Messages

It works!!!  Thanks so much for the support.  Like most problems in life, it turned out to be a matter of a simple problem wreaking havoc.  I reflowed all of the transistors and the trim pots and the potentiometers.  Not sure which one was the issue, but it is a noticeable improvement. 
Now I just need to build a clean power supply!  Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Tyler

Here are the pictures of the front and back of the board.

Notice that I had a previous issue with the board (?) where the trace seemed to be missing between the filter caps and the IC.  I subsequently jumpered the connection to pin 8 on the LT1054 from the 100 uf capacitor and the 100n cap is also kind of attached to the jumper as best as I could make it.  That being said, I am getting full power to and from the IC.  I changed ICs to see if that was causing any problems and it did not effect the static issue.
Tyler

I am still having a problem with my Flabulanche pedal.  This one just befuddles me!  I figured out the wooshing sound described above is from the stupid wall wort.  It went away with a battery clip.  However, I am still getting a static sound that is like a percolating coffee maker.  (I switched out the LT1054 and there was no change) Meaning, it does not really have any consistent pattern.  Also, it will play nicely despite the static for about 10-15 seconds and then the signal seems to get swallowed up and is barely perceptible and the static takes over.  I am wondering if this is from one of the FETs reaching a saturation point on the gate that is preventing any signal to pass? 

I continue to not seeing any change in the Q3 values if I change the switch for the compressor. 
Here is some data:
Before D2:  9.16v
After D2:  8.94v
Test Point 1:  11volts
Test Point 2:  11.04 volts
Test Point 3:  11

Q1
D  11
S  0.552
G  0 

Q2
D  11.06
S  0.673
G  0.077

Q3  Comp. Switch left        Q3  Comp. Center           Q3  Comp. switch right
D  11.01                           D  11.08                        D  11.00
S  0.296                           S  0.29                          S  0.295
G  0.009                           G  0.001                        G  0.009


Q4
D  10.94
S  3.56
G  1.426

Q5
D  9.02
S  9.02
G  9.4

Q6
D  11.09
S  11.09
G  9.37

Q7
C 17.17
B 9.52
E 9.37

I am not sure why Q3 has no voltage on the gate on the high and low settings.  I had changed the D1 to a Schottky BAT41 diode per Jon Patton's advice on this post:
http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=24379.msg254196#msg254196
When I measure the voltage between R8 (33k) and C6 (22n) I get around 11 volts.  But between the C6 and the gate of Q3 I get the very low voltages listed above (0.009v).  Does this make any sense to anyone?  Could this be the reason that the guitar signal seems to disappear?  I guess that I do not totally understand the compression circuit on this pedal. 

Please help,

Tyler

I am having a problem with my Flabulanche pedal that recently put together.  It is generating a consistent wooshing sound that is quite annoying.  It not abundantly evident when the volume and gain are down, but it is there. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Stc_iqgUMSI&list=LLvrkVZzl881pS6qpnJDkWAw&index=2&t=0s

I also, am not seeing any change in the Q3 values if I change the switch for the compressor. 
Here is some data:
Before D2:  9.16v
After D2:  8.94v
Test Point 1:  11volts
Test Point 2:  Bouncing around ALOT 1 to 11.24 volts
Test Point 3:  13

Q1
D  11
S  0.552
G  0  (lots of buzz when testing)

Q2
D  11.26
S  0.629
G  0

Q3  Comp. Switch left        Q3  Comp. Center           Q3  Comp. switch right
D  13.04                           D  13.11                        D  13.04
S  0.296                           S  0.29                          S  0.296
G  0.011                          G  0                               G  0.012

D1  switch left                    D1  center                    D1  switch right
3.18                                   0.17                            3.25

Q4
D  10.71
S  3.63
G  1.50



I am not sure why the compressor circuit does not seem to be doing much to effect the Q3.  Any ideas?  Also, the annoying noise which seems to grow somewhat more complex as it is on longer.  Is that an oscillating sound?  Could this be the LT1054 chip?  Transistor?  Filter capacitor?
Thanks for your help,
Tyler

Success!  So I figured that there was a bad trace before the IC and did some testing with some jumpers.  In the end, I jumpered (is that a word?) the positive leg of the 100uF C13 capacitor to the bottom of the board side of pin 8 on the IC.  I had used a socket and there was enough of a pin coming through that I was able to wrap a bit of wire around it and quick solder it all together.  Obviously, I had to bypass the zener diode and the 100n C14 capacitor.  I understand that the zener is optional protection, but what are the downsides of losing the C14?  Should I still try to solder a 100n cap to the jumper and to ground somewhere?  I was not hearing a lot of issues when I was playing through it. 
BTW, it is a really nice sounding pedal!  I can't wait to spend more time making music with it, as opposed to troubleshooting it.
Tyler

Hi there,
So there seems to be some continuity issues between C13+ and pin 8 of the IC.  I am starting to wonder if the traces are bad?

