Diy Klon Centaur - Problems - Need help

[willienillie]

Breadboard connections can be very loose, it would not be unusual to get noises from that.  I do think you have some other issues though.  I've only built one Klone and sold it not long afterward, so I don't have it around to double check, but from memory the gain pot was not scratchy, the treble pot made a very noticeable difference, and a battery lasted for at least several hours (maybe 10 or more).

[bluebunny]

"Burning through" a battery in short order usually indicates a short (pun intended).  Did the batteries get warm?

[Christian Steyn]

Hi again all, the batteries got a little hot, but not burning hot. There is a slight heat coming off the circuit though, like if you were to hold your hand over a fire. Once more, this heat is very mild, not at all very hot.

"Burning through" a battery in short order usually indicates a short (pun intended).  Did the batteries get warm?

Willienillie, do you have any ideas on what might be wrong?

Breadboard connections can be very loose, it would not be unusual to get noises from that.  I do think you have some other issues though.  I've only built one Klone and sold it not long afterward, so I don't have it around to double check, but from memory the gain pot was not scratchy, the treble pot made a very noticeable difference, and a battery lasted for at least several hours (maybe 10 or more).

^willienillie do you make pedals as a job or as a hobby? it's really cool to think that you could sell a pedal that you made yourself.

Also, does anyone know of anything that might be causing me problems regarding my improvised power supply setup:

I'm running the pedal on an improvised power supply made from two 5V DC power supplies (one of which is a blackberry charger) in series. They are not proper pedal power supplies. The total input voltage is around 10V to 10.3V. I researched the icl7660s and it can take up to 12V, so this should be okay, right? or might this be causing some of my problems?

As always, thanks a lot for all the help.

[antonis]

Ok, I used 3 1uf electrolytic caps in paralell for a total of 3uf. I put them between R10 and R11 (i.e. on the other side of R10) with the positive terminal facing R10. Is that the correct polarity?

You have to reverse caps polarity..
(they face GND via VR cap so their negative leg should go in that direction..)

[antonis]

There is a slight heat coming off the circuit though, like if you were to hold your hand over a fire. Once more, this heat is very mild, not at all very hot.

That shouldn't happen..
(at least, not for an "open-air" breadboard..)

If your DMM hasn't an Ameter mode (or it's fuse is burned out or you don't wish to use it..) place a 1R/5W(*) resistor between PS out & breadboard in and measure voltage drop across it.. What you read (in Volts) is what circuit consumes (in A)..
(*) I presume your circuit current consumption isn't greater than 5A..

[Christian Steyn]

Hi again, I reversed the caps and now there is even less distortion (I guess the klon is known as a clean drive huh).

I also connected my my multimeter in ammeter mode. I connected it in series between the positive terminal of the external power supply and the +9V rail of the circuit. The reading was 0.02A, is this too low? well it's not too high, is it?

Then, I noticed a subtle high pitched squeal/hum in the external 9V (which is actually 10.3V) power supply, what could this be?

Also, if I hover my hand over the circuit the noise increases. It increases the most over the ICL7660S, is this normal for an unshielded breadboard circuit?

Thanks

[antonis]

20mA current is just fine for the particular circuit..

Don't mind about the rest, as far as your effect in unboxed..

[Christian Steyn]

Thank you very much, it looks like I may have this circuit under wraps. Only time will tell. I guess it's time to get the circuit on the pcb or veroboard, put it into the enclosure and test it on my buddies' tube and ss amps. Only then will we be able to see whether it's magic or not.

Thank you all so much for helping me build my first pedal.

[willienillie]

willienillie do you make pedals as a job or as a hobby?

95% hobby.  I've made some for friends, acquantances, coworkers.  A little profit but probably less than minimum wage considering the hours put in.  The guy that bought my Klone was a bandmate at the time (last summer).  I had built that for myself originally, but he was using it regularly, as it sounded better with his rig than mine.

[antonis]

Just to point out that for 20mA working current, below statement shouldn't  stand..

if I run the pedal with new battery (that meaures about 9V at the start), the battery measures about 7V thirty minutes later.

"New" isn't always identical to "Fresh"..
(under no-load measurement equal to nominal voltage value may also be taken by "old" baterries..)

[Christian Steyn]

Just to point out that for 20mA working current, below statement shouldn't  stand..

if I run the pedal with new battery (that meaures about 9V at the start), the battery measures about 7V thirty minutes later.

"New" isn't always identical to "Fresh"..
(under no-load measurement equal to nominal voltage value may also be taken by "old" baterries..)

I see