Troubleshooting 7 Dwarfs from effectpedalkits.com

[willdethrill]

Hi there, does anyone have experience with a PCB adapter for a 3PDT? This PCB fits over the 3PDT and is supposed to make things easier. The instructions in my kit are super unclear though. Are you supposed to solder all 9 of the pins onto this PCB from here? I did this and the LED is always on and I cant get any sound out of the pedal. Any insights are appreciated!!

[idy]

Yes you need to solder all 9 terminals.

I don't see any document on the website. Or even a clear image that allows reading the PCB. Where are your instructions?

Do you know the switch has to be oriented correctly? There are four ways the switch could be soldered in (rotation by 90 degrees) and two are wrong. Do you understand how the three "poles" of the switch work and how they are oriented?

[willdethrill]

Thank you for responding to my post idy. There is only 2 ways the pins would fit in the holes (180 degrees each) so I think I got it right. I also soldered all 9 and then thought maybe that was incorrect.

Honestly, the instructions are super sparse so I just followed the pictures as best as I could. You can see what I was working with here: https://effectpedalkits.com/wp-content/uploads/manuals/7-dwarfs-autowah-kit-building-manual.pdf

[idy]

OK. The picture on the page labeled "component placement" makes sense. They do emphasize the "orientation" of the switch; although you implied that the terminals would not fit in "sideways," they warn against doing just that thing.

If The LED is always on, that leads one to believe either the switch is damaged or there is a short, maybe extra solder in a bad place (like between the board and the switch. (More likely solder bridge, switches usually fail "open.")

I would take a meter and (power off) confirm the switch is working correctly and no shorts. You may go as far as trying to confirm which "pole" is doing which task (IN/OUT, LED) and wether it is grounding the PCB inout in bypass, that kind of thing.

I always test a circuit before I attach bypass switching and jacks and all. Saves much frustration. Mad Bean had it right; "rock it before you box it."

[willdethrill]

Ill test the board that is an obvious I should have done first. I was just so visually pleased with my soldering on the PCB I skipped that important step.

One thing that threw me pretty good is the TRS for the input and output. The diagram provided left a lot up to mystery so I messed around on Google for answers. Not sure if guidance is easily provided over message board like this but maybe you can help?

I wired ground for the center ring for both. On the input jack I wired the yellow wire to the longer tip and red wire to the shorter tip. On the output jack I again wired the yellow wire to the longer tip. Looking at this again though that might look incorrect. Any rules of thumb to follow on that sort of thing? I have 2 tips and 3 rings for each jack for reference.

[FiveseveN]

I have 2 tips and 3 rings for each jack for reference.

We're going to need some clarification on this because that can't be what you mean. A picture is worth a thousand words, a datasheet gets you extra chips.

[willdethrill]

Both the input and output jack looks like this:

The diagram on for the PCB I am working with can be found on page 5: https://effectpedalkits.com/wp-content/uploads/manuals/7-dwarfs-autowah-kit-building-manual.pdf

Let me know if this helps or if you if something else would be preferred. So much appreciated!!

{edit-- liberated link -PRR}

[FiveseveN]

That's a TRS socket alright. Now what did you mean by "(center) ring" and "(longer/shorter) tip"? The jack has exactly one ring contact and one tip contact, which are correctly labeled in the image.

[willdethrill]

I am unfortunately only on my second build ever and just trying to learn. Ground is easy to identify for me. However, when I look at the guide for wiring the rest I am confused by the diagram provided below. There is a shorter line drawing and a longer line. I think the shorter one is supposed to be for the tip (to update my terminology) and the longer is for the ring. Is that correct? Sorry, I am just confused man.

[duck_arse]

the long dinger picks up the tip of the jack plug. the shorter dinger picks up the jack plug ring, and is most often used as the supply switch. the 'centre' connects to the sleeve,

[BJM]

In this drawing the brown(ish) wire goes to the ring and the yellow one to the tip. You'll probably only need it if you plan to use a battery and a wall wart. Can't see how the PCB connections are made but I looks to me this is to disconnect the battery if you use a wall wart.

[PRR]

.... I think the shorter one is supposed to be for the tip (to update my terminology) and the longer is for the ring. Is that correct? Sorry, I am just confused man.

Stick a plug in the jack.


The long finger hits the Tip.
The short finger hits the Ring.
The jack body (or a 3rd finger) hits the Sleeve.

On some jacks, it may be best to grab a TRS plug and a beep-meter, see what actually connects to what.

Also:

[willdethrill]

Thanks all. Confirmed I did that part right as well. Checked the board and all the circuits are functional too. Still no sound and the LED is always on. Quite frustrating.

Another gamble I took was in wiring the pots. Instead of soldering the wire to the tips I soldered into the holes of the potentiometer (similar image below so you can understand what I mean by tips - the three pointy things and the holes the 3 holes in front of the tips).



Also one of the ICs was very new to me. It is in position U2 and is called the 7805 Regulator. It has a metal extension coming out of it that looked like it will bump into the enclosure so I covered it with electrical tape to avoid it from grounding. Anyone have experience with this sort of chip?

[idy]

Soldering into the holes is a classic mistake that can stress out the conductive part of the pot and destroy it. I would try the ohm meter and see what's what.

You haven't mentioned what circuit this is for...oh yeah the auto wah. The 7805 is a three terminal voltage regulator. Ground, power in, power out. The metal part is a heat sink...in some applications (not yours) that come close to the current limit of the device you would connect that to the enclosure to sink even more heat. I think it already is grounded.

You still have an LED always on? So the basic switching is still not straightened out...

[BJM]

The 7805 is a three terminal voltage regulator. Ground, power in, power out. The metal part is a heat sink...in some applications (not yours) that come close to the current limit of the device you would connect that to the enclosure to sink even more heat. I think it already is grounded.

That's right. Out of curiosity I checked it and it's indeed connected to the ground pin.

I wonder why the vendor didn't supply potmeters with solder lugs.......They're clearly not directly soldered onto the PCB.

Does the effect work without the 3PDT switch?

The PCB for the switch looks quite nice btw, it's the first one I've seen where you can also attach the battery clip.

[bluebunny]

Definitely don't solder into the "holes".  They're rivets and are part of the mechanical construction of the pot.  If you have pots with pins (rather than convenient lugs) then strip and tin the end of your wire and bend the prepared part into a small loop.  Push this over the pin and solder away.

[antonis]

Does the effect work without the 3PDT switch?

Try this :
(curcuit ON all the time..)