problem I may be able to fix myself first.
Click to expand...

Honestly, this makes no sense at all. How a $100 not worth your time and effort when the builder is trying to work with you??? Since you don't have a clue what you're doing according to you, send it back to the builder. So you spend some time shipping it and waiting. These things do happen. It's really not a big deal especially if the builder is more than willing to right the problem.

It is what it is. We could look at all the pics you post all day long, but no one is there but you. So that doesn't help anyone. No offense.
 
#32
gregmon79 said:
Honestly, this makes no sense at all. How a $100 not worth your time and effort when the builder is trying to work with you??? Since you don't have a clue what you're doing according to you, send it back to the builder. So you spend some time shipping it and waiting. These things do happen. It's really not a big deal especially if the builder is more than willing to right the problem.

It is what it is. We could look at all the pics you post all day long, but no one is there but you. So that doesn't help anyone. No offense.
Click to expand...

Also, if this is recent purchase, is there a warranty by the company to cover issues like this? Perhaps shipping is covered by the company if it's within the warranty period.
 
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#33
rratajski said:
How long have you owned the pedal before this issue occurred?
I would side with Azure here. Looks like the ground was wired to the enclosure. Follow his/her instructions about the jacks.
Click to expand...

I've had the pedal for about a month before it started the problem, but I really only played with it 3 or 4 times in that period so in reality, the problem showed itself almost immediately.

gregmon79 said:
Honestly, this makes no sense at all. How a $100 not worth your time and effort when the builder is trying to work with you??? Since you don't have a clue what you're doing according to you, send it back to the builder. So you spend some time shipping it and waiting. These things do happen. It's really not a big deal especially if the builder is more than willing to right the problem.

It is what it is. We could look at all the pics you post all day long, but no one is there but you. So that doesn't help anyone. No offense.
Click to expand...
I'm not offended Mon man. You're one of the people whose opinion I generally am simpatico with on this board so i am taking your post in the spirit it was given. The builder never actually offered in writing to take care of the problem, but he did say he'd work with me to help solve the problem, so he did and is doing right by me. For me though, a $100 dollar pedal just doesn't justify me spending much time other than trying to diagnose the problem with the good people here. I can make more than that during the time it takes me to pack it and go to the post office. So really it's a matter of diminishing returns more than anything. I'll try to fix it with the suggestions given, although I really can't make heads or tails of them at the moment.

I truly appreciate the time of those looked at the pics and offered their suggestions. It was very helpful, although I'm not quite sure how to implement them at the moment.
 
#35
PortlandBass77 said:
why don't you ask the builder to service it? I'm sure that he/she would be happy to oblige so as not to potentially ruin their reputation...
Click to expand...
Thanks. As was written more than once in this thread, the builder has offered to work with me on this, but because the pedal was not very expensive and it would take me some time to pack and ship it, the laws of diminishing returns dictate that it doesn't make sense for me to bother.

I also did not disclose the company for the very reason so as to not ruin their rep. Apparently, mine is the only one that has this problem, if the builder is to be believed.
 
#36
MGR said:
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?
Click to expand...

Open ground----- due to poor connection at one of the jacks ( in or out) or broken solder joint where jack connects to printed circuit board.
 
#40
slyjoe said:
In picture DSC02943, something doesn't look right on the right jack. Is it secure?
Click to expand...

I was thinking the three unsoldered leads (plus the other lonely one Frank found above) poking through the board just right of center might have something to do with it. I'd reflow the whole board; it's a pretty bad looking job of hand soldering.
 
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