Trouble removing Dunlop jacks

[Danny G]

I'm trying to fix my Phase 90.  I suspect the output jack has gone bad. 

Have been trying to remove it with de-soldering braid, but it's just not working. 

Do I need one of those solder-suckers or someting?

[formerMember1]

is the solderbraid new, if it is old and oxidised it won't work.  Is your iron hot enough? I use a bulb solder sucker to get most of the solder up then use the braid for the rest.

Are you removing the jack and replacing it?   Just heat up the joint and use pliers to remove the wires,(don't cut them) then replace the jack and solder the wires to new jack.  Make sure you remember which wire went where.   It is not that hard to find out though if you forget.

Make sure you use switchcraft jacks, they are quality, easy to solder to, and hold up for a long time, try to avoid radio shack jacks,

You could order switchcraft off of Aron, 

Try adding fresh solder to the old solder joint, then let it cool, then use the braid, sometimes that helps,  Presonally  i would just heat the joint up and pull the wire away from the jack with pliers.

[Danny G]

No wires involved.  The jacks are attached tp the circuit board and I can't desolder them.

Anyone else?

[formerMember1]

the desoldering braid should work, I never had a problem with it, except with old braid, Even though no wires are involved, soldering braid still works! 

I removed jacks from circuit boards many times, u should be able to remove a solder joint fairly quickly, under 3 maybe 4 seconds. Do you have trouble using solder braid on other pedals? 

Are they soldered on both sides?  I had a dunlop fuzz, that had a switch  soldered to the board, i removed the solder on the solder side, but then realized that there was solder underneath the switch. 

a screwdriver soldering iron tip helps. 

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

Assuming you can get at both sides of the board, just chop up the unwanted socket with pliers. The remaining bits soldered into the board will desloder and push out singly. It's pretty hard to get a whole socket out in one piece, especially if you have plated through holes. I've been there with my own stuff....

[Danny G]

I thought about cutting off the jack, but that's only half the problem. 

I bought a broken Phase 90 from a friend for a few bucks to harvest parts, and cannot get those jacks off either.  The solder melts but does not bond with the desoldering braid.  Really pissing me off, I use the phaser alot.

AND I'm not even 100% sure the output jack is the problem.  I wanted to swap it out real quick to see if that was the problem, but I don't want to destroy the jack and/or the pedal in the process.   

GAH!!

[Hal]

maybe post pictures?  I cant picture what you're talking about.

Another solution is to remove that jack and replace it with any sort of open jack (Switchcraft), and just solder the wires to the board...

[BDuguay]

I've had great success using flux with braid to remove stubborn solder. Just apply a tiny amount of flux directly on the braid to be used and wick away.
B.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

1. old braid can tarnish & become useless. I recommend braid that is resin coated.
2. if you only 'think' that a jack is at fault, you can test it, by plugging in a cable, and using the continuity check on your multimeter.

[Danny G]

I thought about a switchraft jack but I'm not sure if it will fit (tight enough squeeze as is).  I suspect it to be the jack because when I wiggle the output jack the signal comes in and out.


Here's the problem:  off, it bypasses just fine.  When on, the signal drops to near nothing is crackly.  When I wiggle the jack the signal comes in more, sometimes almost 100%.  But that doesn't last long. 

There are some threads with pics of the Phase 90 board around here.  I appreciate the help, but if you're not familiar with the Phase 90 circuit board and the size of the box it squeezes into, it's hard to understand what a real pain in the butt this is. 

Grrr, I can build pedals but cannot fix them!  I tried building several phasers, but the Phase 90 blew them all out of the water, hands down.  I am unfortunately stuck with it...   

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

I personally find it much easier to build a board than to repair a commercial one, so you aren't alone! It certainly sounds as though the jack is stuffed.. if so, it has to be chopped up & the bits removed . I can't see any way around it. how can a jack fail? Usually it is the springy contact that loswes it's elasticity or gets bent out of shape. maybe (depending how open the jack is) you can bend the contact back. Maybe the contacts are badly tarnished & you can clean tehm somehow. If you are incredibly lucky, it is in fact a PCB trace break around or very near the jack & as you waggle the plug it opens and closes, and you can fix it by resolderign the traces around and at the jack pins.
What percent of pedal problems are mechanical (switches, jacks, pots, wiring)? damn near all of them.