Need help finding a short

[Radamus]

Hello. I was in a local Guitar store earlier today and I asked if they had any dead pedals. They handed me a Behringer Reverb Machine. I bought it for ten dollars. The guy at the store didn't know if it was analog or digital, so I was hoping it was analog. It's not, but then again, few echo type circuits are. I opened it up and was shocked to find that they had used the cheapest parts imaginable and not many of them were worth scavenging. Then I plugged it in to my bass and a 15v unregulated power supply. It worked well. I tried all the plugs and all the settings and it worked as well as it should. I left it alone for about an hour.

When I came back, I couldn't get the LED to come on, I couldn't get the effect to work. Essentially nothing had changed that I could tell. In my debugging, though, I found my battery was cooking, so I checked to see if there was a short. My DMM beeped, but this is a double sided SMD circuit, so the short could be anywhere.

Does anyone have experience with this and any possible tips? Is there anywhere where I could find a schematic to work from? I understand Behringer is pretty stingy.

Anything help would be awesome. I liked this thing for the hour that it was working and I'd like to get it back. This thing definitely wasn't designed to be repaired, but I figure a short to ground is probably one of the easiest things to fix on a pedal this complicated.

Thanks

[Cardboard Tube Samurai]

Um... why a 15v unregulated supply?

[anchovie]

I opened it up and was shocked to find that they had used the cheapest parts imaginable and not many of them were worth scavenging.

You were shocked, after opening up the plastic case? They don't sell these things cheap out of generosity.

I figure a short to ground is probably one of the easiest things to fix on a pedal this complicated.

I admire your optimism, but imagine if the complexity of a circuit gave you, say, 100 places where a short to ground might occur. The fault might be simple but locating it won't be. Also, because the fault is intermittent and the board is populated with SMD by a machine it's not necessarily going to be something like a solder bridge. The short could be happening inside a component after it's been powered up for a while and has got a bit warmer, there are going to be a heck of a lot of transistors inside those digital ICs.

[Radamus]

Um... why a 15v unregulated supply?

I'm sorry, It's a 12v supply, which means 15v total.

I guess I've got a bit of work ahead of me. It seems more likely that I'll try and find a project that uses the same potentiometers or something.

When I bought it, I told my friend it would be a learning experience. I also told him that it might be just learning that I can't fix a Behringer pedal. I have to wonder how they can charge 75 dollars for these things new.

I guess I learned. I'm not giving up, just yet, but now I know I have to be pickier about this stuff.

Thanks

[Cardboard Tube Samurai]

If nothing else, you've got yourself an enclosure for $10

[R O Tiree]

You could always be really cheeky and send it back to Behringer and demand a replacement?

I can't believe I just said that

[Cardboard Tube Samurai]

Found one!

[newb]

un cool

[Radamus]

You suppose they'd take it back? I'm not against trying, but something tells me they wouldn't have sold it to me if Behringer was in the habit of replacing things. Then again, I don't think I'm clever enough to use the enclosure for anything else. Haven't messed with it today, maybe it'll work tomorrow. I'll just have to schedule shows around astrology or something to make sure this thing works...