Hey guys! I'm in need of alittle assistance. I'm wiring up a Poindexter and everything works fine outside the enclosure but once I put the jacks in the box I get nothing. I get bypass but no fuzz. I pull the jacks out and everything work fine. Anyone have any idea whats going on here? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks
It sounds like you've got a grounding problem. Could you take a picture of what you're working with here?
Jacob
Are you sure you're plugging into the input jack and not the output? That's an easy mistake to make when the enclosure is open and upside down.
If that's not it, is it happening with the enclosure open or only after you screw the back on?
Thanks for the replies guys. I'm pretty sure its a ground problem too. As soon as the jacks touch the metal enclosure it cuts out. I just wired up a Boomstick the same way and it work fine. Heres a pic of what I got goin on.
(http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/tt257/bluespower420/untitled-4.png)
I can see already your jacks aren't wired correctly. I'm surprised you got it to work outside the enclosure through those jacks. Your picture isn't exactly clear, but I think you've mixed up the lugs (i.e. your sleeve lug and tip lug on your output jack are wrong).
Jacob
Yeah last night after I made the thread I switched the lugs on the output to see if the would work. Its wired correctly now but I still have the problem. I've built a couple other pedal and have never had this problem. I'm stumped :'(
Oh and sorry for the pic. Its my Ipod camera
Well, take a current picture, and double check your input jack. If your output jack was wired incorrectly, I would suspect that your wiring is still the problem.
Jacob
Are you really still getting an output signal when you're in bypass mode?
Here what I got. Input jack- Tip=input
Ring=ground
Sleeve=9 volt
Output Jack- Tip=output
Ring=ground
(http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/tt257/bluespower420/untitled-5.png)
Yup I get bypass but as soon as I flip the switch nothing. I pull the jacks away from the metal and it works fine
Well first, the Battery's - lead should be on the ring, not on the sleeve, and the ground should be on the sleeve not the ring. Perhaps that's the issue?
Quote from: jkokura on August 23, 2011, 07:40:55 PM
Well first, the Battery's - lead should be on the ring, not on the sleeve, and the ground should be on the sleeve not the ring. Perhaps that's the issue?
I think he got mixed up with the names of the connections, but the connections themselves look good to me...
I think the problem lies in your switch connection. I need to take a deeper look into it, but I think there is a combination of ground and switch connection that may be causing something funky :)
Make sure you have everything connected as it should. Use the documentation wiring of the switch.
I'm gonna try to trace your signals looking at the picture to see if they make sense...but I kinda have a feeling there's where you should be looking...
-Kaleb
I appreciate you takin time to help me out guys. I'm very new to the DYI world and I'm still trying to figure everything out. I'm gonna double check the switch and report back.
Apologies if this was mentioned earlier, but does the LED light up when it's in the case?
Quote from: mgwhit on August 24, 2011, 12:59:54 AM
Apologies if this was mentioned earlier, but does the LED light up when it's in the case?
I don't think he's using an LED... :-\
Man, I would just rewire the switch just like the documentation leaving the LED connections out obviously...
You definitely have a ground issue and I think it's because of the way the grounds are connected...
-Kaleb
The bad wiring can't be in your jacks or the bypass wouldn't work. It's unlikely to be in your switch or the effect wouldn't work when you isolate the jacks from the enclosure.
Here's the best I've got. Something in the effect path that shouldn't be contacting the enclosure is. When you isolate the jacks from the enclosure, then the enclosure itself doesn't have a path to ground, so it doesn't affect the signal. But as soon as you touch the jacks to the enclosure, the enclosure has path to ground and your effected signal disappears.
I would take a DMM, alligator clip the DMM's ground lead to the enclosure, and, with your jacks isolated from the enclosure, test every point in the effect circuit for continuity to the enclosure. Maybe there's a point on the back of your board or on one of the pot lugs that is contacting it. Good luck!
Thats a very good point. I don't think its the back of the PCB because I put electrical tape on the back to avoid that but I gonna check it with the DMM just in case. Do you think the jacks making contact with the pots would cause a problem? They're pretty close to each other.
Definitely.
Jacob
Absolutely! If anything is to make contact with the back of your pots you should always isolate them with something, black tape, foam, or if you wanna go fancy use Barry's pot condoms (i love using these :)): http://www.guitarpcb.com/apps/webstore/products/show/1409402
-Kaleb
Quote from: giantrobot on August 24, 2011, 07:08:16 PM
Do you think the jacks making contact with the pots would cause a problem? They're pretty close to each other.
I still don't think that's your problem, though. If the tip portion of the jack were contacting the pots, you wouldn't get effected or bypassed output. If the sleeve (or ring) were touching the pots you'd just be connecting two ground points.
Yo guys I got it workin! I rewired the switch and taped up the back of the PCB and pots. Now it works fine. Thank you all for all the help. You and Madbean seriously rock. Now on to the Firebomb
(http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/tt257/bluespower420/untitled-9.png)
Awesome :) Glad you got it to work man! Enjoy!
-Kaleb