cursed enclosures?

[ode2no1]

so i have this hammond enclosure that i've built a couple of things into, and somehow, inevitably, the pedal ends up not working. so far, with various circuits...a few days/weeks/months after the initial perfectly functioning build: i get no sound, plugging into it yields this weird uncontrollable feedback, it won't power up with a battery but will with a power supply, and today...crazy siren feedback in which the pitch is controlled by twisting knobs. what the hell? i've built over 50 perfectly functioning pedals easy, and this one enclosure just won't hold a circuit. has anyone else encountered such a problem? i'm not saying that it's impossible that i did something wrong, but seriously...seems like such a coincidence that i've had more problems with this particular enclosure over the last six years than anything else.

[petey twofinger]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWHOIowtzXA

[deadastronaut]

pictures?

[Liquitone]

I have a similar experience with a cursed enclosure.
In 1994/95 I bought a Vox V847 and and it has never worked for more than 2 weeks before sending it back to the shops for repairs.
This happened about 5 times. The blessing in disguise is that this particular pedal pushed me into learning how to solder and read schematics so I could fix it myself.
Now when I started building my own pedals I have used this enclosure for my Wah-builds, and atleast 5 versions of the Circuit I built in it have malfunctioned also within 2 weeks.
A year ago I bought an identical U.S.A. made Vox V847 and completely modified it and it kept running without a single problem (untill I build a treblebooster into it that is, but that's a whole different story)

I'm sure there's a logical explanation to be found for the old cursed enclosure, but 10 failed builds/repairs in 1 enclosure made me put it away in a box not to be used, ever again..

[drolo]

There might be some thing shorting against the enclosure that you don't notice, check the jacks and switches or even try to change them

Maybe you will need to get it exorcised ...

[oldschoolanalog]

What model enclosure and what have you tried to put in it?

There might be some thing shorting against the enclosure that you don't notice, check the jacks and switches or even try to change them

+1. Also make sure your circuit board is securely mounted. Not floating.

Maybe you will need to get it exorcised ...

I say burn it at the stake!

[VanDerchuck]

Is it powder coated?

[R.G.]

Mother Nature is whispering lessons into your ear. You just haven't understood the lesson yet.

[amptramp]

You have been using werewolf solder.  Every full moon it grows whiskers.

[armdnrdy]

Maybe the enclosure was manufactured on the site of an old indian burial ground!

Maybe you invented a new effect. "weird uncontrollable feedback" and "crazy siren feedback in which the pitch is controlled by twisting knobs"

Call it the Linda Blair!

[ode2no1]

hahaha some funny responses. it's a bare 1590a. i don't even know what i've put in it anymore...for sure a harmonic percolator and the most recent is a silicon fuzz face with an input gain control with the fuzz knob omitted. each time i've put a new circuit in i've used all new components. i THINK i fixed it last night, but we'll see how long it lasts. if something goes wrong again i'm tossing the enclosure. it isn't worth the heartache haha.

[drolo]

"crazy siren feedback in which the pitch is controlled by twisting knobs"

if i were  an indian i would like this to be my name :-)

[armdnrdy]

I was looking through my stompbox parts and I think that I have one of these enclosures too!!!

http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/diyuser/Cursed+Enclosure.jpg.html

[chromesphere]

As long as the guy you bought the enclosure from didnt offer you frogurt.

hah, no, im going with R.G's answer

Paul

[oldschoolanalog]

...im going with R.G's answer

+1. To my (limited) knowledge the Laws of Physics don't take the paranormal into account.

[Jdansti]

It's well known that the cursed enclosure syndrome is the negative mirror image of mojo. Just add enough mojo to offset the curse.

Seriously, some things to consider: are any of the holes too close to the walls or cover of the enclosure causing pot, switch or jack terminals to short against the enclosure?  Is there anything that you haven't removed from the enclosure between builds, such as signal jacks, power jacks, switches, or pots?