Completely dead BYOC wah

mtlin · October 23, 2006, 10:40:06 AM

I've just completed assemblying my BYOC drop in wah kit. The instructions and schematics are here:

http://buildyourownclone.com/wahinstructions.pdf

I did not modify the circut or make any substitutions.

I measured some voltages with my multimeter. The battery out of circut tested good. Then I plugged in the battery, set the multimeter to 10V, held the black probe against the sleeve of the input jack and put the red probe to the red battery lead where it met the circut board and got 250. Then I held the red probe to where the black battery wire meets the board and got nothing. I didn't get any voltages at any of the transitor socket pins either. So I desoldered and resoldered the black battery lead to the circult board, making sure that I had a good mechanical connection before I soldered. But I still get zero with the multimeter.

Here are some pictures:

Thanks!

Martin

3/4 North · October 23, 2006, 10:56:22 AM

looks like you didn't wire the footswitch right? The instructions show the "out" from the board going to the footswitch and not directly to the jack.

I can't help much beyond that, my byoc wah is still sitting in the box.

mtlin · October 23, 2006, 11:00:35 AM

Quote from: 3/4 North on October 23, 2006, 10:56:22 AM
looks like you didn't wire the footswitch right? The instructions show the "out" from the board going to the footswitch and not directly to the jack.

I can't help much beyond that, my byoc wah is still sitting in the box.

Thanks for your reply. I think the photo must be misleading. The "out" from the board is wired to the footswitch. --M

ThisBrian · October 23, 2006, 11:05:05 AM

Bad battery snap? What's with the tape underneath the board? Check for shorts...

petemoore · October 23, 2006, 11:12:52 AM

The battery out of circut tested good. Then I plugged in the battery, set the multimeter to 10V, held the black probe against the sleeve of the input jack and put the red probe to the red battery lead where it met the circut board and got 250.
250 what?
Then I held the red probe to where the black battery wire meets the board and got nothing
Great pretest to any power up...
Test that there is NON continuity between V+ and V_. This can always be done right at the battery clip or, Mono plug in input, Testing around and with the DC plug in and out. These pre-tests for shorts are worth the time.
A better instruction should include something like "test for shorts under all possible power line conditions before powering up".
A short'd do that I think, maybe it's not a PS short...

mtlin · October 23, 2006, 11:16:17 AM

The tape underneath the board is where I cut off the bolt that holds in the flat spring. It was too long. I taped over it to prevent shorts. Just to be sure, I slipped a peice of paper underneath the board and it seems to clear it.

mtlin · October 23, 2006, 11:19:12 AM

Quote from: petemoore on October 23, 2006, 11:12:52 AM
The battery out of circut tested good. Then I plugged in the battery, set the multimeter to 10V, held the black probe against the sleeve of the input jack and put the red probe to the red battery lead where it met the circut board and got 250.
250 what?

Sorry for being stupid, but my multimeter has a scale for DC going from zero to 250. It doesn't give any units. I set the meter for 10V and the arrow went to about 225.

Quote
Then I held the red probe to where the black battery wire meets the board and got nothing
Great pretest to any power up...
Test that there is NON continuity between V+ and V_. This can always be done right at the battery clip or, Mono plug in input, Testing around and with the DC plug in and out. These pre-tests for shorts are worth the time.
A better instruction should include something like "test for shorts under all possible power line conditions before powering up".
A short'd do that I think, maybe it's not a PS short...

Unfortunately my multimeter doesn't measure contituity. Maybe I need to upgrade.

mtlin · October 23, 2006, 12:40:41 PM

I don't think it's a short. I tried the wah with the enclosure open and the board free from any contact. BTW, what is a PS short? Could the battery clip be bad. I get 9 volts where the red lead connects to the board. --Martin

BDuguay · October 23, 2006, 12:48:40 PM

Hey Martin
I'm the guy who builds all of the pre-build orders for BYOC. I have the wah kits but haven't received any orders yet. If you post your pics and problems at the BYOC forum, you might here from others who have built the wah kit. Keith himself will likely respond and offer assistance too.
Good luck.
B.

petemoore · October 23, 2006, 01:15:45 PM

Marc's and Harbor Freight sell cheep DMM's, worth every penny...

slacker · October 23, 2006, 01:19:47 PM

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but have you plugged a jack into the input socket when you're trying to measure things?
It looks like there's 3 wires going to the input socket which normally means that it connects the battery only when a plug is inserted. If you try and measure voltages with nothing plugged in you'll get nothing.

puretube · October 23, 2006, 01:28:08 PM

best support ought to be here...

mtlin · October 23, 2006, 01:33:04 PM

Quote from: slacker on October 23, 2006, 01:19:47 PM
Sorry if this sounds stupid, but have you plugged a jack into the input socket when you're trying to measure things?
It looks like there's 3 wires going to the input socket which normally means that it connects the battery only when a plug is inserted. If you try and measure voltages with nothing plugged in you'll get nothing.

Yes, I have it plugged in. Good idea though.

I also posted at BYOC. The community there is excellent, but my impression is that the crowd here is in general more experienced, so I thought I tap into the knowledge of both boards.

Martin

wampcat1 · October 23, 2006, 08:35:56 PM

When you buy a BYOC product, you are PAYING for Keith's expertise and help. Simply send him an email, it's his job to help you!

brian

mtlin · October 24, 2006, 12:25:44 AM

I fixed it. I didn't solder in the DC adapter since my enclosure doesn't have a hole for it. For some stupid reason I thought it would matter since I wasn't going to use it. But then I tried to follow the traces from the battery and realized that it had to go through the DC adapter before it could go anywhere. It works now. Thanks to everyone who tried to help.

Best,

Martin

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Completely dead BYOC wah