Small Clone Chorus

[semajmiyta]

Hello I'm new to the forum but not to pedal building. Recently I bought a Small Clone Chorus kit. Once put together but before I boxed it I checked the pedal and it sounded beautiful everything worked and it was quiet. Now that I've put it in an enclosure it lights up works in bypass mode , is really quiet in by-pass and effect engaged. The problem is that now I get the chorus effect only when I am turning either of the pots but once I stop turning either way the pot or pots the effect is gone. Any ideas as to where I should start looking first?
Maybe boxing it up I messed up an IC that takes care of the modulation? I'm really bummed cause it worked perfectly prior to boxing it and it sounded great! ANY suggestions and / or help would be greatly appreciated.
  Thank You all in advance
Dave

[drummer4gc]

Sounds like the LFO (circuitry responsible for modulating the delay time) is not running, which could happen for a number of reasons. I'd first check to see if one of the pot legs might be grounding out on the side of the enclosure - it's a common thing and easy fix. If not, try unboxing the pedal to see if it'll work again like it did originally. If it does, re-box it slowly and take care that nothing touches the metal enclosure that shouldn't. If it doesn't work outside of the box, you've got some work to do around the LFO to figure out why it isn't running (bad solder joint, broken component leg, no +9v, etc.)

Good luck!

[Mark Hammer]

It-worked-just-fine-before-I-boxed-it-up is the bane of our existence here.  Hands up all those who have been frustrated by that.  Okay, now all 3500 of you in the front 40 rows put your hands down so I can see the folks in the back.  Folks in the back keep your hands up so I can count.

Drummer's suggestions are apropos.

One of the things I like to do, when using wire to connect the board with pots and switches (as opposed to using pots/switches that solder directly to the board) is to use a bit of heat shrink on the connections to the off-board parts.  That way, if a pot or switch is twisted around to fit in a space, 1) the heat shrink will help prevent the wire from fracturing, and 2) the pot/switch solder lugs won't accidentally short out against a nearby surface if the pot/switch gets twisted around where I can't see it.

[semajmiyta]

Sounds like the LFO (circuitry responsible for modulating the delay time) is not running, which could happen for a number of reasons. I'd first check to see if one of the pot legs might be grounding out on the side of the enclosure - it's a common thing and easy fix. If not, try unboxing the pedal to see if it'll work again like it did originally. If it does, re-box it slowly and take care that nothing touches the metal enclosure that shouldn't. If it doesn't work outside of the box, you've got some work to do around the LFO to figure out why it isn't running (bad solder joint, broken component leg, no +9v, etc.)

Good luck!

Thanks for your quick replies. Is there a website anyone can suggest where I can learn about the Small Clone circuitry? Because I don't know where I would begin to look for the LFO circuitry. Is it related to one or more IC chips? Is there somewhere I can find legit voltage readings for the trannies and IC chips?