Footswitch replacement

[THOMMO]

G'day all! I've got an Akai Shred-O-Matic here with a footswitch that seems to be on the way out. I generally have to give it a few taps to get it to engage
properly. Here's a pic of the switch w/ new 3pdt.

Is there a relatively easy way to do this seeing as the wires are in the pin connector style? All the connections are like that.
I've figured out the two white wires are the input and output but beyond that I get lost quickly trying to follow traces etc. I can upload more pics if it'll help.

Cheers, Thommo.

[joegagan]

use your continuity setting on your multi meter to track out what the original switch is doing. then match that by doing the same test on the new switch.

[Jdansti]

+1
You beat me to the post, Joe, but here's what I had typed:

Unless I'm missing something here, all you have to do is transfer the wires from the old switch to the new one while keeping them in the same configuration. I recommend doing it one wire at a time to avoid making wrong connections.  By "pin connector style", do you mean that there are pins on each wire and these pins are soldered to the switch? If it were me, I would just cut each wire, strip off some insulation, tin the bare wire, and solder it to the new switch.

It looks like the old switch is DPDT. If this is the case, just use two of the poles on the new switch. Make sure you know which way the poles run on the new switch. You can check this by testing the continuity between terminals as you toggle the switch. As Joe mentioned, if you don't know the terminal configuration of the old switch, use your multimeter to figure it out.

[THOMMO]

use your continuity setting on your multi meter
My multimeter doesn't seem to have this feature lol

By "pin connector style", do you mean that there are pins on each wire and these pins are soldered to the switch?
No, the wires are soldered to the switch in the normal fashion. The other end, which you can see in the pic are joined to
the white 'plug', female end, if you will,  which plugs into the first PCB.

Looking at the bottom of the old switch with the side visible in the pic facing right the lugs are numbered 1, 2, 3 down the left,
and 4, 5, 6, down the right.

[Jdansti]

Ok. This should be easy. Here's your old switch:


Lugs 2 and 5 are the "common" lugs. Lug 2's connection toggles back and forth between lugs 1 and 3 each time you step on the switch. Lug 5 does the same between lugs 4 and 6.




---------------------------------------


Now here's the new 3PDT switch:



Notice the direction of the lugs and position the new switch in the same manner as the drawing. Lug 2 toggles its connection between lugs 1 and 3, and lug 5 toggles its connection between lugs 4 and 6 the same as your old DPDT.  This drawing shows how the lugs are connected as you toggle back and forth.

Lugs 7, 8 and 9 operate in the same fashion, but you won't be using these unless you decide to add something like an LED indicator.

So to summarize, just move the wires from the old switch to the new one while keeping them connected to the same lug numbers. Again, I advise to move one wire at a time. Alternately, you could number the wires with labels, draw a picture with the wire colors labeled, or take a photo before you disconnect the wires from the old switch.

Let us know how it turns out!

[THOMMO]

Yep, I have the new switch hooked up as per your reply. Result: sound in bypass but nothing when engaged. All LEDs working.
I actually had it done before I saw your reply but double checked it any way.

[Jdansti]

If you could post a pic of the newly wired switch, I could provide a second set of eyes to compare it to your photo of the old switch.

If all of the wires landed on the correct lugs, you might have a bad connection somewhere. You said that your meter doesn't have a continuity function, but does it measure resistance?  To go much further, you'll need to check some connections for continuity (low resistance). I would check the resistance between each lug of the switch and the terminals inside the white connector first. Then I would plug it in and check the continuity between the switch lugs and the corresponding pads of the connector on the PCB.

Another possibility is a failed solder joint or a failed component.

You mentioned before that you had to hit the old switch several times to get the pedal to work. Are you seeing the same thing now?

[THOMMO]

Ok, hold on a bit. Won't be long 

[THOMMO]

Here they are side-by-side.

1 is top left as you look at the pic.

Meter does resistance.

