Eleventy-bajillion diodes for your Sunking.

[pauloman80]

Sure

2x 1n270
2x RED LED
4 x BAT41 (two in series per side)
1N4001 x 2x1n914 (asymmetrical)
2 x 2n7000 wired as diodes (solder Drain and Gate together)
2x 1n60 (schottky or germanium)

Regarding the 4 BAT41s... I'm a little confused by the term "in series."  (There's still quite a bit about pedal building that befuddles me.)  Are you saying to put a pair of BAT41s on, say, the lower toggle of each switch so both switches down use the BAT41s, or do you mean that each individual diode shown on, for example, the bottom left switch would actually be two BAT41s end to end, putting all four diodes into a single toggle?

Also, do I have to put a length of wire between the diode ends that go to the switch's solder terminal, or could I attach both those ends directly to the terminal?

Thanks!

[jkokura]

I'm not sure which wires you're talking about and such, but I can tell you what series and parallel is.

Series is in a row. If you took one Diode, and then attached another diode in line behind it, this would be series. For example:

connection - diode - diode - connection

Parallel is side by side. Both diodes connect to the same connection points

              / diode \
connection           connection
              \ diode /

Make sense?

Jacob

[k.rock!]

I'm not sure which wires you're talking about and such, but I can tell you what series and parallel is.

Series is in a row. If you took one Diode, and then attached another diode in line behind it, this would be series. For example:

connection - diode - diode - connection

Parallel is side by side. Both diodes connect to the same connection points

              / diode \
connection           connection
              \ diode /

Make sense?

Jacob

Something to add is the polarity of the diodes...in series your diodes should look like this:

---|>|----|>|----
     d1       d2   

You can think of it this way, the current flows the direction that the "arrow" on the diode symbol points to. (The vertical line is your negative terminal). In parallel (I'm not 100% sure) but I think it should be like this?:
     
        d1
   ---|>|---
--|           |---
   ---|<|---
        d2


Somebody correct me if I'm wrong here
Hope that helps!

-Kaleb

[jkokura]

Well put Kaleb. That's the common application for diodes.

Jacob

[k.rock!]

Awesome. Thanks Jacob.

Hope all this helps Paulo! Good luck.

-Kaleb

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

Also for good reference:

TESTING SILICON DIODES (NOT LED OR ZENER)
To test a silicon diode such as a 1N914 or a 1N4001 all you need is an ohm-meter. If you are using an analog VOM type meter, set the meter to one of the lower ohms scales, say 0-2K, and measure the resistance of the diode both ways. If you get zero both ways, the diode is shorted. If you get INFINITY both ways, the diode is open. If you get INFINITY one way but some reading the other way (the value is not important) then the diode is good.

If you use a digital multi-meter (DMM), then there should be a special setting on the Ohms range for testing diodes.

Measure the diode resistance both ways. One way the meter should indicate an open circuit. The other way you should get a reading (often a reading around 600). That indicates the diode is good. If you measure an open circuit both ways, the diode is open. If you measure low resistance both ways, the diode is shorted.

[pauloman80]

Ooof!  Lots of into to take in, but dad-GUM if you guys aren't the freakin' smartest bunch of musicians EVER.  Gonna ask a couple more digging questions to make sure I wire this right... 

From my understanding of the series vs. parallel explanation, Madbean's diagram in the first post shows each pair of diodes as being in parallel as they're connected to the switch... I think, at least.  According to the diagram, the wire coming from the negative side of D1 and D2 goes to the positive terminal of the first diode and the negative terminal of the second in the first pair of diodes.  Then it's essentially the same thing on the side that connects to the switch, and then the whole thing is repeated for the bottom set of diodes.  The BAT41 setup he describes in his later post has two pairs of BAT41s in series with each other, so instead of just being one diode as represented by the diagram, there'd be two.  That sound about right? 

My earlier question was in regard to how the diodes are attached to the leads from the board and to the switch.  The diagram seems to indicate the diodes need to be connected with additional wiring in between them at both contact points with the leads rather than the ends of both diodes being directly connected to each other at the same exact contact point on the leads.  Make sense?  For example, I'm trying to determine if I can attach the diodes directly to the solder terminal on the switch or if I have to use the additional wiring. 

Hope this helps explain my question!

[gtr2]

You can attach them right to the switch.

Don't forget about asymmetrical clipping (my personal favorite  ) which sounds a little more "tube like"

      d1     d2
   ---|>|-|>|--
--|                |---
   -----|<|----
          d3
josh

[pauloman80]

You can attach them right to the switch.

Don't forget about asymmetrical clipping (my personal favorite  ) which sounds a little more "tube like"

      d1     d2
   ---|>|-|>|--
--|                |---
   -----|<|----
          d3
josh

Good to know!  I always wondered what the difference was between symmetrical and asymmetrical clipping.  I suppose "tube-like" is a simple description of the difference?  Also, I see the top two diodes are directly end to end; that's a series circuit, right?  Learnin' new stuff!!

Any particular combinations of diodes to use?  Madbean put an example in his earlier post.  I gotta see what I have, got a bunch of diodes in the other day from Smallbear and meowy from this board, so it's not like I have a shortage. 

[jkokura]

Yes, that's a combination series and parallel circuit. The top two diodes are in series with each other, and in parallel with the lower diode.

Combining diodes is an interesting thing. Generally, we all use one type of diode for clipping in a pedal. But, it could be interesting to try mixing diodes, for example, using silicon in series and germanium for the parallel diodes in the asymmetric clipping above.

The list of diodes used by Brian and I are earlier inthis thread.

Jacob

[pauloman80]

Yes, that's a combination series and parallel circuit. The top two diodes are in series with each other, and in parallel with the lower diode.

Combining diodes is an interesting thing. Generally, we all use one type of diode for clipping in a pedal. But, it could be interesting to try mixing diodes, for example, using silicon in series and germanium for the parallel diodes in the asymmetric clipping above.

The list of diodes used by Brian and I are earlier inthis thread.

Jacob

I noticed when I went back and looked at Madbean's post that his asymmetrical example was the mixed diode one that used three diodes.  Would love to try that one, but I'm not sure if I actually have any 1N914s.  I bought a bunch of stuff off meowy, but there were some unlabeled diodes that look exactly like the 1N34As he sent.  He said they might be 1N914s in his original Buy/Sell/Trade post, but I don't know how to tell.  I shot him a PM asking about it.

[JeffdaMaori]

Thought I throw this in here too: another way for a gazzilion different clipping options. With a DIP switch and a piece of perf board you can switch back and forth, several, actual any and multiple combination from symetrical to asym.
Here's one I prepared earlier so to speak, throw your own ingredients/diodes in as you wish.
Not really my idea or anywhere new, but I've done it on several pedals and it can be great fun. Requires cutting a rectengular hole in enclosure side to fit DIP switch and then glue it in (with epoxy I did...) when everything tested and confirmed.
Could also be used to muck around and try lots of different clippers on a prototype board flicking the switches.

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[JeffdaMaori]

Yet another picture of it... I didn't manage to attach several pics to post, sorry.

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[JeffdaMaori]

Front view...

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[JeffdaMaori]

... and finally put inside a pedal... sorry for having this in four different posts, maybe someone can enlighten me how to shrink file size so I could do it in one with loosing too much resolution?! Cheers

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