PT-80/Millenium Bypass question

[Ed G.]

Hey,
I have a PT-80 that I built some time ago. Recently, the past few gigs I've played, the LED indicator on the PT-80 won't come on right away. It usually takes it about half an hour for the light to come up to full brightness.
I used a J201 as per the schematic to work with the ultrabright blue LED.
The indicator light never gave trouble before.
The pedal seems to work fine. I power the unit with an 18V danelectro power supply.
Only thing I can think of is perhaps the 100uf electro cap could be giving out. Any other ideas?

[Scott Swartz]

You may want to try subbing a different FET, a different J201 or perhaps try a 2N5485.

If the LED is turning on slowly (although a half hour is extreme), it may be that the diode that connects between V+ and the FET gate is not "leaky" enough, keep in mind the reverse leakage is what turns on the FET.

[Ed G.]

Thanks for the reply, Scott.
I'll try those suggestions. It's kind of funny in that it takes a long time to light up at first, but later it comes on instantly. Lately I turn it on when I'm setting up for a gig and after I get my rig set up, I leave it on while we set up the PA.
However, if there's a period of several songs where I'm not using it, it comes on kind of dimly before coming up to full brightness.