Option 1:  Is there a simple way to jumper the C13 to the C14 to the IC (assuming I skip the zener)? 

Option 2:  Could I use the 3PRR and bypass the whole voltage pump section of the board?  I would assume that I would just tie in at D4?  But still not sure how to resolve the issue of the blue trace from pin2 on the IC to C15-.  Thoughts?

Option 3:  Scrap the board and hope someone has another pcb?  I do not know how to etch a new board or anything like that.  I would really like to use the enclosure that I made and was pretty stoked about this type of circuit....so- bummer.

Option 4:  Try putting a different madbean pcb in there that uses 3 pots and a switch, sand down the enclosure and start over....

Any thoughts would be very helpful.  Thanks for your time.

Tyler

Here is a pic of the guts.  I know, I should have rocked it before I boxed it....stupid me.
Tyler

I am finally building the Flabulanche pcb that I had sitting around.  I am having problems with the voltages not getting to the LT1054, and consequently, nothing else is happening on the board.  As you can see from the schematic, I have about 9 volts after D2.  I am getting 8.99 v on the + side of the 100 uF (c13).  On the 15v Zener (D3) I get about 1.87 v to 2v.  It fluctuates a little.  After D3, I get almost nothing  on C14 has 0.02 volts.  It almost seems like there is an issue in the trace between the C14 and D3 and then again between D3 and Pin 8 of the IC. Or is the IC messed up?  Would there be a way to jumper between C14 and Pin 8?  Would that be bad?  Previously, I did not put the Zener in D3 because people said that it was optional.  I was still getting these issues.  Consequently, I ordered a lot of Zeners only to find out that it did not really change the problem.
The IC measures as follows:
Pin1:  0.031v
Pin2:  0.003v to 0
Pin3:  0
Pin4:  0.074
Pin5:  0
Pin6:  starts at 1.3v and bounces down to about 0.06v
Pin7:  0.018v
Pin8:  -0.004v
None of these voltages are making any sense to me.  D4 and D5 have nothing going on.  Except, that D3 has a voltage that sort of fluctuates around 1.8 to 2 volts.  I have gone through and reflowed the pads for all of the spots described above and am not getting any significant changes.  What else should I do?  Thank you for your help.
Tyler

I understand that my post was lacking. Sorry, I will get more later.  When I ground my DMM on the black line coming off of the battery (which is attached to the ring of the input jack...also, I do not have a wall wort for it right now to test with a different power source....I know- amateur) , I get 9 volts on the ground parts of the circuit.  (Like pin 4 of the IC).  When I connect the black line of the dmm on the ground wire coming off of the circuit which is attached to the other grounding lines of the circuit, I get no voltages.  This does not seem correct to me.  When I connect all of the grounds together, I get no action on the circuit, just bypass.  When I am measuring voltage against the black line of the battery, almost everything on the circuit (both transistors, all of the pins on the IC) measure about 9 volts.  I am getting the same voltage almost everywhere.  I assume that this is a problem.  Would this be a problem with the off board wiring?  Sorry, I realize that a picture would help but I am work right now.  Thanks.

Hi there,
I am finally getting around to building a Serendipity v4 that had been sitting around.  I am having some issues where the pedal was passing the signal through the circuit and having no effect on the sound.  I get no effect from the pots and no drive.  I know that the signal is somewhat attenuated by the sound coming out.  I do have a true bypass when it is switched off.  I have used an audio probe and am getting a signal throughout the circuit, but again, it is basically just a somewhat scratchy quieter version of the bypass signal.  Also, I am not getting the LED to light up, but that may or may not be an issue of a broken LED (I do not have a replacement at the moment).  I am wondering if the main issue would more likely be a grounding issue or an off board wiring issue.  Thanks for your help.