Steps that you have seen that reduce longevity

[Sir H C]

Was thinking to put this in the longevity thread, then realized, it is different enough.  First ones:

1.  Having the jacks (power or In/Out) connected straight to the same PCB (especially when done with no nuts to lock them on tight).
2.  Unclear power jack.  Is it Boss 9V dc?  Is it something else?  Who knows, let's just try something.
Battery connections with no strain releaf.  I have bought more "broken" pedals with 9V wiring problems that just had bad wiring.  Greatest Scores!
3.  Knobs with too much 'shaft'.  If you can accidentally press on the knob and push it so the pot gets whacked, that can be a problem.  I guess that is why most knobs are pretty low to the pedal body. 
4.  The lack of protection diodes on pedals that need them (not sure on Fuzz Face or the like pedals).
5.  Electrolytic caps.  On 20+ year old pedals, this comes into play, does the pedal sound like S#!t because of the old caps or is that just how it should sound?

I know there are a lot more boneheaded techniques (most of which I have done at least once) that need to be quashed so that pedals can outlast their 90 day warranties.   

[Nitefly182]

Right angle wiring jobs with solid core wire.
Wires tacked to surfaces instead of installed through a pcb or hole and then soldered.
PCBs with loads of parts with extra lead bent over on the PCB to save space inside the box when a better drilling/build job might have solved the space problem.
Use of mojo parts like tropical fish caps that are susceptible to crumbling after shock or vibration.
Floating/nonsecured PCBs

[Andi]

Removal of pot & switch tabs so if they loosen they can just spin in their holes.

And a big +1 on unsecured PCBs.

[axg20202]

Using a thin piece of plastic sheet jammed between the solder side of a PCB and the enclosure instead of fixing the PCB well clear from the enclosure.

PCB-mouned pots, switches and sockets that have no attachment to the enclosure (just an hole through the enclosure)

Plastic 1/4" jack sockets

Controls too close to stomp switch

Using an enclosure that is far bigger than it needs to be, causing it to flex when stomped (EH love doing this - outsized pedals like the original Pulsar - you could get three tremolo circuits in that thing if you wanted to...bah!)

Using angel-hair hookup wire that breaks when you merely look at it

[ayayay!]

Using angel-hair hookup wire that breaks when you merely look at it

Hoo-yeah!  BBE, Rocktron...

[axg20202]

Using minijacks for power connections, which invites polarity mismatches. (Sorry, EH again. And to use these connnectors and also not include reverse polarity protection is just plain rude).

This is turning into a rant, but it's audio/electrical engineering good practice to use a type of connector ONLY for it's intended purpose. And to use an audio connector in a piece of audio gear but have it carrying power is just wrong. EH may have rectified this (DC, geddit?) by now, but they did it for years.

Right, I'm off to use some 2.1mm DC connectors to make a guitar lead.....

[nelson]

Using surface mount sockets, pots or trims.

You could really take this long term reliability stuff to its extremes.

I mean, no switches, no sockets, no mechanical parts whatsoever.

You have piezo elements for the switching, piezo button controls for up or down, wireless connection to guitar.

You could probably throw the boxes into a cement mixer and they would come out working then.

I think what you have to ask is what's an unnacceptable compromise between saving build time, increasing efficiences and product longevity.

After all, you could make a bombproof effects pedal, if you wanted too, it would cost you an arm and a leg, plus half your life to design and build. At the end of that, I bet no one would buy it at the price point that would even have you break even.

It's about compromise and acceptable levels of returns/breakages, not about attaining immortality through making effects pedals.

[axg20202]

yeah, that could be why they don't make the 'plane out of the same stuff as the black box recorder. Well, that and because it probably wouldn't get off the ground :-)

[nelson]

yeah, that could be why they don't make the 'plane out of the same stuff as the black box recorder. Well, that and because it probably wouldn't get off the ground :-)

You'd still be @#$%ed if you were inside the blackbox recorder. Unless you're landing in the Hudson.

[teemuk]

This would be funny unless you wouldn't be seeing this stuff daily in commercial products: 

1. Do make the construction so that in order to access the internal parts at least 20 screws must be unfastened. Make sure that none of these are ordinary Flathead or Philips screws but obscure variations of Hex, Torx or XZN. ...If you can create you own manufacturer-specific "standard" drive all the better. Hide all screws to ventilation holes or under rubber feet, ornamental logos, knobs of buttons and potentiometers, battery casings etc. Also, do make sure these cannot be removed without extensive damage or voiding the warranty. Make sure that at least one of the screws is located at the bottom of very narrow 30 cm deep hole, thus making it unreachable with any standard screwdriver.

