Aurora Dyna Comp - no sound

[banjerpickin]

Hey all, I've built several pedals from Aion successfully.  Never had problems before, but I just finished up my Dyna Comp (aurora) and it lights up but there's basically no sound getting through.  I built this as the Dyna Comp variant with the treble toggle switch and the attack knob. 

If I crank my amp and the volume knob, the guitar comes through but it's very thin and for all intents and purposes inaudible.  Turning up the volume/sustain knobs increase white noise, so I think that's a good sign.  I've checked all the connections and they seem solid, resoldered any that looked iffy.  I'm working my way through the components to see if anything is busted, can you guys see anything off from a birds eye view? 

Note:  In the photo I still have resistors in the RX2/RX3 slots, realized I shouldn't have put those in with the attack knob and pulled them out.  No change in lack of sound.
http://imgur.com/a/2IOot

Thanks in advanced.

[Kipper4]

Post up a link to the docs please.
Did you check the offboard wiring for continuity issues?
I only say because I noticed some single strand wires.

The next thing to do would be go here and report back with the relevant info.

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=29816.0

Welcome to the forum. You have come to the right place. The guys here are amazing.
I have a similar build on my bench right now. So I can compare voltages.
Keep pickin and we'll get you there.

[banjerpickin]

Awesome, thank you so much kipper.  Looking forward to the diving in to the debugging process...as they say, when you get it right on the first try you don't actually learn anything!  I may not get to it until tomorrow or this weekend but I hopefully will soon.

In the meantime, here is a link to all relevant documents, including some build reports:  https://aionelectronics.com/project/aurora-ross-dyna-compressor/
I built the Dyna Comp version with the attack knob and treble toggle switch, followed it exactly for the values (although you'll see I stuck some electro's in where tantalum were recommended).  I got my hands on a CA3080  for the op amp.

Parts were a mixture of leftovers from a mouser order (for a u87 mic clone build) and new stuff from small bear.  I feel pretty confident about my offboard wiring, it's how I've done it before on previous aion pedals with no issue.  Was there a certain joint/spot you were referring too?  I should have also noted that when in the "off" position the pedal functions correctly and guitar volume and tone are unaffected.

[thermionix]

Where did you get the 3080?  If from Small Bear, it should be good.  But search around and you'll find plenty of threads where fake 3080s made compressor builds not work.

[banjerpickin]

Where did you get the 3080?  If from Small Bear, it should be good.  But search around and you'll find plenty of threads where fake 3080s made compressor builds not work.

I did get it from Small Bear, it was like $5 so it had better work!  Haha.  We will find out soon when I measure it...thanks for the tip and insight.  Looking like tomorrow afternoon is debugging time.

[banjerpickin]

1.What does it do, not do, and sound like? - no sound when turned on (LED comes on), works fine when turned off

2.Name of the circuit = Aurora dyna comp by Aion

3.Source of the circuit (URL of schematic or project) = https://aionelectronics.com/project/aurora-ross-dyna-compressor/

4.Any modifications to the circuit? Dyna comp version as documented

5.Any parts substitutions? No, used the 3080 and sourced from Small Bear

6.Positive ground to negative ground conversion? N/A (no)

7. Out of circuit battery voltage? => 0

8. Voltage at the circuit board end of the red battery lead = 9.2
    Voltage at the circuit board end of the black battery lead = 0

See confirmed/remeasured values below

Q1
C = 2.07
B = 1.43
E = 9.17

Q2
C= 2.52
B= 2.67
E= 6.59

Q3
C = 0
B = 0
E = 8.04

Q4
C= 0
B= 0
E= 8.04

Q5
C= 8.48
B= 8.04
E= 9.15

IC1 (or U1) - (fixed to go correct direction, see below comments)
P1= 0
P2= 3.6
P3= 3.6
P4= 0
P5= 0
P6= 9.14
P7= 2.67
P8= 0.7

D1
A= 0
K= 9.13

D2
A= 0
K= 0

D3
A= 0
K= 0


So...lots of zeros.  I'm guessing that is a problem!  I'm going to go and check my solder joins that are showing as 0 and make sure they are solid.  Any other insight is greatly appreciated!!!

[Ben Lyman]

For edjamacational purposes:

IC's are usually numbered in a counterclockwise circle starting with the pin next to the "circle" or "dot" or other similar mark.

My ebay CA3080's from China sound like what you are experiencing, 10 for $5 and free s/h... but yours is from SBE, so probably good. In the future, consider a .19¢ IC socket so you can swap it out easily, just in case

[banjerpickin]

Lol so I had a 50/50 chance and went in the exact opposite direction, here's the "real" v's:

See confirmed/remeasured values below

IC1 (or U1) -
P1= 0
P2= 3.6
P3= 3.6
P4= 0
P5= 0
P6= 9.14
P7= 2.67
P8= 0.7

And I have always socketed my IC chips in the past.  Why oh why I didn't do it this time I don't know.  Thanks for the help/tips.

I have gone back and resoldered ALL joints and still the same problem.  I've got a bad component somewhere, or perhaps a wrong component.  I'll go very carefully double check values against the documentation next.

