How many things can go wrong in one build?

[deadastronaut]

yep been there too...solder suckers rule...

[Perrow]

Forget to put components in sockets, check.
Put components in sockets the wrong way, check.
Forget to solder a leg of some component, check.
Mix up in and out, check.
Forget (or mess up the wiring) to power the circuit, check.
Solder brigdes, check.
Etched through tracks, check.
Follow d'Astros schematics blindly, check.

Not all on one build though, I'll get back to you when I finish debugging my Mutron V build, only found the solder bridge on that one, yet.

[italianguy63]

Forget to put components in sockets, check.
Put components in sockets the wrong way, check.
Forget to solder a leg of some component, check.
Mix up in and out, check.
Forget (or mess up the wiring) to power the circuit, check.
Solder brigdes, check.
Etched through tracks, check.
Follow d'Astros schematics blindly, check.

Not all on one build though, I'll get back to you when I finish debugging my Mutron V build, only found the solder bridge on that one, yet.

Battery laying next to battery clip.  check.
Instrument cable not in jack.  check.
Component soldered backwards.  check.

[alanp]

One of the worst is soldering rotary switches on the wrong side. They're pretty much impossible to remove easily.

[deadastronaut]

Follow d'Astros schematics blindly, check.

Oi!...i'll hunt you down like the dog you are and draw a schematic for a tube screamer with various clipping mods on your face..... 

[Perrow]

As long as you draw it correctly

I did a layout of your Spitfire, etched and populated before realising it was flawed. Wasn't a verified one though so I guess it wasn't all your fault

[deadastronaut]

aha...that'll teach ya!..

i'll hold off on the pen then...

[agoldoor]

What I hate is when you fix a problem, and it breaks two more.  i.e. you unsolder a component, and it breaks a wire, or lifts a trace, etc..  And, it becomes a domino chain of things to fix.

MC

Or when you migrate it to your hammond-enclosure and the thing goes dead for no apparent reason.

I had this one happen a few times when I started building, but it was always a good opportunity to learn about shorts... I also stopped building "outside the box" after a while, and began building into the enclosure (smaller wire runs and cleaner layout in general doing it this way.)

[karbomusic]

I had this one happen a few times when I started building, but it was always a good opportunity to learn about shorts... I also stopped building "outside the box" after a while, and began building into the enclosure (smaller wire runs and cleaner layout in general doing it this way.)

Me too but now I do both/either/or. I found that the better job I do at building and soldering etc, the more time I could handle and not break anything. In my earlier builds my technique (and being in a hurry) made everything weaker and fragile comparatively. Now that I take my time and do it right, I hardly ever have anything break or stop working simply because I am handling it a lot. I still build in the box much of the time because it is cleaner but I worry much less about breaking things these days.

[Calambres]

What bugs me the more is mislabeled components... for instance, I recently bought a dozen of 1K 1/4W carbon comp. resistors labelled Brown-Black-ORANGE. I complained to the guy at the counter. He checked with an ohmeter: they were inedd 1K... and no, I'm not colour blind.

I've seen mislabelings with pots and have found transistors with different configurations for the same reference (different manufacturers).

When I prepare to make a circuit I ALWAYS collect all the components and check them one by one.. resistors, capacitors, etc. For diodes and transistors I use the PEAK Atlas DCA55[/url]

Also, not long ago, I bought a batch of jacks like these:



I like to switch the pedal power using the jack's DPDT switch instead of the jack itself in a stereo non-switched jack. Well.. some of them used a leg for the "tip" and others used the other leg that was the "ring" in the first ones... that was hard to sort it out!

[Perrow]

I'm not color blind either, but damn those colors are hard to identify sometimes.

[bluebunny]

I'm not color blind either, but damn those colors are hard to identify sometimes.

+1  Yeah, I've had reds that look brown.  Oranges that look red (or brown).  Whites that look grey, and blues and greens that look like each other!  Sometimes I have to resort to double-checking with a meter...