2. Please do make the construction such that after all the screws are finally removed a tiny and extremely short wire is the only thing supporting at least half of the chassis weight. Make sure the chassis cannot be folded open conveniently or rested securely on the bench.

3. State "No user serviceable parts inside" although all the fuses are inside.

4. Do use low quality potentiometers and jacks that soldered to the PC board without any additional support. This ensures that they become scratchy and intermittent within a year. Do ensure that in order to change one of these, the device must be completely disassembled. However, do make sure that only one specific type of part can be fitted in and sell this replacement part with at least ten times higher price than an ordinary part one could by from Radioshack would cost. This ensures that repair will be less easy, more expensive and rather vain since a similar problem will again appear within another year.

5. Always glue the knobs to potentiometers and buttons. Also make sure the PC board cannot be pulled out from the chassis without removing the knobs from the said potentiometers and buttons.

6. Glue big capacitors and other heavy components on place only if you can use the glue to cover a bunch of other components as well.

7. Mount all radial electrolytic capacitors as close to the board as possible. This ensures that the legs cannot be snipped off. Now, before the solder has melted enough to allow pulling out the part the service guy must have destroyed the capacitor completely by heating it up to a level where it is boiling hot. Likely by then the circuit board is partially ruined as well. It also "helps" if you can glue these capacitors on their place: Use as much glue as possible.

8. Use silicon compound between semiconductors and heatsinks. In fact, use so much of it that you're actually doing more harm than good. Only use compounds that turn conductive in few years and cure as hard as cement.

9. Do make sure that all the fuses are internal. Also, make sure that a tedious amount of disassembling is required to access them. Make sure that changing a fuse voids the warranty. Do not use fuse sockets but solder the fuses in place.

10. If you can substitute a discrete circuit with an obscure IC that goes out of production within a year, please do so.

11. If a part of the circuitry requires a regulated supply then by no means use a cheap, proven and reliable regulator IC but a lossy passive Zener shunt regulator that always overheats and eventually dies - about the same day the warranty ends.

12. Use cheapest, underrated transformers to save in weight (thus in shipping costs as well) and to avoid dealing with inrush current issues. Call these "special design" or "custom wound". Do the same thing with speakers.

13. No one runs an amplifier at full blast so you can safely use a heatsink that is half the required size.

14. Parallel output devices? You got to be kidding! Use the least amount of output transistors you can get away with.

15. Layout? All you need to know is how to use CAD, right?

16. Making slight changes to the exterior cosmetics can create new models. When new circuit designs are really created make sure they are implemented to an existing model range without any notice – this ensures that schematics are never accurate.

17. After building a successful and reliable prototype start substituting parts with ones that are cheaper and weaker in quality. Start from speakers, transformers and heatsinks. Also, remove all "unnecessary" parts like protective series resistors, decoupling and compensating capacitors etc. Stop this process when the prototype is no longer working and put in the part you removed last.

[mharris80]

This would be funny unless you wouldn't be seeing this stuff daily in commercial products: 

1. Do make the construction so that in order to access the internal parts at least 20 screws must be unfastened. Make sure that none of these are ordinary Flathead or Philips screws but obscure variations of Hex, Torx or XZN. ...If you can create you own manufacturer-specific "standard" drive all the better. Hide all screws to ventilation holes or under rubber feet, ornamental logos, knobs of buttons and potentiometers, battery casings etc. Also, do make sure these cannot be removed without extensive damage or voiding the warranty. Make sure that at least one of the screws is located at the bottom of very narrow 30 cm deep hole, thus making it unreachable with any standard screwdriver.

2. Please do make the construction such that after all the screws are finally removed a tiny and extremely short wire is the only thing supporting at least half of the chassis weight. Make sure the chassis cannot be folded open conveniently or rested securely on the bench.

3. State "No user serviceable parts inside" although all the fuses are inside.

4. Do use low quality potentiometers and jacks that soldered to the PC board without any additional support. This ensures that they become scratchy and intermittent within a year. Do ensure that in order to change one of these, the device must be completely disassembled. However, do make sure that only one specific type of part can be fitted in and sell this replacement part with at least ten times higher price than an ordinary part one could by from Radioshack would cost. This ensures that repair will be less easy, more expensive and rather vain since a similar problem will again appear within another year.

5. Always glue the knobs to potentiometers and buttons. Also make sure the PC board cannot be pulled out from the chassis without removing the knobs from the said potentiometers and buttons.

