Vero not doing it for me... What am I doing wrong?

[alex_spaceman]

Hey everyone,

I put together two very simple circuits on vero board (SHO and Brian May treble booster). Both sounded perfectly on the bread board so I was quite confident I'd get exactly the same result when soldered on the vero... Only not to get any sound out of them. In both cases I used Renegadrian's layouts, which I double checked.

The internal wiring of the pedal works just fine (checked all the continuities, on the board as well to check shortenings etc), but the board doesn't work. I take it the problem is with the soldering? Anything about vero I should be aware of? Any common problem that can cause problems?

Any input is much appreciated!

Thanks,
Alex

[Seljer]

The constant problem that always seems to get into every vero build is forgetting to cut traces so check that again!

Try measuring the voltage around the circuit with a multimeter and we might be able help

[artifus]

yep, always worth a continuity check between tracks and cuts to rule out the invisible.

[rousejeremy]

If you hole the board up to a light, like right in front of the light you should be able to see through the board and sometimes you can spot solder bridges. A good magnifying glass works even better.
Vero can be a pain in the a**. Cutting traces, copper lifting right off the board if you're not very very careful, wide layouts. Learning to perf is worth the effort. Just look at some of the pieces of art Frequency Central has made.

[artifus]

just my own personal opinion but i've always found stripboard to be quick and easy. perf has always looked like a lot more work.

*edit* them builds always look awful pretty but they end up in a box i stomp on and hope never to see the innards of ever again. i said hope.

[rousejeremy]

I've found perf builds require less troubleshooting which decreases build time. When you have to bend leads from point A to point B it really makes you focus, dropping parts into holes I find myself going on autopilot and making mistakes. That's just me though. Mainly I just like the aesthetic of seeing parts perfectly bent and nice shiny solder holding it all together.

[artifus]

indeed. find your own path.

'don't use that pick it's too thick/thin/yellow!' or 'you're holding it wrong!' or 'that should be a diminished seventh not a...' well you get the idea. whatever works for you dude.

[Mustachio]

Like everyone else said check your trace cuts and for solder bridges i usually take a razor in between the tracks and run my soldering iron tip between the tracks to try to clear out anything that might bridge.

I had a vero of the tube screamer (SRV special) that wouldn't work at all. I stared at it for 2 weeks everyday going over the layout and staring more looking for anything. 2 weeks later I finally spot that i had put 2 cuts in the wrong spot. same went for a sonic maximizer i built I had a jumper just one hole off. Looked at it for weeks thinking it was right. some times the small things are hard to spot. good to have fresh eyes.

Now I usually have better luck and I've found that taking the vero layout into Photoshop or something similar and flipping it horizontally helps (under the edit menu) . Now when you look at the image of the layout it will match the direction of the back of the Veroboard. I usually mark it all with a sharpie marker then make my cuts after I double check it all.

good luck! hope you find the fix.

[alex_spaceman]

Ok... a bad joint to blame on the SHO.

Double checked the BM and no contacts/wrong continuities found... Seen how simple a circuit it is part of me is tempted to build it over from scratch, but surely that'd be the naughty way out wouldn't it?

[rousejeremy]

Check to make sure you are using all the proper values for the components. Do it slowly, say them out loud if you have to.
Check to make sure all the components are in the right spot compared to the layout. Do it slowly.