Hi, I'm a beginning builder so I'm not sure what went wrong, but my populated circuit board for the Double Flush Tremolo won't fit in the 1590B enclosure like the build doc says it should. I bought all the capacitors and pots on the parts list (no substitutions). But with the PCB mounted pots underneath and the capacitors on top, the board is too tall to fit in the enclosure.
Can anybody shed some light/expertise on the problem? The problem capacitors are the green and black electrolytic ones. There is a tab on the top side of the pot that would make it sit more flat on the enclosure, is that supposed to be removed? Any help is appreciated! (Even if it's a suggestion to get a different sized enclosure)
Definitely remove the tabs on the pots with some needle nose pliers and see if that fits. those electrolytics are pretty tall, but maybe the tabs will help.
I have been looking into nixing the tabs and have the backing off the pot. But I still don't see how to get the tab off. Should I just snip it with some wire cutters?
Never mind I just found out how to get rid of the tab. Thanks for the advice!
I just snap them off with pliers.
Now, the pic is kinda blurry so I gotta ask... those component legs seem to be a bit on the longish side (I snip them much shorter). Are any of them contacting the back of the pot?
Yes they are. :-\ Sounds like that might be a problem? The IC is also touching the board which I was not sure about. über-noobage!
Congrats on your first build! A few things that will help. It looks like your electro caps are a little too big. You should get caps that are no more than 11mm tall. 5mm diameter for most except 100uF which should be 6.3mm diameter. Also, try to make sure the components are pushed flush against the board when soldering. That little gap there can cause issues. It also helps to put the pots in the enclosure and PCB before soldering so they line up straight and easy to put in. Lastly, you will want to put some kind of insulation between the PCB and the pot backs. Pot covers are available from smallbear and guitarpcb.com. You can also just put some electrical tape on them to avoid shorts. Keep up the good work!
Thanks a lot Ben! All the advice I can get will go a long way at this point. I don't know where I heard that you want space between components and board but that might explain my lack of space problem. As far as pot cover go, I'll try the tape fix first, I doubt anything thicker like a cover will fit without a lot of overhaul/space-making. Certainly a learning process on this one :) I hope it works haha
Still struggling? I could post a photo of my completed build to show how it fits etc if it helps?