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DIY Stompboxes => Building your own stompbox => Topic started by: vdm on April 28, 2004, 04:07:49 AM

Title: burning out switches???
Post by: vdm on April 28, 2004, 04:07:49 AM
well i had my modded dist + all working and sounding really good to my ears, and i had a working 3leggeddog that was working but annoying me cuz of it's squeels and my inability to get it to work with a wallwart with reasonable noise to signal.....

but anyway - i stole the switch from the 3leggeddog and put it together with the dist+ and i turned it on and no sound at all. even in bypass mode it doesnt seem to work either...

normally when i plug into the effect and you touch the jack tip on the output, you still get the sound of grounding the cable a little.. but this only happens in one position and even then, its much less than ive heard before...

i think i've blown the switch and it is shorting the output to ground or something, and as such it doesnt work in bypass or effected mode.

just checking to see what the chances of this being the problem are, because ive triple checked the switch wiring and it matches my working bluesbreaker, yet it isn't working on the dist+. I don't think i've treated the switch to badly, with quick soldering and desoldering, but i can't think of any other reason for it to do this.

sorry for the whiney post, im just a bit lost for ideas to fix it...

thanks,

trent
Title: burning out switches???
Post by: Sic on April 28, 2004, 04:23:12 AM
3pdt? are you sure you didn't wire the switch sideways? if you are unsure, test continuity with a DMM

the first time i used a 3pdt, i accidentally wired it sideways...

then ansil told me to think of 3pdt switch as eyes.... and they "Blink" when they switch...

you mentioned that you only get the sound in one position (the grounding sound)... seems to me like the switch is probably sideways

just a guess, worth a shot

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Title: burning out switches???
Post by: vdm on April 28, 2004, 09:19:40 AM
thanks for tip sic, but it was only a dpdt - as it turns out through use of the continuity indicator, one half of the switch has shorted, so in both positions one 'set' of the switch are always shorted, but the other side works as normal...

i guess it'll be donated to my foxx tone machine which is going to built very soon... good for the octave switch.

trent
Title: Stomp Switch repairs
Post by: petemoore on April 28, 2004, 09:26:04 AM
I found some good contact/lugs in a partially fried DPDT, it was a foulty bypass from a RAT.
 Makes a reaaly nice SPDT Stopmswitch too, I'm using only SPST of it for a Boost Stomp !!!
 The switch isn't done yet, still has another half-life in it IMO.
Title: burning out switches???
Post by: dosmun on April 28, 2004, 09:40:21 AM
Those switches are VERY easy to melt the plastic holding the lug if you are not careful when soldering or desoldering.
Title: burning out switches???
Post by: vdm on April 28, 2004, 10:05:24 AM
you are right there dosmun... if i was having trouble making a joint and took a little longer than expected, you could see it bubble where the metal meets plastic...

oh well... spdt is better than nothing

trent