man, tc electronics ....nova delay crapped out AGAIN.

pinkjimiphoton · September 27, 2012, 11:30:10 AM

good call bro!!

seriously, take a good close up of that spot.. cuz that regulator doesn't look like it was even ever soldered on! worst case, when you fix it (there was no screw or bolt on my nova delay i recall seeing ) put a tiny dab of silicon under to help secure the chip to the board..you want that secure, but i don't think there's room to drill a hole or anything.

Ronan · September 27, 2012, 05:50:07 PM

To me it looks like the reg was mounted through-hole, with the legs bent at a right angle, and because the screw was not fitted, it has broken off. I'd guess the broken-off legs are still soldered into the pcb.

pinkjimiphoton · September 27, 2012, 07:04:31 PM

indeed. sure seems to me this whole series of stuff just kinda isn't on par with the tc of all.
i have a polytune...also signed by steve morse...that is amazing...except it's not useable live, when you turn it on to tune and bypass the guitar, it puts out so much RFI your amp picks it up...and annoying wobbling noisey oscillation. i've talked to a bunch of other folks, they've had the same issue.
sucks, cuz it's a great tool, especially for anything with a floyd or kahler on it.

oldschoolanalog · September 27, 2012, 07:11:46 PM

Quote from: pinkjimiphoton on September 27, 2012, 07:04:31 PMi have a polytune...also signed by steve morse...that is amazing...except it's not useable live, when you turn it on to tune and bypass the guitar, it puts out so much RFI your amp picks it up...and annoying wobbling noisey oscillation. i've talked to a bunch of other folks, they've had the same issue.

Strange. Mine does not do that. I got one when it was first released. Maybe a SNAFU in later production runs? Hmmmm.....

pinkjimiphoton · September 27, 2012, 11:53:54 PM

seems like every time i go to gc, someone's exchanging them cuz of this problem.

jackostrato · September 28, 2012, 02:41:42 PM

well, here you go and thanks for the tips. it does indeed seem to go right where that outline suggests and the 3 contact points line up perfectly with those 3 contacts that stick up about 1/8" from the bottom circuit board. you can see that there's a tiny bit of solder left on the ends of the contact points of the loosed component. there is no evidence of a screw that would've gone through the brass grommet on the circuit board nor any markings that might suggest that it was ever secured through it, even though they line up perfectly. evidently, the thing was held on only by the strength of a tiny bit of solder.

i'm going in...

pinkjimiphoton · September 28, 2012, 02:48:05 PM

should be a no-brainer...that's absolutely where the regulator went.

right on...let us know how you make out!!

jackostrato · September 28, 2012, 04:48:27 PM

well, no dice.

i soldered it back in but it's shot. matter of fact, now it won't even light up. something definitely got ruined and one would think it's safe to say that this voltage regulator issue was somehow involved.

i've been thinking...i've probably owned maybe 50 effects pedals in my life. you'd expect that with moderately heavy use there'll be some problems: old wah pedals tend to need new pots from time to time and even high end wahs and volume pedals will have mechanical issues from being rocked and stomped on. all boxes will need new footswitches at some point.

in the early 90s i had a boss dd3 that was a lemon but other than that boss stuff has always been pretty reliable. my diamond memory lane went dead a few months back and they had it fixed and back to me door-to-door from canada within 2 weeks for only the price of shipping to them...and i'm not even the original owner.

there's only 2 companies that i've experienced who's quality seems to be so low that i can't trust them in my board. the 1st is electro harmonix. now, i think i have to add tc to the list. coincidentally and for different reasons, both companies' customer service has been less than accommodating when it comes to helping me getting their products back up and running (tc if only for the high price they charge for repair).

thanks for your help, fellas...much appreciated.

c'mon strymon.

pinkjimiphoton · September 28, 2012, 06:03:54 PM

dude, you didn't re-use that reg, did ya?
if so, undo that mofo and get another. if ya have problems, pm me i'll send ya one.
very high probability that regulator is dead. don't give up yet.

these pedals want to be run at 10v, not 9. if you DO run 'em at 9v, the regulator can get real hot and burn up. remember, 10v adapters from tc are probably more like 12-15v unregulated..

so try replacing the regulator and run it at 12v instead if possible to see if it works. i bet it lights up and trouble solved.
if not, hey, i eat the postage, what's to lose?

