Troubleshooting Fuzz Pedal

[DallasoftheDead]

Hey all, I just completed my first build from a Devi-Ever Ruiner kit. Pretty excited that I actually got something that makes noise at the end of this project, the only problem is the noise isn't very desirable. It's a little hard to explain, so I took a video for reference(link below). Took some pictures of the inside of my pedal as well(also linked below). Other than the work on the 3pdt being a little haphazard (nothing is touching, I made sure) and the fact that I soldered the pots on the wrong side of the board (whoops...) Nothing else seems to be messed up. I have electrical tape over the connections on the switch to keep it from grounding against the case, and the board itself isn't touching anything else. Any help as to why it's screaming at me would be greatly appreciated.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAasAyr97zI

Pictures: http://imgur.com/a/GLA7k

[deadastronaut]

schematic?...

[EBK]

Sounds like feedback-induced oscillation.
A few questions though:
Could you explain your annotations on the BOM (1 cap? 1 trans?)?
Could you show us what the other side of the PCB looks like?
As deadastronaut suggested, could you point to a schematic?

[DallasoftheDead]

schematic?...

Sounds like feedback-induced oscillation.
A few questions though:
Could you explain your annotations on the BOM (1 cap? 1 trans?)?
Could you show us what the other side of the PCB looks like?
As deadastronaut suggested, could you point to a schematic?

Sorry guys, here are some pictures of the board and the "schematic" that was sent with it. http://imgur.com/a/fcdSQ  Those were the best I could do seeing as how the pots are in the way. My notes were due to the fact they only sent me one of each of these components, so I had to order some extras (which explains the size difference in the capacitors, even though I ordered .01uf caps from mammoth electronics.)

[EBK]

Did you order 0.01uF or 0.1uF?  Looks like the design calls for 0.1uF.

I'm worried about the state of your hookup wire.  Looks like there are stray strands flying about, potentially shorting some things together, like the outside pads on your board to each other or to one or more pot pins.  Such a short might only manifest itself when you have the board in position where you can't see the wires.

Another possibility is that you may have switched the pots (I'd have to look back to see if they were different.. ) when you soldered them to the wrong side of the board.

[Ben Lyman]

I don't see any power filtering here. Try it with a battery...  wait! there is always a way, alligator clips, solder, whatever it takes, just for a test, y'know.
Or try a 100r in series with +9v from the DC jack, followed by a 47uF to 100uF cap to ground. Worth a shot, isn't guys?

[EBK]

I don't see any power filtering here. Try it with a battery...  wait! there is always a way, alligator clips, solder, whatever it takes, just for a test, y'know.
Or try a 100r in series with +9v from the DC jack, followed by a 47uF to 100uF cap to ground. Worth a shot, isn't guys?

Can't believe I skipped over that test!
Also, if you are powering multiple pedals from a single power supply, this kind of circuit may not like it.  Try powering it up by itself or using a separate wall wart.

[DallasoftheDead]

Can't believe I skipped over that test!
Also, if you are powering multiple pedals from a single power supply, this kind of circuit may not like it.  Try powering it up by itself or using a separate wall wart.

I don't see any power filtering here. Try it with a battery...  wait! there is always a way, alligator clips, solder, whatever it takes, just for a test, y'know.
Or try a 100r in series with +9v from the DC jack, followed by a 47uF to 100uF cap to ground. Worth a shot, isn't guys?

EBK, the wirejob is garbage, this is my first complete pedal build and the wire I was working with was a lot thicker than I thought I would need, unfortunately, so things are a bit nasty in here. Going to try to take a real good look at it and try to isolate some of these fly-aways a little better when I get the chance. Any tips on this?

Ben, I think I understand what you're suggesting but just to clarify; I should put in a resistor and a capacitor in the "live" (not sure the technical term) line of the dc jack, and another cap on the ground of the dc jack?

Thanks guys!

[deadastronaut]

DC jack 9v+....100r.............to pcb power.>>>>>>
                                /
                                /
                                +
                              100uf
                                /
                                /
                              gnd.

[EBK]

Can't believe I skipped over that test!
Also, if you are powering multiple pedals from a single power supply, this kind of circuit may not like it.  Try powering it up by itself or using a separate wall wart.

I don't see any power filtering here. Try it with a battery...  wait! there is always a way, alligator clips, solder, whatever it takes, just for a test, y'know.
Or try a 100r in series with +9v from the DC jack, followed by a 47uF to 100uF cap to ground. Worth a shot, isn't guys?

EBK, the wirejob is garbage, this is my first complete pedal build and the wire I was working with was a lot thicker than I thought I would need, unfortunately, so things are a bit nasty in here. Going to try to take a real good look at it and try to isolate some of these fly-aways a little better when I get the chance. Any tips on this?

Ben, I think I understand what you're suggesting but just to clarify; I should put in a resistor and a capacitor in the "live" (not sure the technical term) line of the dc jack, and another cap on the ground of the dc jack?

Thanks guys!

I find that one of the most useful tools for producing clean wiring is a good supply of heat shrink tubing in various sizes.  If you have to use wire that is too large, and you don't have heat shrink tubing to cover over the messy ends, you can try sliding the wire's own insulation forward (you should be able to do that on short pieces).  Also twisting the ends of your stranded wire and tinning them with a bit of solder before inserting them into the PCB will help prevent stray strands.  I always respect a build-with-the-resources-you-have approach.  Thick wire is fine if you can make it work.

[Ben Lyman]

Sorry, I didn't write that very clearly, see DeadAstro's post, just one (small) resistor and one (big) capacitor.