My first build project ever!

[Axeman88]

Hi everyone,
       Talk about alot of great info here!
Anyway, this is my very first build project. The Rebote 2.5 Delay. I got the Board from tonepad & most of the parts from Small bear. I had a heck of a time locating the 50pf & 5pf caps! But I found some at Mouser. I just finished populating the board. Now a couple stupid newbie questions.

1. Drilling the holes for the DPDT switch, the pots, the DC plug, the in/out jacks, LED mount.
My question is simple: What size hole do I drill for each part? Looks like 1/2 for the DPDT maybe?  What about the rest though & am I right about the DPDT being 1/2 in size?

2. Mounting the PCB. - A friend of mine suggested silcone gel. Put it on inside of alum. box (1590-BB), then place the board in it. He said use at least 1/4 thick so board doesn't touch the box.  Would this work?

Thanks guys for any help here and sry for stupid questions. 

[Pushtone]

Welcome to the forum!
There is a lot of info here.
More than can be disseminated by carbon life forms.
Use the search function and check out the Wiki in the link at top of page.

Here is what I found in less than a minute from the Wiki...

Here's a quick rundown of bit diameters for some common parts:
T1-3/4 LED bezel, mini toggles - 1/4" (6mm)
T1-3/4 LED without bezel - 3/16"(5mm)
16mm pot - 9/32" (7mm)
24mm pot - 5/16" (8mm)
audio jacks - 3/8" (10mm)
footswitches - 15/32" (12mm) for a perfect fit w/o washers,
1/2" is fine if you use the white plastic washer included with 3PDT's, Carlings don't include washers.

But for Drilling boxes NOTHING WORKS AS WELL AS A UNIBIT.
Hint: search for term "unibit".

[petemoore]

Anyway, this is my very first build project. The Rebote 2.5 Delay.
  Big Oney.
  I got the Board from tonepad & most of the parts from Small bear.
  I had a heck of a time locating the 50pf & 5pf caps!
  47uf and 4.7 will do...fine.
  But I found some at Mouser.
  I just finished populating the board.
  Usin' bits, I just go under the surface with the outer edge of the bit...enough to make a nice ~1/2cylinder [depth], then, with the other side not gouged out by the bits exiting grab marks, I finish easily from the other side, this seriously reduces burring that bit exitings cause.

[markm]

Welcome to the world of DIY stompboxes.
I have to second the Unibit....a wonderful little tool
My first project was Blue Magic and it took a little time for it to fire but it did and I was hooked.
Just be careful, stompbox building is Very Addicting to say the least.
First it's the Rebote 2.5, then maybe a Ross Comp, Analog Delay, then ya start tracing out
circuits of your favorite production effects, etching boards and boxes and the next thing ya know
you're in Stompbox Rehab
 MarkM

[Axeman88]

Great thanks guys..

You answered my first question, Although I'm still not sure what size the hole should be for the DC jack? I read through the Wiki. Thanks for that link. That was exactly what I was looking for. 

And can anyone answer question #2?

[Pushtone]

For question #2
I wouldn't sweat it too much, you'll figure something out when you get to that point.
Here are your options...
1. Self adhesive plastic standoffs from Hammond.
2. Use threaded metal standoffs with screws through the enclosures. Up side - rigid will not come loose. Downside - screw heads are visable on the outside. If your doing any high voltage wiring this mounting method is mandatory for safety.
3. Use the same threaded metal standoffs but JB Weld them (Epoxy) to the inside of the enclosure.
4. Use "ribbed" enclosures and stand the PCB up vertically. The Hammond 1590N has ribs inside. Hammond also makes a little plastic frame with ribs that fit inside the 1590 series.

All of these IMO, are hard to find, add cost, and are unnecessary.

5. I just use a piece of 1/8" craft foam, glued to the box lid. The spring tension from the off-board wires pushes the PCB into the foam and locks it in place. At least I can shake the box and nothing inside moves. See the brown craft foam in the lid.


6. Others wrap the PCB in foam, cardboard etc. to insulate it from the inside.

If you search for pictures of inside shots you will find a plethora of ingenious way folks have solved this issue. I started emulating the inside layouts pictured on www.generalguitargadgets.com
Go forth and innovate!

