Messages

Hakko-FX888D (Love)
Solder:0.7mm 60/40

Well, uh.

Maybe my minds playing tricks on me but the sound is not only noticeably louder, but brighter as well.

Remind me not to think.

-Mike

I assumed they were part of the buffer system/wiring. I'm going to put them in and see if the tone changes. I'll post later.

-Mike

So what do you think SonnyBoy27, Any reason to not put those three resistors in?

-Mike

Sonnyboy,

Just unreasoning fear. This was the first time I had ever used the Refractor bypass board and also the first time I've used one of those new LED footswitches. I just was unsure how tt would all interact. Thinking ahead for troubleshooting, I thought it would be easier to put them in, rather than take them out.

Everything works, so now I have to decide if I should put them in.

This is why I say I'm a cook and not a chef. I don't yet fully understand why everything is done the way it's done and so I introduce a little VooDoo into the system.

-Mike

Yes, the vent holes were very deliberate. I'm not totally void of creativity. 

You could describe me in lots of ways. Belt and suspenders or thorough would be nice. To say I'm an*l would be closer to the truth. Still it works for some things.

-Mike

So, I ended up using an extra Tube Driver 1.2 board I had lying around as my Valv-E-Tizer 1.5 PCB's are lost in mail limbo somewhere.

All of the 47n box film caps were upgraded to 100v. Same for electrolytic. I wasn't sure about the electro's so, I upgraded those to 100v, as well. Why yes, that isvquite a large electro you see in that gunshot.

A heat sink was attached to the voltage regulator and ventilation holes were drilled into each end of the enclosure.

Right now it is running off of a benchtop power supply. I had purchased a hefty $15 Jameco wall wart, but it introduces a lot of hum into the system. Still on the lookout for a 12vdc 1.5a power supply.

Using an EH 12AX7 tube. It's a fair amount of distortion, but I love that. It covers up my atrocious guitar playing.

Thanks. I really like those  anodized aluminum enclosures except they're over 20 bucks a pop. I don't like that. There are also a lot more difficult to drill through as they are much harder than standard enclosures.  As for detail, I worked in neurosurgery for many years and that's just part and parcel of the game.

-Mike

A. Made with: 
   01.   Xicon resistors 1/4 watt, 1% tolerance Metal Film resistors.

   02.    Wima Film capacitors 5% Tolerance (10%where 5% was not
              available). Where no Wima capacitor was available for a
              particular value,  either TDK/EPCOS film capacitors or Kemet Film
              capacitors were used.

   03.   Nichicon fine gold/Muse electrolytic capacitors. USW series LP
              7mm.

   04.   Kemet Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors 5% tolerance. Rated Class
                     1 (C0G).

   05.    Diodes: The exact Germanium clipping diode that was used in the
              original Centaur is unknown. Some sonic testing was done and
              Russian D9E diodes were thought to be an exact sonic match. What
              we know for sure is that the diodes in question had a forward
              voltage of 0.35v. To that end, 200 Russian D9E diodes were sourced
              from Bulgaria. Each was hand tested. All 200 of them clustered
              right around (+/- 0.04v) 0.25v. I made the decision to try and get
              closer to the value that we were sure of, the 0.35v. Kevin from
              Aion Electronics has mentioned having luck with 1n270 germanium
              diodes from Tayda electronics. 100 were sourced and tested. The
              forward voltage varied a great deal. ~16 were very close or an
              exact match to the 0.35v value. ~20 were, "Hot Loads" with a value
              greater than 0.40v. For this production run of 12 pedals the
              values were in-between 0.342v and 0.372v. D9B, D9K, 1n914 and
      1n60 were also tested in significant quantities.

   06.   Alpha 16mm potentiometers were used.

   07.    Pot covers from Small Bear were used to, prevent shorts in-
              between the back of the pots and the PCB.

   08.    Gold-plated IC sockets from Mouser were used.

   09.   IC's: TL072 are made by Texas Instruments. TC1044scpa are
      sourced from Microchip.

   10.    Red LED footswitches are sourced from Amplified parts.com.

   11.    Guitar jacks are from switchcraft.

   12.   DC power jacks are from Kobiconn.







Modifications:

   1. c14 is changed to 6n8 to boost the treble. Many said the original,
               pedal was somewhat dark. This addresses that.

   2. As for the germanium diodes, see above.

   3.  The original centaur used a linear potentiometer as its output
         control. Most people seem to favor a logarithmic taper for that
                 particular stage. Being as that the human ear hears or rather
                 appreciates sound on the logarithmic scale, that seems to make
                 sense. Therefore I am changing this as well, to a 10kA.


QC:
   1. Resistors and capacitors: Each component subjected to physical
       inspection to ensure Good condition and to ensure value needed/picked
       were a match.  This was verified using a HHMM (Handheld multi-Meter,
       a Fluke 17B+).
             
   2.  Solder joints: Each solder joint was individually inspected
        underneath a digital microscope and re-flowed if necessary.      

Before taking the next step and measuring voltages, I bit the bullet and removed the pots to look at the soldering underneath. I found a few that were suspect and reflowed them, put the pots back on and guess what?

Bingo! It works now.

I started really slowing down and concentrating on my soldering and I'm also checking them under the microscope after every 2 or 3 times. I'm sure it's overkill, but I'm a belt and suspenders kinda guy.

Thanks for all your help.

-Mike

 Thank you both for being so gracious and helpful.

I will take your info run with it .

🎛 Mike

Jimilee, you are seriously observant. I only saw this stuff through the microscope. I reflowed all I found. Thx.

I will hunt those down and reflow them. I tend do glob solder, so I guess I'm a little gun shy. I just happen to be getting a digital microscope today. Sounds like a match made in heaven. Thanks for your help.

-Mike

 So the home is less with common ground but still there.

Tried it with the battery and measured 8.54 V I noticed the LED would not light up but there's no change in the sound it still is fine on bypass and on the effects night there's nothing.

Next I try to wall wart  end it measured 9.54 V the LED with light and there was no change in the sound .

Then I tried the benchtop power supply which version 8.91 V and once again no change the sound whatsoever .