[THOMMO]

For curiosity sake, I just reconnected the old switch and the result is the same 
Sound in bypass but no sound when engaged  Must be a dead component somewhere.
Argh!! Wish I had have left it alone lol I can't see any obvious deaths, though.

[Jdansti]

Yep. The wiring looks to be the same as it was before. You might want to try activating the effect and jiggle the white connector and press in on the wires while you make some noise on the guitar.

If you have no change doing the above, I would start at the beginning.  If your meter reads DC volts, check for power on the PCB with the effect engaged to make sure you're getting power. Place the neg lead on an obvious ground and the pos lead on the first place that the power comes into the effect. I assume that you're using a 9V battery or PS. If so, look for approximately 9V. Follow the power throughout the circuit. Also check the voltage on any transistor and/or IC leads and let us know what you get.

If all of the above doesn't point to anything, we'll go to the next step.

[THOMMO]

Ok, I had the switch wired up correctly the first time  Then.......I found out the actual reason for the Shred-O's silence.
It was the fact that I'm a moron sometimes   

I plugged in this morning to start jiggling the wires about, as Jdansti suggested, and realised the LED that sits under the tube was quite dull and flickering.
That made me wonder if there was something wrong with the power supply. Yep, there it was....the multi-voltage wall wart I was using was
set on 3-bloody-volts lmao. I'd been mucking about with some fuzz circuits a few days ago. Changing the voltage to see how that affected the sound. New switch is in and she seems to working be in good working order.
All's well, that ends well   

Thank you joegagen and Jdansti for your replies. A great help.

Cheers, Thommo.

[Jdansti]

Glad you got it figured out!  You've got to watch those multi-power wall warts!  Sometimes the fix is the simplest thing that we overlook. I can't count the number of amps, pedals, and other electronic devices I've "fixed" by plugging in a power cord or flicking a switch!     

[Nyklus]

Dang I really need the pictures to be not forbidden here.

[Nyklus]

this pedal has
a horrible squeel when the effect is off. is
this
pedal
normally
true bypass. if not can somebody please explain how to make it so

[Jdansti]

There's always a way.

We need to see a schematic.

[Nyklus]

its a bummer its not easier to find schematics. where do you suggest i look

[Jdansti]

its a bummer its not easier to find schematics. where do you suggest i look

Did you try searching the forum and the web?  I just did a simple search on Google and a link to the schematic popped up at the top of the list. I could give you the link, but I imagine that you don't want to pay my $200 web search fee (if you do, I'll gladly give you PayPal instructions).   But since I'm a really generous and all around wonderful guy, I'll give you a one time free hint. Go to Google and do a search on "akai shred-o-matic schematic".

I'm not trying to be a d@ck about this, but you'll be better off learning to fish than relying on others to give you fish.

[digi2t]

I'm not trying to be a d@ck about this, but you'll be better off learning to fish than relying on others to give you fish.

Easy there John. Deep breath, and count to Zen. Patience is the better part of valor here at times. Might also depend on the native tongue of the person asking the questions. Here in Quebec, many of my friends are French, with only rudimentry English. Google searches are generally not geared to languages other than English, hence they have a much tougher time finding info when using French terms on Google. They'll do a Google search using French terms, and may spend hours looking for info, whereas in English the required results can be found in seconds.

It sucks, but it is what it is. I'm asked quite often by my French friends to do Google searches for them, just because it's so much easier to find info using English terms and vocabulary.

Although, I wouldn't mind a piece of that $200 web search fee action. That's brilliant!   

But since I'm a really generous and all around wonderful guy

Word. So don't piss him off!

[Nyklus]

heyy... weird i didnt see this last night,
http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/KHE/AKAI_Shred_O_Matic.jpg.html

to assure you i did at least
four google
searches
with different quotation markings
last night before hand, i just couldnt see it.
im no slave drive,
i appreciate all you
do
jdansi,

now is there a simple
way to bypass switch this pedal i have a 3pdt

ps also do you use a better search engine than i, i use google
but if theres a better one id be curious, having not found a guyatone flip td-x tube echo schematic.