6. Glue big capacitors and other heavy components on place only if you can use the glue to cover a bunch of other components as well.

7. Mount all radial electrolytic capacitors as close to the board as possible. This ensures that the legs cannot be snipped off. Now, before the solder has melted enough to allow pulling out the part the service guy must have destroyed the capacitor completely by heating it up to a level where it is boiling hot. Likely by then the circuit board is partially ruined as well. It also "helps" if you can glue these capacitors on their place: Use as much glue as possible.

8. Use silicon compound between semiconductors and heatsinks. In fact, use so much of it that you're actually doing more harm than good. Only use compounds that turn conductive in few years and cure as hard as cement.

9. Do make sure that all the fuses are internal. Also, make sure that a tedious amount of disassembling is required to access them. Make sure that changing a fuse voids the warranty. Do not use fuse sockets but solder the fuses in place.

10. If you can substitute a discrete circuit with an obscure IC that goes out of production within a year, please do so.

11. If a part of the circuitry requires a regulated supply then by no means use a cheap, proven and reliable regulator IC but a lossy passive Zener shunt regulator that always overheats and eventually dies - about the same day the warranty ends.

12. Use cheapest, underrated transformers to save in weight (thus in shipping costs as well) and to avoid dealing with inrush current issues. Call these "special design" or "custom wound". Do the same thing with speakers.

13. No one runs an amplifier at full blast so you can safely use a heatsink that is half the required size.

14. Parallel output devices? You got to be kidding! Use the least amount of output transistors you can get away with.

15. Layout? All you need to know is how to use CAD, right?

16. Making slight changes to the exterior cosmetics can create new models. When new circuit designs are really created make sure they are implemented to an existing model range without any notice – this ensures that schematics are never accurate.

17. After building a successful and reliable prototype start substituting parts with ones that are cheaper and weaker in quality. Start from speakers, transformers and heatsinks. Also, remove all "unnecessary" parts like protective series resistors, decoupling and compensating capacitors etc. Stop this process when the prototype is no longer working and put in the part you removed last.

All the elements of a disposable society. 

[Mick Bailey]

Super fine PCB tracks even where there is sufficient space for a decent track width. Pads that are barely bigger than the through-hole and guaranteed to lift. Power resistors mounted against the board so it gets cooked. Hot components soldered in with low-melting point solder so that it forms a nice crack around the joint after a couple of years. ICs with the part number abraded off (Anyone looked inside a Bell Electrolabs Chorus?) Electrolytics that are rated bang-on to the applied voltage. Components that can only be removed after unsoldering other components or connections. Valves that are only just within spec when new. Valves that are out of spec when new. Battery compartments with a lid that has a moulded in plastic catch that has to be deformed to breaking point to get the thing off (Reel Echo). Skeleton carbon presets. Leads with strain reliefs that are as flexible as peanut brittle. Leads without strain reliefs. Silicone gloop that releases acetic acid and rots the part its trying to protect. Resin potting. Resin -bonded ICs. Custom LSI chips that are completely unobtainable 17 minutes after the last item rolls of the production line. Reverb tanks with connections made with spider-web wire. Solder joints made with acid flux (some guitar pickups). PCBs with a fuse track (some SMPS).

To name but a few.

[m-theory]

Leaving a battery installed and parking the box for months or years. 

Mechanical anything.

Toggles mounted on top.

Wires.

Solder. 

Poor quality components.

Decent quality components.

Tossing the pedal around haphazardly (user abuse).

[ClinchFX]

I agree with many of the comments in this thread.  I,ve seen an amateur built lighting controller where the PCB was mounted with Blu-Tack. There was 240V power on the PCB, in a metal case that wasn't correctly grounded.

Regardless of safety aspects, it's just good practice to ensure that PCBs are properly mounted, even if it's just a pedal you've built for yourself.

I don't understand why people automatically write off plastic 1/4" jack sockets.  I've been using Cliff nylon sockets for 20+ years without failures.  I will agree that there are some other manufacturers who have given plastic sockets a bad name by producing poor quality sockets.

Radial electrolytic capacitors are designed for mounting hard against the PCB - that's just the way it is.  I don't believe I've ever damaged a PCB removing a correctly fitted radial electro.  If I have cause to remove a component, the component will be replaced with a new one.

In the 80s, some Asian electronics manufacturers were using yellowish adhesive, similar to contact adhesive, to attach components to PCBs.  After a year or two in hot conditions, this glue would turn brown and become conductive, causing some crazy intermittent failures.