Neovibe Debug Help

[tr1p1n]

Can you post a clear photo of the current wiring showing all of the off board components and how they are wired?

http://imgur.com/a/6XBHl

Wonder why the labels didn't show up but here they are according to the gallery.
#1-Chorus/Vibrato Switch
#2-Depth Pot
#3-DPDT
#4-Input Jack
#5-Output Jack
#6-Speed Pot
#7-Volume Pot

[Jdansti]

Can you post a clear photo of the current wiring showing all of the off board components and how they are wired?

http://imgur.com/a/6XBHl

Wonder why the labels didn't show up but here they are according to the gallery.
#1-Chorus/Vibrato Switch
#2-Depth Pot
#3-DPDT
#4-Input Jack
#5-Output Jack
#6-Speed Pot
#7-Volume Pot

I compared your photos to the schematic and didn't see any problems.

I think I read earlier that you're getting a noisy signal in bypass mode.  Here's what might seem like a stupid question, but I'll ask. Have you made sure that your guitar, amp and both cables are functioning properly without the neovibe in the chain?  If so, place an alligator lead between the tip contacts of the input and output jacks of the circuit and check that you have clean sound from the amp.

[tr1p1n]

Everything is fine, just can't get the effect to really work at all. When I turn it on I have to turn the volume on the amp all he way up (literally) Just to have it sound like it's on volume 2 for example. The effect isn't very strong, the chorus vibrato switch doesn't seem to change anything but the 3 controls respond OK.
I don't know, maybe I should try and record it for you guys to hear what is happening first hand.

[Jdansti]

Do you have a nice clean signal during bypass?

[tr1p1n]

Do you have a nice clean signal during bypass?

Yep, should I post a clip of what's going on for you?
Well regardless, here's what's happening. Maybe someone had this problem or knows what to do.
http://yourlisten.com/channel/content/16916080/Neovibe

[Jaicen_solo]

Ok, your effect is working, but you've made a mistake somewhere, either in the wiring or a component selection.
I haven't read through this whole thread, but are you positive that you have all your caps and resisitors in the right place?
Sounds to me like you have part of the circuit shorted to ground somewhere.

[tr1p1n]

100% positive the caps are all right, the resistors shouldn't be messed up. I painstakingly went over them the first time I soldered, triple checking the value and layout. Then measuring resistance to make sure there OK. Jdansti assured me the wiring matched the schematic, not really sure where or even how I could have this thing grounded somewhere. Would hope to sort this out today, any and all help would be very much appreciated.
So I painstakingly went back and checked all resistors with one of the color code calculators, all check out except R30, its supposed to 68K but according to the color its 4.7K, could this really throw my whole circuit off like that?

[lonewolf]

have you looked at the solder connections with a magnifier for shorts / bridges?Look Close and then look again..I have missed things that were right there, have you tried moving components to look for cold spots/opens? one solder joint open or shorted can kill the whole circuit... have you tried completely bypassing the dpdt switch with jumpers? I was going to listen to your sample but they wanted me to register and after that they locked the download until I signed up for a promotion....

[tr1p1n]

have you looked at the solder connections with a magnifier for shorts / bridges?Look Close and then look again..I have missed things that were right there, have you tried moving components to look for cold spots/opens? one solder joint open or shorted can kill the whole circuit... have you tried completely bypassing the dpdt switch with jumpers? I was going to listen to your sample but they wanted me to register and after that they locked the download until I signed up for a promotion....

I've looked, but ill look again. Did you see where I mentioned R30 was 4.7k instead of 68K, could this be the reason for the massive volume drop? And register for the clip? should just be able to listen to it without any problems, no need to even download.

[lonewolf]

ok if that is the case then you have around a 63k value (63 thousand ohms) difference..that will screw things up..if you switched R 30..where is the 68k? there are 16 4.7 k  resistors in that circuit so make sure you dont have a 68k in where a 4.7 should go..just follow the layout and parts list...that could be your problem or at least a big part of it

[Jaicen_solo]

Well, there's your problem!!

