My Orange Squeezer makes a constant "scream", and bypass doesn't work!

[slartibartfast97]

Hello!

Schematic: http://www.tonepad.com/getFile.asp?id=88

Offboard wiring. I use the fifth diagram: http://www.tonepad.com/getFile.asp?id=76


I have tried setting the effect up out of box, and I've made it exactly like on the diagram, except for two things; I've removed the battery from the equation, and I use a MONO input jack. SO I don't have a "ring" like on the diagram. The transistors are replaced, but I've checked the pinouts. I have tried another AC-adapter. Everything looks good on the board!

On bypass, no signal gets through. When it's on, it does. The effect works as it should, but it makes a high screaming sound. Like it's oscillating. It's not like normal compressor noise, this makes a freaking tone. The tone changes from a lower note to a higher note when I turn the smaller "bias" trimpot.

So the problems I need to fix are the bypass and the high scream. I will in the week buy a stereo-jack and use a battery, I will also buy a new DC-jack.




Good evening, and may you all stomp many a pedal!

[MrStab]

hi, welcome to the forum/your new addiction!

i think you have two separate problems - you should probably try to tackle the bypass first. i prefer to get the effect working before i get everything else up & running, but you've already got everything else hooked up so why not.

no bypass sound is usually caused either by incorrect wiring or a short, ie. something touching something it shouldn't (not in a predatory kinda way). quadruple-check the wiring to and from the 3PDT switch, and check not only for wires touching, but pots, switches, LED, small pieces of stray solder and anything conductive in there. although my bet is wiring-related. Occam's razor & all that. it's easy to overlook something.

in the wiring method you're using, it says "The effect input is grounded in bypass mode". maybe you've accidentally wired part of the bypass signal to ground on the switch? just throwing ideas at you here.

just the other week i accidentally shorted one of a switch's pins to a metal part of the switch itself because of a tiny drop of solder - took me a while to figure that one out. true bypass should work whether or not the input & output jacks are round the right way.

less-likely possibilities: have you melted the 3PDT any? have you definitely got it round the right way? lol i usually use DPDTs, but i bet any money i'd make that mistake a few times should i switch to 3PDT. even if there was a big neon sign on it showing the right orientation. maybe something wrong with the switch wiring is causing a crazy feedback loop in the Orange Squeezer itself.

[MrStab]

a couple other things: by AC adaptor, you mean AC/DC adaptor, right...? AC = not cool.
also, where it says "This connection can be made thru metal chassis" on the diagram: screw that, wire the jack shields directly to one another (and to the other grounds ofc), it'll go through the chassis as well. it's an extra safety contingency.

[midwayfair]

Sounds an awful lot like you're creating positive feedback -- like your output is connected to your input. This would also keep your bypass from working correctly. Does a multimeter's continuity setting (beep) tell you anything useful? In one position, your input and output tips should be connected to each other with NO OTHER connections (test by touching the tips on the jacks themselves); and in the other position, they should connect only to the input or output on the board and nothing else.

[duck_arse]

http://www.muzique.com/lab/hum.htm

from the amz page above ....

you could try this to cure your squeal. increase the 220uF, then increase the 100R until you get some results.

and geeze, tonepad, make yr links to circuit diagrams a bit easier for me to find.

[MrStab]

and geeze, tonepad, make yr links to circuit diagrams a bit easier for me to find.

totally. "The file you have requested applies to the following projects" .. like writing the title on the PDF isn't enough :S

[R.G.]

The huge, vast, galactic majority of problems with new builds are:

- poor soldering quality
- incorrect wiring and hookup
- component pins inserted into incorrect holes, backwards, upside down, etc.
- PCB quality problems; shorted traces, open traces, unsolderable surface (overlaps with poor soldering quality)

Bad+new components can happen, but that's not where to place your first bet, or even your fifth through seventh bets. Such cases are RARE. As doctors say to residents, if you hear hoofbeats in the hallway, don't go into the hallway expecting to see zebras.

Squeal issues on known-workable designs are usually:
- wiring problems, including poor wire routing
- layout problems if the build is a new layout on PCB, perf, or vero
- failure to properly decouple the power supply; pre-existing designs that do not have decoupling already considered and placed are incomplete designs
- incorrect choice of a replacement/substitution part type.

[duck_arse]

totally. "The file you have requested applies to the following projects" .. like writing the title on the PDF isn't enough :S

there is just so many times I can click the link I think leads to the circuit I want, and get sent round in circles because it isn't, before I just close the page and do something else.

[edit:] I had worked my way up to a question about the squeezer circuit today, but then I read rg's "technology of", and the question dissappeared.

[Paul Marossy]

Are you sure that you didn't wire the bypass switch wrong? If you have a 3PDT switch and you rotated the switch 90 degrees everything would be soldered to the wrong location, and no signal on bypass would seem to be an indication of that to me...

[slartibartfast97]

Thank you all for answers! I haven't been able to fix the device yet, but I'll get to it. I'll check all the connections and eventually remake them. I have oriented the switch as the picture says, with the flat side of the lugs pointing "up". I'm assuming that I've oriented the switch correctly for now, but I'll try a new switch if I can't find any problems with the connections.