Pedal works until I put it in enclosure? Is this a regular problem?

[lvckv]

So I have a Fuzzdog Fuzz Fack (Fuzz Factory clone).

It works perfectly well, but then when I put everything in the enclosure and solder up the power input there is no sound, only regular clean guitar sound when bypassed.

I can't really see what would be causing this now? Of course usually the wires that aren't soldered in the photo are soldered, so it's not that  I don't think there's any irregular contacts or anything that would cause it? Any ideas?

[GibsonGM]

Yeah, it's totally normal - it's a feature        Seriously, tho....generally it's because something is shorting out.  Power jack terminals can short to a pot (the pic looks scary, maybe it's not that close?), or maybe a sketchy wire bends the wrong way and causes an 'intermittent'.  Maybe the ribbon cable...

If the back cover is on, maybe the board shorts on the cover? I pretty much always glue on some cardboard or something to prevent this, and pad the board with non-conductive foam to keep it from moving around.

I find it helpful if this happens to plug it in (gasp!) and slowly try to work the board into place, move wires around a tiny bit with a pencil and so on, to see if I get 'crackle', indicating a short.   There's a chance you can fry something doing this, tho.   

[lvckv]

Yeah the jack terminals are tight. I'll stick some electrical tape around the usual areas and see.

It worked ok the first time, then I took everything out to paint the enclosure and now this..

[soggybag]

Could be a loose wire or other part. As you close the enclosure things pushed and stressed a little and maybe a connection breaks?

Shorting out is also likely if the pedal is completely silent. That means the signal is likely going to ground.

Divide the problem areas.

- Does the LED light up? If not power is getting shorted.
- Does it work in bypass? The problem is in the circuit somewhere since the signal is getting from jack to jack through the switch. Though it could still be in the switch through the terminals used when engaged.

Plug it in and make sure things are working then put things in the box slowly and note when the sound cuts out note what are you pushing and pressing?

[anotherjim]

Align the jack sockets so the big tip spring contact is 45deg away from the enclosure top & bottom. When you plug in the contact moves out and can short to the box.

[Mark Hammer]

It-worked-before-I-boxed-it-up has cropped up here so many times over the lifespan of this forum that it really ought to have its own acronym or other expression.

Possible sources?

1) Pots short out against something.
2) Toggles that operate fine when just hanging by their wires short out against the board components.
3) Wires get fractured when twisting pots or switches into place.
4) Jacks that were properly connected out of the box get disconnected to adjust wire length, then reconnected wrong when installing.
5) Holes for jacks and/or pots put them too close to the sides of the enclosure, so they short out.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

It-worked-before-I-boxed-it-up has cropped up here so many times over the lifespan of this forum that it really ought to have its own acronym or other expression.

WBB = Worked Before Boxing 

[glops]

Looking at the picture, if the red wire is the 9V connection to the board it looks like it's been desoldered from the ground tab of the DC jack and if the black wire is the ground connection to the board it looks like that is desoldered from the 9V tab on the DC jack. If that's where those wires were soldered then you need to do the opposite. Also looks like the 9V tab on the DC jack is super close to touching the pot casing which would case a short, as well.

[lvckv]

It was the ribbon wire in the end, got it out and used regular wires instead and now it's all ok.
Stuck electrical tape all over the inside for good measure anyway.

Looking at the picture, if the red wire is the 9V connection to the board it looks like it's been desoldered from the ground tab of the DC jack and if the black wire is the ground connection to the board it looks like that is desoldered from the 9V tab on the DC jack. If that's where those wires were soldered then you need to do the opposite. Also looks like the 9V tab on the DC jack is super close to touching the pot casing which would case a short, as well.

Nah they were on the right jack, they were just coming from opposite sides of the board and cut pretty tight so it just looks like they're going to the wrong jack.

[GibsonGM]

Thought it might have been, I've had the same trouble with it (more than once).  Happens a lot in Univibes...

[Mark Hammer]

It-worked-before-I-boxed-it-up has cropped up here so many times over the lifespan of this forum that it really ought to have its own acronym or other expression.

WBB = Worked Before Boxing 

My eternal gratitude.  That's a keeper.

[Toy Sun]

WBB, story of my life. I know that it happens a lot to me because I love top mounted jacks + DC AND I like 1590B AND I do fancy LED stuff.  I recently stared using this liquid tape, especially now that Tayda Alpha pots don't seem to come with insulated covers. Just slaver it on the back of pots, sometimes the inside of the lid. Another thing I use a lot is cut up pieces of bike innertube, it's great between your 3pdt and the cover (if there is room - a lot of my builds don't!)

[Mark Hammer]

These days, unless I have run out of the stuff, I put a piece of heat shrink over the joint between wire and pot lug.  Not only provides some strain relief to prevent fracturing, but also provides some protection against shorts.  If one is the sort that makes use of the little anti-twist bump you find on most pots, I suppose such extra efforts aren't necessary.  But as a decidedly nonprofessional builder, I constantly find that the position I put a pot in, when I inserted it into the drilled hole, is not the position it ends up in when I tighten the nut from the outside.