umm, is this normal?

[hubble]

so i was taking out the pcb in one of those newer dod "fx" model pedals, and peeking around and out flies three little metal washers like the stomp switches use....?

maybe a factory mistake? i cant figure it out...

[Dan N]

Some hardware (pots, switches...) have washers inside the enclosure as standoffs so the part on the outside does not stick out too much.

When you reassembled your pedal, did the knobs seem 1 washer higher?

[george]

were the washers smooth or kind of serrated looking?

If the latter they are from the pot shafts.  In the DOD's I've opened up they, go on the shafts before you (attempt to) poke the shafts back through the holes in the case.

[hubble]

they are serrated.  i think they are from the pots, but they fell from near the switch area so i had no clue  - but 3 pots - 3 washers, that makes sense!

thanks

[Mark Hammer]

During manufacturing, parts CAN stick to each other.

Case in point:  Through the generosity of Jeorge "Mr Huge" Tripps and Line 6, I received a bunch of Tone Core docks and modules for what I considered very modest services rendered.  One of the docks didn't work, though.  Wouldn't switch.  Wouldn't light up.  With seemingly nothing to lose, and partly prompted by my younger son's question about how one place to step can equal two different switches, I took it apart.

The Tone Core docks have two switching circuits actuated by the same treadle.  If you step lightly, you can either set tap tempo and delay time in some pedals, or switch from one function to another in other modules (e.g., slow/fast speed in the Roto Machine leslie simulator).  When you step a little harder, though, the actuator on the underside of the treadle pushes a little farther down and pushes a second switch for effect/bypass switching.  To physically differentiate between these two functions, there is a little 4-cornered thin curved piece of spring steel over the second switch, so that when you press down hard enough, you hear and feel a little mechanical "click" as the dimple on that little piece goes concave for a moment to press the microswitch and then returns to convex.

As it turned out, three of these little metal pieces had been stuck to each other during or prior to pedal assembly, whether because of some oil covering them during their manufacture, or maybe a burr on the perimeter of the pieces that got caught.  Whatever the source, the pieces were thin enough to not be visibly stacked, to not be heavy enough to fall apart, but yet to be so thick that the switch could not click downwards.

Long story short, I removed two of the stacked plates so that the dock resembled the other ones I had and could "click" properly, and presto, the dock now works.

It's the mechanical stuff that will always get you.

[george]

Hello Mark hope (re-)married life is treating you well!

yes the bane of my DIY life is dodgy DPDT switches.

I have a pedal board with 6 DIY pedals and 3 of them have switches that "aren't quite right".   They work when you switch the pedals in but sometimes in bypass mode the volume goes quiet and muffled.  It's quite irritating to have to stomp up and down on the offending pedal a few times to get your tone and volume back.

And I don't consider the switches I bought to have been exactly cheap either - they're about $AUD5 each.

I'm seriously considering replacing the lot with something that should be high quality, like Switchcraft or something.