How do I test a circuit without the potentiometers?

[guidoilieff]

I made an Echo Base and I was wondering if there is a way to test the circuit without the potentiometers so I can be sure its working before wiring ( I used molex connectors where potentiometers are going to be).



So I guess where it says "Mod Speed" I just need to jumper pins 3 and 2, but in Mod Depth I have no idea what to do. Do i just wire pins 1 and 3 and put a resistor between pins 1 and 2?

Thanks

[Transmogrifox]

The generally safest way to do if you don't mind hard-wiring a pot to its extreme is to stuff a resistor between 2&3 and a jumper between 1&2 .
...or to set it to the other extreme, jumper 1&2 and resistor to 2&3.

Get a resistor in the general ballpark of the intended pot value. 

On Mod Speed you are in good shape with a jumper as you suggested, but you might consider using a resistor to set it somewhere in the middle of the pot range.

[smallbearelec]

Please check out my notes in this article:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?board=44.0

When I am building in the way you describe, I test continuity point-to-point as I build before connecting pots. The Molex headers are helpful with this because they make connections accessible from the top. Where a capacitor is part of a run, use the C scale of your meter to make sure that what the drawing says should be there actually Is. When done, go over the whole thing again...time-consuming, but it has saved me a lot of grief. Then create your connectors and you can test the whole thing before you box (Figure 50 in the article).

NB: I have available on my bench an input jack, output jack, power connector, stomp switch and a variety of pots already set up with plugs and ready to plug in for testing. I make sure that when I lay out a board, all of the off-board components connect in a standard way. Muuuuch more efficient, and still more helpful in avoiding mistakes.

Regards
SD

[LightSoundGeometry]

i would solder the pots leaving long enough leads to make a twisted/tinned connection to BB, then you can trim down access when putting permanently in curcuit . or like today in class, they gave us pcb mounted pots to stick in the BB which work really good for this application i noticed.

[smallbearelec]

i would solder the pots leaving long enough leads to make a twisted/tinned connection to BB, then you can trim down access when putting permanently in circuit.

That's one way, though not one that I like. I prefer a termination of some kind on the board for test purposes and to solder to. See figure 82 and following in the Breadboard-To-Box tutorial:

http://diystompboxes.com/beginnerboostbreadboardtobox/BeginnerBoost.htm

or like today in class, they gave us pcb mounted pots to stick in the BB which work really good for this application

This is often done for production, yes. However, I recall some of the engineers here recommending against putting board-mount pots on the main circuit board because the connections tend to go intermittent. I think a "daughter" board for controls was recommended.

You are on your way to to learning the enormous range of choices that you have in designing even a simple piece of gear. I hope you enjoy your course and eventually profit from it.

[GibsonGM]

+1    Terminal clips are awesome...very reminiscent of the early Peavey stuff - makes things easy to work on/modify later!!  And much less likely to go flaky on you.

[guidoilieff]

Thanks everyone. I forgot to ask how to bypass a millennium bypass. Do I just jumper those connections? (in the upper left part)