[markm]

And can anyone answer question #2?

try this;
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=28311

[Axeman88]

Well I figured out everything I have posted to this point. BUT now I seem to have a new problem.

It isn't working ..

I checked & it has 9 Vdc going across the whole board. Even across the ground?? So something is messed up for sure. I think the 9 volt regulator is toast. So I will try replacing it first. 

Any other ideas? Also do you think it may have fried the IC's in this project? There are 2. A TL072 (opamp) & the PT2399 (delay chip).
With 9 volts going through it instead of 5, I am worried I may have to replace them.

[mac dillard]

For No. 2 try stick on velcro. Works for me.  For hole sizes, if you take a look at that item from Mouser they will have a data sheet showing the mounting dim.

[Axeman88]

thanks for the info. Any idea why I have 9 volts going across the whole board. Even across the ground?? So something is messed up for sure. I think the 9 volt regulator is toast. So I will try replacing it first. 

Any other ideas? Also do you think it may have fried the IC's in this project? There are 2. A TL072 (opamp) & the PT2399 (delay chip).
With 9 volts going through it instead of 5, I am worried I may have to replace them.

[RaceDriver205]

Part failures (or 'blow-ups' or 'fries') are a very low percentage cause of the effect not working. I could almost guarantee you that is not the problem. It is most likely a tiny solder-bridge or circuit-board copper-trace problem (from a long time of experience).
If you are sure thats not it, then a part is the wrong way round.
If your sure thats not it, the part may be the wrong way round on the diagram (tonepad has a habit of doing that).

[scaesic]

thanks for the info. Any idea why I have 9 volts going across the whole board. Even across the ground?? So something is messed up for sure. I think the 9 volt regulator is toast. So I will try replacing it first. 

Any other ideas? Also do you think it may have fried the IC's in this project? There are 2. A TL072 (opamp) & the PT2399 (delay chip).
With 9 volts going through it instead of 5, I am worried I may have to replace them.

what are you using as youre ground reference? If the whole board is 9V you should read 0v between the + and- rails.

[Axeman88]

thanks for the info. Any idea why I have 9 volts going across the whole board. Even across the ground?? So something is messed up for sure. I think the 9 volt regulator is toast. So I will try replacing it first. 

Any other ideas? Also do you think it may have fried the IC's in this project? There are 2. A TL072 (opamp) & the PT2399 (delay chip).
With 9 volts going through it instead of 5, I am worried I may have to replace them.

what are you using as youre ground reference? If the whole board is 9V you should read 0v between the + and- rails.

I'm putting the ground clip on ground that is running from the board to the input jack.

[Axeman88]

Well at this point I think I'm going to start all over.

There is a couple issues with the board anyway.

A couple of the copper traces got lifted off the board. I was using 22 gauge solid wire from the pots to the board. And when I moved the pots to get them to fit in the enclosure, it lifted the traces off the board in 2 spots. I was able to solider the wires to a spot that was shared on the same trace. So it shouldn't have been a problem.

BUT with this 9V across the whole board still even after replacing the 5v regulator & the silocone(SP?) on part of the board covering some soldier points, (I was using this to anchor it to the enclosure), I have decided to start over with a new board.

I am NOT a quiter. I AM a NEWBIE to this big time. Obviously right? BUT I refuse to give up!!! 

I was wondering. Instead of buying another board from Tonepad, Could I use perfboard or something else? Something that doesn't require me trying to do the etching process? I don't think I'm ready to try etching yet.

Thanks everyone for all your input so far. I really have appreciated it.  

[Antero]

Keep on trucking, man.  You're bolder than I, to start with a delay.

[newbie builder]

If there is a vero layout for the pedal you could always do- vero is way easier than perf. A really good delay i've built off a pcb (that is somewhat but not exactly the same as the one you're building) is the BYOC dd80. His pcboards are amazing- with heavy abuse I've never lifted  trace on them. If you didn't mind buying a few parts to switch to a new pedal, that's an awsome analog sounding digital delay.
good luck!