That's going to completely mess up your bias on Q10, which is likely why you're losing most of your signal. through the phase shift network.
As lonewolf has said, if you have subbed a 4k7 for R30, you've probably also got a 68K resistor somewhere were there should be a 4k7, so i'd take another look once you've sorted out R30.

[tr1p1n]

ok if that is the case then you have around a 63k value (63 thousand ohms) difference..that will screw things up..if you switched R 30..where is the 68k? there are 16 4.7 k  resistors in that circuit so make sure you dont have a 68k in where a 4.7 should go..just follow the layout and parts list...that could be your problem or at least a big part of it

OK, i see where things got weird. When going back looking for the color code blue,grey, orange, gold I found it in a spot there shouldn't be a resistor, then that's when I noticed my board layout is slightly different then GGG project file. I was mistaking R29 (on my board) for R30. R30 is actually horizontally laid out to the right of Q10 on my board but in the project file its vertical or parallel with C15 and Q10. So I got myself confused/excited that THIS was the problem. Back to the drawing board I guess.
Should also mention, all other resistors are correct so guess ill check for cold joints or bridges, even though I re-flowed all of em.

[lonewolf]

print out a list of components/layout/shematic and check the whole circuit bit by bit and mark off things on the pages when you are sure things are right(resistor color codes/values..etc) I have had resistor color codes that did not match the values so I check them with a meter BEFORE I solder them in..that business with the board not matching the layout is going to make it confusing so you will have to use more caution so you dont miss someting...move things a little bit with it powered on to check for problems with a guitar plugged in...(banging on it)

[tr1p1n]

That's why I was so sure the resistors were right at first, when I first started soldering I would double, triple check the layout and value. Then after soldering I would measure the resistance. As for marking them off, that's what I've been doing. All resistors are correct, Diodes are correct, all caps are correct (I think) C4 & C12 say 330pF and 470pF but on the actual part they say 107J or one of em did (I think). Anyways it's a part number, not the label so those im unsure of. Everything else as for the 7815, LDR's and pots are all OK. So I've got to be shorted some wheres or something. I don't know anymore at this point but I gotta go have fun laying some concrete so I'll check back in a bit.

[R O Tiree]

That 107J is probably a value and tolerance band. "107" should be 100µF, which doesn't sound right, because that would either be an electrolytic, or something the size of a small dustbin!  You sure it's not "101" (100pF)?  Or maybe "102" with the bottom stroke of the "2" missing (1nF)?  Sometimes the inkjet printers that spray the part numbers onto the components on the production line smear a bit, or the part twists or a jet is blocked and the printing gets a bit distorted.

"J" denotes its value tolerance (similar to the brown, silver or gold bands on resistors).  "J" is 5% tolerance, "K" is 10%... there are lots of them, but those are the 2 main ones you'll see.

[R.G.]

... or one of em did (I think)...

Mother Nature is remarkably callous about what we think or don't notice.

For us to help you with doing debug while restricted to knowing only what you and we type, the "(I think)" leads us, and therefore you down unnecessary rabbit trails, and confuses finding the real faults in the circuit.  That's one reason I'm always trying to get people to write things down, complete all the measurements, print out and mark wiring diagrams, follow checklists, and so on.

I'm not naturally a checklist kind of guy, but fuzzy information gets confusing and misleading for efforts like this.

[lonewolf]

use a magnifier to check everything including values(numbers/codes/etc)..it helps to have good lighting to see things clearly..I check for continuity where it should be as well as where it shouldnt be...look at everything and follow the traces very carefully

[tr1p1n]

Was on my way out sorry and couldn't really check at the moment was saying 107J as an example from what I remembered. 470J and the other being 330J? The second one's label is really faded.

[Jdansti]

107J= 100uf, 5%
470J= 47pf, 5%
330J= 33pf, 5%

Here's a full explanation of the cap codes:
http://www.drakedev.com/pic/capacitors.php


Here's a calculator cheat:
http://www.muzique.com/schem/caps.htm

I keep these bookmarked for quick reference. 

Did you get the right resistors in the right places?

[tr1p1n]

33 and 47pf? Did I get the wrong ones then? the sheet says 330 and 470.