Green Bean No Distortion

[MADWAGNER]

Hi guys,
I'm having a bit of trouble with my Green Bean Build. It fires up but I get no distortion, just a clean boost.
I'd did have bit a trouble with my comp switch (on/off/on), I accidentally mounted top side (backwards), I desoldered it alright and installed right. When I fired it up I was getting distortion in the third postion. But was only getting no clipping mode in the 1st and 2nd postions. so then I thought it might be the switch so I desoldering the switch again and installed an new ON/On switch. But now I get now distortion at all on both positions, just clean boost. The switch makes a pop sound between the to positions. So I think its working.
I'm using bat 46's in d1 thru 3. I got d4 and D5 socketed so I can experiment. And in4001 for D6.
I'm wonderinf if its my switch, the diodes or maybe the Trannies?
If any one can help, I would really appreciate it.
thanks

[MADWAGNER]

I got Distortion going thru postion 1 of the on/on switch. It's pretty low gain when dimed all the way, but sounds pretty nice.But I get no distortion in the the 2nd on position now.It goes into no clipping mode.
I threw 1n914's in D4 and D5. I but I have no Idea which Diodes are controled by which switch positions.
I'd like to have both clipping modes if I could.
But I'm happy to at least have one.

[midwayfair]

but I have no Idea which Diodes are controled by which switch positions.

No sense in guessing -- use your multimeter's continuity setting to find out what's connected to each lug of the switch.

[MADWAGNER]

I am not getting any connectivity from the switch to my diodes on the switch. And now I have no distortion once again on either switch position. I think desoldering the switch must of ruin the board.
I fear it's a gonna be a just fancy paper weight.
I wanted to know what diodes the swtich is suppose to control when it's working properly.
But thanks for the help, now I know I don't have any connectivity at all.
It's a bummer

[MADWAGNER]

Also I can see the traces going from the switch lugs to the diode legs, and I know they are connected. And I still get no beeb in contituity mode.

[RobA]

Assuming that you did damage the board, it would be possible to rescue the pedal by soldering the switch with leads directly to the diodes and the opposite points (caps or op amp leg).

But, first we need to try to figure out what's happening. Did you try the continuity from both diodes? It would seem pretty unlikely for all the pads on the switch connection to be damaged causing there to be no connection to any of the diodes. It can be a bit hard to get the continuity check to work on the pad side. If you can, try it at both the pad and the pins/leads of the switch and diodes.

If possible, can you post a photo of the board?

[MADWAGNER]

thanks!
I have pcb mounted pots going and in hard to really see whats going on under them.
Should I remove them, and wire them off the board? So I can get a better look?
I appreciate the help.
thanks again

[RobA]

I haven't used the 16mm types board mounted yet, so this is second hand info, but I saw in another thread someone mentioned that you could carefully bend up the leads on them to see and probe underneath. Getting the board mounted parts off the PCB can be a major task. I had a board mounted DPDT that I broke and it took forever to get it off the board.

With board mounted pots, one of the things that can happen is the back of the pot contacting PCB/parts. I've even had a board ground out on me when I used electrical tape because a couple of the sharper pointed solder joints had a tiny spot poking through.

[DutchMF]

I haven't used the 16mm types board mounted yet, so this is second hand info, but I saw in another thread someone mentioned that you could carefully bend up the leads on them to see and probe underneath.

You can, but VERY, VERY CAREFULLY, AND CERTAINLY NOT THE FULL 90 DEGREES!!!!! If you do that, you'll snap 'm off for sure.... Just as little as you need, and preferably not at all. Believe me, I snapped some pot legs in half thinking I could get away with bending them straight (actually, that part went ok, it's bending them back again that does the damage!)

Paul

[RobA]

I haven't used the 16mm types board mounted yet, so this is second hand info, but I saw in another thread someone mentioned that you could carefully bend up the leads on them to see and probe underneath.

You can, but VERY, VERY CAREFULLY, AND CERTAINLY NOT THE FULL 90 DEGREES!!!!! If you do that, you'll snap 'm off for sure.... Just as little as you need, and preferably not at all. Believe me, I snapped some pot legs in half thinking I could get away with bending them straight (actually, that part went ok, it's bending them back again that does the damage!)

Paul

Ahh, good information there. Thanks for the warning.

[DutchMF]

What would work better (but requires some thought in advance......  ) is to convert some solder-lug pots to board mount with some clipped of component leads (I prefer those from the 1N400X diodes, thick and sturdy!), using the full length of the leads. That leaves a lot more space under the pots for potential debugging/measuring. When you're convinced everything works ok, it's quite easy to drop them down to a more reasonable height to fit in the enclosure and clip of the rest on the other side of the board. This is especially advisable on complicated builds, say an ABDX or similar.

Paul

[RobA]

That's an excellent idea.

[DutchMF]

It is, but I can't take credit for it, I think I've seen it here on the forum somewhere (might have been aballen's ABDX, but I'm not sure). But let's get back on track debugging MADWAGNER's build.... (love that forum name btw!)

If you think from visual observation that everything is connected, but your DMM tells you otherwise, trust the DMM! You probably damaged a trace in a way you can't see, but as RobA mentioned, you could still save it. I think we need some pics of your board, both component and solder side, to take a closer look. Please make sure you zoom in as much as possible, and your pics are well lit and in focus. In the mean time, try to narrow down the part of the circuit that's not connected, but should be. We'll work from there!

Paul

[MADWAGNER]

I got it going last night! Thank you everyone for the help! I really appreciate it.I just started building in May and have alot to learn. The traces from Lugs1 and 3 of the Comp switch going to the diodes were dead. So I soldered jumper wires from Lugs1 and 3 to the diode pads and it worked! 
i just need to clean it up a bit and try to get it in the box.
Thanks again everyone for the help.
Now on to debugging my Zero Point DD that just makes clock noise

[RobA]

Excellent! Have fun with it.