jackostrato · September 28, 2012, 06:25:07 PM

well, well, well, welllllllllllll!!!!!... looka dis!

so, the 2nd tc delay i spoke of, the nova delay, was making a loud snap, crackle, pop every time i stepped on it to turn it off, on, or tap tempo. same if i gave it a jostle. i opened it up, all was tight. started poking around to see if a component was making the noise and none other than the same voltage converter was the problem here, as well. it seems that it's not soldered to those 3 contacts but a one piece deal where the 3 contacts bend at almost a right angle and attach to the circuit board. the v.c. floats kinda free and was on a slight angle but was smacking down against the circuit board and likely grounding out or something. i bent it upwards ever so slightly and, ta-freakin'-da, the problem is solved.

jimi, you are da man. i will p.m. you

pinkjimiphoton · September 28, 2012, 08:02:01 PM

SEND THEM THESE PICS!!! THEY NEED TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND STOP SERVING SH*T!!!!!

Johanaz · September 30, 2012, 10:22:45 AM

Hey guys.

I had to create a profile because of this great thread.

I bought a Nova repeater two weeks ago from the Danish equivalent of EBay. I was out on gigs yesterday and last saturday as well, and it failed on me on both occasions.
Last saturday the on/off stomp switch got stuck way down so I was unable to turn the pedal on for the remainder of the gig. No big deal I guess, nothing I couldn't fix myself.
But last night I suffered from the issue you described above, crapping out, flickering LEDs, cutting off.

Needless to say I'm severely dissapointed because I chose the repeater based on TC's reputation for producing quality stuff.

My plan is to try and contact TC's R&D department directly and inform them on this issue. I know a guy in their high end studio effects division. Hopefully they will step up and improve the QC at their Thailand factory, and maybe do something to help those of us who bought the stuff in good faith.

"Planned Obsolescence" is for light bulbs, printers and cheap consumer electronics, not for "high end" musical equipment.

Thanks for your efforts

jackostrato · September 30, 2012, 06:01:09 PM

agreed Johanaz. sorry to hear about your travails. if you bought it new, you'll be under warrantee. tell your buddy at tc to check out this thread.

pinkjimiphoton · September 30, 2012, 10:44:34 PM

cuz their QC BLOWS

jackostrato · October 08, 2012, 09:44:14 PM

well, i swapped out the power regulator for a new one and it didn't change anything. the box is toast. thanks for your help, guys. the new tc electronics' pedals really kinda suck.

btw, i got the strymon timeline a few days ago. it really is a deep box but, to be honest, i'm not sure i love it. it does a million things but i'm not sure that i like the sound...kinda sterile. i'll try it on a few more small gigs and such but there's a 15 day return policy which i might just use.

any other suggestions? t-rex? eventide?

Ronan · October 09, 2012, 04:45:14 AM

Me and my bass player mate had TC elec sustain/parametric eq boxes years ago, around 20 something years ago, they sounded/worked very well, but both units broke down after 2 or 3 years, bass player bought another one, it broke down too eventually. I didn't have enough mouse to know how to fix them back then. All units got scrapped, the so-called "techs" back then wanted to buy new pcb's for them, which cost about the same as another 2nd hand pedal. So that was the end of our relationship with tc elec, unfortunately.

rockhorst · October 09, 2012, 10:26:34 AM

Very happy with my polytune, no problems at all...

pinkjimiphoton · October 09, 2012, 11:56:03 AM

jacko, that blows!!

ever try an echoplex? it's my usual go-to delay....

hard to find tho. really, i find the simpler, the better. the only thing i really care about is how it sounds, i DO like "spillover" but it's not always necessary.

dean owens · October 09, 2012, 10:06:10 PM

this helps settle something for me. i have a flashback delay i haven't really been able to bond with. i had already thought about getting rid of it. it's too bad tc is getting this reputation. when their stuff works it does seem to be good and well thought out.

Dom D · October 09, 2012, 10:12:48 PM

I've had a few strange problems with my Hall of Fame reverb.

It was brand new out of the box and it wouldn't work for a few days after getting it. It just wouldn't turn on, either with a 9v, one spot, or my PP2+. Eventually I plugged it in and it worked. Have no idea why, though.

Sometimes it wouldn't turn off, sometimes the LED wouldn't go off, etc.

News:

man, tc electronics ....nova delay crapped out AGAIN.