Crackle and popping even when effect bypassed,

[joelap]

Hey guys.  I'm going nuts.  I was changing a few parts in my CE-3 (4 parts swapped), and after I finished there is a weird crackle and pop situation going on.  First of all, I know the rule of "one component swap at a time", but I was changing the entire first stage of the pedal, and you can't really do that one component at a time.  Anyways, here's the deal.  When I first give power to the pedal and play it, it sounds absolutely great for about 5 seconds.  Then a light background crackle starts to develop... nothing I can't deal with though.  Then after 5 seconds of that it gets a bit louder.  Then louder, and then finally its as loud as or louder than the signal.  This crackling persists even when the effect is bypassed.  Eventually, the pedal starts working intermittently and cutting in and out.  As I was working on it, two different wires on the board somehow snapped off at the solder joint, probably due to being held in place for years and never moved.  I put them back in the place they belonged (they both snapped at seperate times so it was the only open space, and I double checked with the factory schem/layout).  Here is what I've tried so far:
1) I socketed all of the components I changed.  I swapped them back for the original components, same crackling effect.
2) I took the soldering iron and reheated all of the solder points on the board.  Still crackling.
3) I reheated all of the offboard wires and the places they connect to (jacks, switch, etc.)  Still crackling.
4) Found a random 1uf cap I hit with the soldering iron.  Replaced it, still crackling.
5) Took any traces that look like they might be starting to lift or have a cut in it and ran a wire between connections on that line.  STILL crackling.

Normally I'd leave this up for "look at it with a fresh pair of eyes tomorrow" kind of approach, but I've got a gig tomorrow I gotta head to straight from work.  Wednesday, another gig straight from work.  Thursday a meeting, and Friday a writing session.  Luckily, I have a spare unmodded pedal I was going to perform a depth mod on for a friend I can use for the time being.  But I'd rather not go that route.  I'll stay up as long as I can tonight to get this done... need fresh opinions... what other avenues can I check?

The funny thing is that I didnt even touch any areas of the board that has anything to do with the bypass switching.  Everything I changed was on the upper right portion of the board (looking down on the component side).  UGH!  What could possibly be going on?

[aron]

>Hey guys.  I'm going nuts.  I was changing a few parts in my CE-3 (4 parts swapped), and after I finished there is a weird crackle and pop situation going on.

What components did you change? Maybe a capacitor in backwards??? If you have a macro function on a camera - take a picture and blow it up and check carefully for any shorts?

I know, these type of problems are frustrating. Now that you mention it, my Boss CE-3 is broken.

[petemoore]

  "when Bypassed',
I'd look 'around' the circuit mostly at the bypass circuit/offboard stuff, try audio probing to see if it's happening near the input or output, probably isn't 'in the middle'.

[BoostAddict]

I thought I fudged a simple A/B box one time because it was crackling.  Came to realize it was one of my cables AND my input jack on my strat.    It's a mental thing I think because before you do any mods you listen normally.  After you do some mods, you listen more for whats different, then you notice the crackles.  Try wiggling the cable near the jack on your guitar and stuff...hope you figure it out though!

[joelap]

What components did you change? Maybe a capacitor in backwards??? If you have a macro function on a camera - take a picture and blow it up and check carefully for any shorts?

Aron, I changed two resistors, a capacitor, and a transistor all at the input of the circuit.  The 2SK30 changed to 2N5089, 1M resistor (R4) changed to 470k, 10k R2 changed to 1K and placed in C1's holes, and C1 moved to the R2 holes.  This changes the first stage to CE-2 specs.  It worked breifly, then I went and had dinner, came back and it was crackling all over.

I gave it some time off and then counted.  I plugged in the effect and turned it on.  It took 11 seconds for a light background hiss to develop, and at 39 seconds it overpowered the signal and started working intermittently.  This is odd, since normally crackling is persistent if it is the result of a lifting trace, but this takes a while to get going, and then takes even longer for it to persist...

I thought I fudged a simple A/B box one time because it was crackling.  Came to realize it was one of my cables AND my input jack on my strat.    It's a mental thing I think because before you do any mods you listen normally.  After you do some mods, you listen more for whats different, then you notice the crackles.  Try wiggling the cable near the jack on your guitar and stuff...hope you figure it out though!

I tried it with two different guitars and the same situation resulted.  Thanks for the heads up though.

  "when Bypassed',
I'd look 'around' the circuit mostly at the bypass circuit/offboard stuff, try audio probing to see if it's happening near the input or output, probably isn't 'in the middle'.

I could never get an audio probe to work properly for me.  I resoldered all offboard connections both on the board and to where they were going.  It's weird, because I didn't touch anything anywhere on the circuit other than an area less than 1 square inch on the board, and thats FAR away from the bypass circuitry.


I'm starting to think it is a problem in the DC power.  It isn't my supply, as I used it for other effects no problem last night as well, but it could be a faulty connector maybe?  One of the wires that ripped off was the ground wire of the DC connector... maybe thats the culprit?  I've got another at home... I guess I'll have to try tonight when I get back from the gig. Come to think about it, when I first was trying to fix it, the LED was fluctuating as well for a brief period, changing from dim to fully lit.  That stopped though and isn't doing it now.  Maybe it is the DC voltage inside the pedal fluctuating, like how a rangemaster crackles when you turn the boost up and down.