GOLDEN RULE

[Dragonfly]

No matter how many times you tell yourself "I hooked everything up exactly as shown".....if the pedal isn't working than its a 99% chance you hooked up something wrong.






























...or didnt install a battery.

...or didnt put a op amp / transistor, etc in the socket.

...or swapped the input and output jacks.

...or hooked the negative lead of the battery to the wrong jack terminal.

...or....

[96ecss]

I don't use Trany/IC sockets in my "completed" builds but I do use them when testing a new build. I've gotten into the habit of installing the Trannies/Ic's in their sockets BEFORE I wire the circuit up on my test board because I got tired of turning the switch on and hearing no sound. 

Dave

[oldrocker]

A year or so ago when I had a circuit that didn't work I would always get on here and insist that everything was correct, that I made no errors and it must be a bad component or faulty schematic or circuit design.  As time went on I realized when I actually got the pedal working it was something I did wrong.  A bridged or cold solder joint, component placement or install error, a missing jumper.  My biggest problem when perfboarding is forgetting +9volts or grounds to power the op amps.  The laws of nature applies to electronics and if there is an error it just won't work or work right.  Although I have never posted voltages I will usually audio probe it and 90% of the time find the area where the problem is and sure enough I'll spot the mistake. Here's my golden rule (patience).

[Dragonfly]

A year or so ago when I had a circuit that didn't work I would always get on here and insist that everything was correct, that I made no errors and it must be a bad component or faulty schematic or circuit design.  As time went on I realized when I actually got the pedal working it was something I did wrong.  A bridged or cold solder joint, component placement or install error, a missing jumper.  My biggest problem when perfboarding is forgetting +9volts or grounds to power the op amps.  The laws of nature applies to electronics and if there is an error it just won't work or work right.  Although I have never posted voltages I will usually audio probe it and 90% of the time find the area where the problem is and sure enough I'll spot the mistake.

I think all of us that have done this for a bit have realized that it's almost invariably our own fault when a "known, verified" circuit doesn't work...very rarely is it a "parts problem".

Here's my golden rule (patience).

Check this thread...I think you'll see that I agree wholeheartedly ! (in the WIKI)

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=64141.0

[R.G.]

Andy, you're on a roll, writing down again things I've harped on for years. 

My frustration with all of the postings of "I know I built this right and it still doesn't work!" is one of the things that led up to me writing up the "What t to do when it doesn't work" guide. I got tired of telling people that no matter how perfectly they thought they'd executed the circuit, the chances were that there was a solder problem, wiring error, inverted part, or other forehead slapper.

But it's hard when you're a beginner and don't know what your limitations are. It sure seems like the parts have to be bad, not your execution of the process.

[alteredsounds]

Here's my golden rule (patience)

If there's any rules, that is it.  I'm always desperate to hear my latest creation unfortunately, therein lies the cause of my errors.  The time then spent debugging usually far exceeds the time taken if I had slowed down in the first place and paced things. 

[Dragonfly]

Andy, you're on a roll, writing down again things I've harped on for years. 

Actually, thats part of why I'm repeating these things...so you dont have to for the thousandth time ! 
(though I didnt remember you writing up the "swirl tutorial"...I remember the one on "DIY Guitar, or whatever that site is...Borax and water=messy !)

You have no idea how much I've learned from you RG...thanks...

Hopefully the layouts, designs, tutorials, and helping people get involved with the hobby is at least a "small part of paying you back" for your knowledge and patience.

[rikkards]

When I build a pedal, I first put the circuit on a protoboard. Usually that works. It's when I am happy with it and solder it where the problem appear. The one thing I always say when I am troubleshooting a build is "next time I will write down the voltages on the protoboard so I can troubleshoot later" and everytime I forget to do it. 

[Valoosj]

One more thing that could be an error is soldering two lanes together, where they shouldn't be. I sometimes have to check the PCB design to make sure certain components are allowed to be soldered together. The one error in my Tremulus Lune was a resistor in the lfo that got attached to a resistor in the audio path via a piece of solder that got stuck. This is something you easily overlook. And you can't see the copper (or isn't there any  ) underneath your solder.

[kurtlives]

One more thing that could be an error is soldering two lanes together, where they shouldn't be. I sometimes have to check the PCB design to make sure certain components are allowed to be soldered together. The one error in my Tremulus Lune was a resistor in the lfo that got attached to a resistor in the audio path via a piece of solder that got stuck. This is something you easily overlook. And you can't see the copper (or isn't there any  ) underneath your solder.

Good point.

This also can happen a lot when working with vero as the strips are so close together and the line of plastic separating them is so thing. I always run a thin screw driver or knife up and down the lane to remove solder, flux or whatever.

[Traintrack]

I hate that it turns up that it is always my fault. I have never had a bad pot... It was builder error every time.

[kurtlives]

I hate that it turns up that it is always my fault. I have never had a bad pot... It was builder error every time.

To me thats a good thing.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

I always proto on strip board.
And EVERY time - before applying power - I check with a meter, whether any adjacent tracks are shorted, and that all breaks are indeed breaks.

Saves time, saves sanity, - and sometimes it saves parts as well

[brett]

I learned that good clean strips (whether vero or PCB) and good soldering technique work like magic.
(and, maybe a $30 to $80 iron instead of a $10 one)
Unless I get 95% success rate, it takes a lot of the fun away for me. 

And offboard wiring.  Arrggh.  Offboard wiring is a total pain in the butt, even when you get it right !