[banjerpickin]

While doing some digging, I found another thread with an issue of the same layout/board if this helps, they've got different readings than I do for sure:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=115063.msg1068470#msg1068470

[Kipper4]

Q1
C = 7v3
B = 2v2
E = 1v8

Q2
C= 6v8
B= 2v7
E= 2v2

Q3
C = 8v9
B = 0
E = 0

Q4
C= 8v9
B= 0
E= 0

Q5
C= 9
B= 9
E= 8v5

IC1
P1= 0
P2= 4v6
P3= 4v6
P4= 0
P5= 0v65
P6= 2v7
P7= 9
P8= 0

I used the tonepad layout and an lm3080 chip

[duck_arse]

banjer - all your emitters seem to be where your collectors should be. is this because you are mis-reading the pins, or mis-writing the results, or have you wired supply to ground and visey-versie?

[banjerpickin]

banjer - all your emitters seem to be where your collectors should be. is this because you are mis-reading the pins, or mis-writing the results, or have you wired supply to ground and visey-versie?

Lol I have no idea...I just broke everything out again and using the photo diagram above got these readings, which lined up mostly with Kippers:

IC1
P1= 0
P2= 3.6
P3= 3.6
P4= 0
P5= 0.7
P6= 2.6
P7= 9.1
P8= 0 -

Q1
C = 9.1
B = 1.4
E = 2

Q2
C= 6.5
B= 2.7
E= 2.5

Q3
C = 8.8
B = 0
E = 0

Q4
C= 8.8
B= 0
E= 0

Q5
C= 9.1
B= 8.8
E= 8.5

D1
A= 0
K= 9.13

D2
A= 0
K= 0

D3
A= 0
K= 0

So, what do you think guys?  Where have I gone wrong? 

[Kipper4]

Have you probed it?
Tested it outside the box?
Checked the switch wiring?
Jack wiring?

[duck_arse]

check you parts around Q1 (those alternate values/links have me confused), the base voltage should be higher tahn it is. also check the Vr resistors and voltage, it should be higher. something, somewhere is pulling yr bias volts down.

[banjerpickin]

check you parts around Q1 (those alternate values/links have me confused), the base voltage should be higher tahn it is. also check the Vr resistors and voltage, it should be higher. something, somewhere is pulling yr bias volts down.

Thank you, that is super helpful.  May not get a chance to really dive in again until next week, but I will and will report back!

[banjerpickin]

Hey everyone - finally got a chance to work on this again tonight.  Had a long string of shows there and was out on the road.

So, Aion and Tayda had Black Friday Sales and I went ahead and ordered another dyna comp board in case this one doesn't work out.  Was also ordering parts from Tayda to populate the board when I realized I had ordered and installed the wrong values on C13 and CX1.  I pulled CX1 (is an add on for the trimpot), pulled the trimpot and jumpered as directed in the documentation, and put the correct cap in C13.  Still no sound when it's engaged, in fact there is absolutely no signal getting through now (used to be extremely thin and quiet at full cranked volume on pedal).  Here are the new readings compared to Kipper's if they differed (->), almost every value changed, and some values that appeared to be correct are now off:

IC1
P1= 0
P2= 3.7 (up from 3.6) -> 4.6
P3= 3.7 (up from 3.6) -> 4.6
P4= 0
P5= 0.7 -> .65
P6= 2.8 (up from 2.6) -> 2.7
P7= 9.45 (up from 9.1) -> 9
P8= 0

Q1
C = 9.45 (up from 9.1) -> 7.3
B = 1.47 (up from 1.4) -> 2.2
E = 2.15 (up from 2) -> 1.8

Q2
C= 6.8 (up from 6.5)
B= 2.8 (up from 2.7)
E= 2.6 (up from 2.5) -> 2.2

Q3
C = 9.45 (up from 8.8 ) -> 8.9
B = 0
E = 0

Q4
C= 9.35 (up from 8.8 ) -> 8.9
B= 0
E= 0

Q5
C= 9.45 (up from 9.1) -> 9
B= 7 (down from 8.8 ) -> 9
E= 8.85 (up from 8.5) -> 8.5

D1
A= 0
K= 9.45 (up from 9.13)

D2
A= 0
K= 0

D3
A= 0
K= 0

Safe to say I'm bummed, for a second there I thought I'd cracked the code.  If anyone has any insight, great, otherwise I'm going to try and salvage the IC and start from scratch on the new board.

[Kipper4]

Your voltages seem all ballpark.
Are you sure it's not a clod/bad solder joint in the switching somewhere?
How's the bypass signal now?

[banjerpickin]

Your voltages seem all ballpark.
Are you sure it's not a clod/bad solder joint in the switching somewhere?
How's the bypass signal now?

The bypass signal is still getting through 100% and sounds fine.  I guess I could try a new footswitch and see if that is the problem?

[tl-ww-ext]

I realize you have done work on this since those pics from your earlier post...  I noticed the jumper on your stompswitch from lug 1 to lug 9 is a bare wire (maybe a snipped lead?) and comes very close to lug 5 (ground).  You're absolutely sure that wire doesn't make contact with lug 5, right?  I noticed you have a fair amount of exposed wire on those stompswitch connections which lend themselves to shorting on something else.

I realize this is a long shot, best of luck.

T

[banjerpickin]

I realize you have done work on this since those pics from your earlier post...  I noticed the jumper on your stompswitch from lug 1 to lug 9 is a bare wire (maybe a snipped lead?) and comes very close to lug 5 (ground).  You're absolutely sure that wire doesn't make contact with lug 5, right?  I noticed you have a fair amount of exposed wire on those stompswitch connections which lend themselves to shorting on something else.

I realize this is a long shot, best of luck.

T

I'll take whatever chance I can get!  I've always used a snipped lead to connect 1 to 9 on a true bypass with no issues, but let me rewire it with shielded wire and let's see what happens.