led issues

jlullo · April 10, 2007, 07:43:43 PM

hey guys. i just wired up a pedal and i believe it to be wired correctly. why is it though that my LED will light when the pedal is engaged, even when there isn't a cable in the "in" jack?

jlullo · April 10, 2007, 08:33:25 PM

i'm wondering if this means that the LED will be constantly sucking power from the battery, even when turned off?

Meanderthal · April 10, 2007, 08:38:22 PM

Actually, that's normal with an external power supply...

But if it's doing that with a battery in it, somehow the ground isn't being cut when ya pull the plug. And, if so, yes, that can eat batteries... the whole circuit being powered though, not just the led...

Mark F · April 10, 2007, 08:39:59 PM

Whenever the LED is lit it is indeed drawing current.

jlullo · April 10, 2007, 08:41:00 PM

this is the battery.... i don't know why, but LEDs are always such a pain in the ass to get working correctly for me... i'll take a look at how it's grounded on the power supply jack. hopefully that will do the trick. thanks bro!

rosssurf · April 10, 2007, 08:43:45 PM

maybe you have shunt tip jack by accident? Did you get the jack from that guy in Arizona? Effects connection? I had purchased a few jacks from him that were acidentaly miss-labeled. I brought it to his attention and hes was appologetic and quick to fix the problem. Nice guy

jlullo · April 10, 2007, 08:46:31 PM

i actually cannabalized it from an old crappy pedal i had... what exactly is a shunt tip jack? this is slightly bigger than the other ones i normally use

Meanderthal · April 10, 2007, 08:56:05 PM

That's a jack that shorts when ya pull the plug... useful for patchbays and effects loops, stuff like that. Could happen... easy mistake with the plastic ones...

I'd fire up the DMM and see exactly what is and is not getting juice...

jlullo · April 10, 2007, 09:21:52 PM

i switched out the jack and it is still doing this. any idea as to where i should look?

basically, the led should be shorting out unless a cable is in the stereo jack, because the jack is grounded, correct?

meanderthal, where should i be poking around to see what should and shouldn't be connected?

Meanderthal · April 10, 2007, 09:44:51 PM

Nothing on the pcb should be getting power when unplugged is all I meant by that, but a continuity beeper could be useful...(to be sure the ring and sleeve are getting disconnected)

Make sure the LED ground is connected off the pcb ground, not the battery ground also...

jlullo · April 15, 2007, 11:51:51 AM

john,
by LED ground, do you mean the ground on the DC jack? i have it wired according to tonepad's 3pdt wiring, and they all go to the input shield, which is the star ground.

also, i left the battery in to see if it was sucking current even with the light off... today i checked it and it was down to 4v, so it definitely is!

there is power going to the PCB all over the place when there is no plug in the jack. would the star ground be the problem?

Meanderthal · April 15, 2007, 11:56:31 AM

Hmmm... and it drained with the led off? Sounds a whole lot like the ground isn't being cut when ya pull the plug...

What I meant about the LED ground was to make sure it was connected after the input jack, not directly to the battery(not sure if it's pos or neg ground circuit, shouldn't matter).

jlullo · April 15, 2007, 12:11:19 PM

i just resoldered all of the grounds in the pedal, and still having the same problem

this might sound stupid, but could it be the battery clip i'm using? i'm using one of the hard molded ones, and i normally use the soft crappy ones...

jlullo · April 15, 2007, 12:24:45 PM

i'm using one of the "open" stereo jacks from RS... should i try one of the enclosed switchcrafts? could this not be improperly grounding itself to the enclosure?

WelshWonder · April 15, 2007, 01:56:02 PM

You need to use a stereo jack as your input socket. The ring lug should be connected to the battery negative, this way will make the input jack a switch regardless if a battery or ac adapter is applied. Look here for a great article ---> http://beavisaudio.com/techpages/PedalPower/

jlullo · April 15, 2007, 02:10:47 PM

welsh wonder,
that is exactly how i have it. that is why i don't understand... i've never had this problem before!

thank you for the advice though!

WelshWonder · April 15, 2007, 02:33:42 PM

hmmmm. it's a strange one...is it a metal or plastic enclosure? what pedal is it exactly?

It does sound like a ground problem.

jlullo · April 15, 2007, 02:41:06 PM

metal.... aluminum powdercoated....

it's a ts-808. i've built one of these before and wired it exactly the same way and didn't have any problems.

i disconnected all ground points, and obviously, the led wouldn't turn on. i'm sure what exactly i'm doing incorrectly witht he ground. everything appears to be correct

jlullo · April 15, 2007, 06:35:53 PM

guess what? i just wired up a boost today and having the same exact problem....

what the hell am i doing?

Meanderthal · April 15, 2007, 06:43:18 PM

Possibly the ground is connecting thru the enclosure... try this- disconnect the ground wire to yer output and see if ya still get... output. If so, that's it right there- it's getting grounded thru the 'back door'.
The cure would be plastic jacks... at least one... IF that's what's happening...

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