JHS Synth Drive Mod (Troubleshooting)

[thecakeisaspy33]

Hello everyone,
Following this topic, I mod my DS1 : https://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=106243.0
Actually, I didn't solder the three switch but it didn't work.
I have no sound when the pedal is on and after some tests, the red led doesn't work anymore.

Some pictures of the board :





All the blue circles are the components that I changed :



The strange thing is you have to replace polarized condensators with non-polarized, is it normal ?

[antonis]

Hi & Welcome..

>The strange thing is you have to replace polarized condensators with non-polarized, is it normal ?<

More than normal, I should say..
(you don't have to worry about correct polarity..)

P.S.
"Condensator" is an ancient definition for capacitor, isn't it..??

[thecakeisaspy33]

Thank you for the answer 
In french, it's called a "Condensateur" that's why I use this word "Condensator".
I saw on wikipedia that it seems not to be really used in english.

[antonis]

BTW, you didn't replace any polarized cap..


You might check red circled joint..
(can't say if it's intentionally bridged for original PCB..)

[thecakeisaspy33]

This next picture is from the original topic which explains the mod :



The 3 capacitors (C2, C13 and C14) won't became non-polarized ?

There is something I don't understand about those 3 caps

Yes, the bridge is intentionally



It's the connection between D4, D5 and R10.

[vigilante397]

The 3 capacitors (C2, C13 and C14) won't became non-polarized ?

There is something I don't understand about those 3 caps

You should use non-polarized capacitors for all of the replacements. 5 years ago (where does the time go?) I wrote in the other thread "Smaller value caps (less than 1uF) are almost never polarized because it's not necessary, so they don't usually mention it. It's only on larger caps (1uF and larger) that they will specifically mention non-polarized."

In SMD it's common to have larger capacitors as large as 22uF that are non-polarized, electrically they function the same, they have the same capacitance, they're just manufactured differently, and you don't need to worry about polarity.

I'm the unofficial keeper of the other thread, so I'm obligated to chime in on any DS-1 synth drive threads

[thecakeisaspy33]

It's nice that you answer on all the ds1 synth thread

Yes I saw your post and I understand that all the new capacitors aren't polarized.

I still don't know where is the mistake.

[vigilante397]

Well let's start with the easy questions:

Did the DS-1 work before the mod?

Are you getting bypassed sound?

Did you double check all the wires to the offboard components (pots, etc) to make sure nothing was broken during the mod?

Do you have a multimeter to measure voltages?

[thecakeisaspy33]

Yes the pedal works before the mod.

No sound from the guitar when the pedal is bypass.
There is only noises (I'm not sure if the right word is "buzzing") even when the pedal is on or off.

I think there are nothing broken, I just resolder a wire which was cut but nothing change.

I have a multimeter and an audio probe

I say that the led wasn't working anymore, I just forgot that you need to plug a jack in the input with Boss Pedal
The led works fine.

[thecakeisaspy33]

I found the issue 

With the noise, I knew it was a problem related to the ground.

Also, I thought it was strange that the output jack was connected with only one wire.
Normally, there were two wires (output and ground).

While reading another topic related to the DS1, I was asking myself "Is the pedal grounded by the box ?".

It was that !!!
The jacks need to touch the box to be connected to the ground, good to know.

Now I have just to connect the three switches to complete the mod.

In any case, thank you for your help ! 

[bluebunny]

The jacks need to touch the box to be connected to the ground, good to know.

Don't rely on the enclosure for the ground connection.  Wire up the jack properly.

[vigilante397]

I found the issue 

With the noise, I knew it was a problem related to the ground.

Also, I thought it was strange that the output jack was connected with only one wire.
Normally, there were two wires (output and ground).

While reading another topic related to the DS1, I was asking myself "Is the pedal grounded by the box ?".

It was that !!!
The jacks need to touch the box to be connected to the ground, good to know.

Now I have just to connect the three switches to complete the mod.

In any case, thank you for your help ! 

Glad you were able to get it working, but I agree with Marc, ground your jacks so you don't have to rely on the enclosure for ground.