New ITS8 build worked great, then died

[Schneiderman]

Hi guys, I built an ITS8 with the "very expensive boutique" upgrades last week and it all seemed to work fine. Tested it for a minute and it worked, played with it for about 15 minutes for no problems, jammed with it for an hour and it worked, then jammed with it last night for 2 hours and this is where problems began. First volume dropped and the distortion was just really thin, barely anything coming through, but bypass was 100% fine. Figured it could be the battery, so I swapped in a fresh one. When I did so, the pedal ceased to work when activated. No signal, no LED indicator light. Bypass still worked. But the brand new Duracell pro series battery got super hot within under a minute, and when I checked it with a voltmeter it read in the low 8 volt range, meaning it had been drained significantly within a minute of being plugged into the pedal.

I searched the forum and the clues I found didn't seem to help me. I checked my 3PDT switch and it seems to be functioning correctly. I don't know whether I should try to check voltages because if I plug a battery in it just drains and gets super hot. I can't find anything visually wrong with the wiring or solder joints, though I am willing to accept that I might just not be seeing something yet.

One thing I noticed, and I don't know whether it's normal because I am new at this: I have continuity across the DC jack positive and negative, with no battery or 1/4 jack plugged into the pedal. Is this normal?

Thanks for any help!

[PRR]

There's a short across the battery. Follow the path and look close.

[Schneiderman]

So far I've determined that something on the PCB has to be causing this, it's not the battery snap or the DC jack. The short still exists with the IC removed too. I don't really know where to look next. I've closely inspected all the solder connections and do not physically see anywhere it could be shorting. I'm thinking it has to be a component. Any guidance?

[Thecomedian]

resistors, transistors, or caps could be shorted through. I think there's some tips or tricks to test components while they're in circuit just for continuity/resistance if you can search the web for them.

If you have a pic of top and bottom PCB up close maybe someone can see something.

[Buzz]

When you find the problem and solve it, I think you will have to replace your reverse polarity diode. If you're making the GGG ts8 I think that would be d5. 1N400x ( x being any number ) will do. Easy to find and cheap.

Similar problem has happened to me in the past, I had to replace that diode.

People with greater knowledge on this site may say different. Listen to them.....

The tube screamer is a great pedal. My first kit build. Still doing mods on it but I think the original 808 is best.

Happy soldering!

[Schneiderman]

Thanks. I replaced D5 and the pedal works now. I'll give it a good workout tomorrow and see if it holds up.