Aion Flare (Fuzz Factory) Troubleshooting Help

[potcryan]

Hey all,

I'm in the process of troubleshooting my Aion Flare (Fuzz Factory 8 knob clone) and have some questions. I'm following the build documentation (linked below) and using silicon transistors. My build was working when it was mostly enclosed - all I did was tighten the input jack because it was loose, put the back on the enclosure, and put the knobs on all the pots. After that, I was getting no sound when the pedal was turned on (bypassed sound still fine). I tried wiggling my silicon transistors since they are socketed and I've read that some people have problems with loose transistors...wiggling had no effect. At this point, I started probing around with my multimeter while power was supplied to the pedal. I think I blew out my LED (possibly more?) because the LED won't light up anymore. I had the multimeter set to the continuity setting and had the black lead touching the sleeve of the DC jack and was probing around with the red lead. Did I @#$% up?

In looking at my PCB (see pictures) I noticed one of the traces towards the bottom got rubbed a bit..I think this was after I tightened my input jack, I remember it being difficult to get the cable in. I think a tab from the jack scratched it up a bit. Does this look like I could've damaged a trace?

I'm planning to build an audio probe soon to see if I can pinpoint the problem area. Any other suggestions? I am still getting voltage on the board even though the LED isn't lighting up anymore. Does it make sense that I blew it out somehow? I actually put a spare LED in and it started lighting up again. Then that one stopped working too once I started poking around the board with the multimeter. Am I doing something wrong? Should I not be testing shit when the power cord is hooked up? I'm paranoid I may have ruined other components too. Any tips once I get the audio probe set up?

These are the values I'm getting with my multimeter set to the DC 20V setting:
Q1
C = 0.96
B = 0.62
E = 0

Q2
C= 2.57-3.18 (this one isn't steady and keeps changing to different values within this range)
B= 3.16
E= 3.76

Q3
C= 0.49-1.30 (this one isn't steady and keeps changing to different values within this range)
B= 2.58-3.19 (this one isn't steady and keeps changing to different values within this range)
E= 2.83-3.25 (this one isn't steady and keeps changing to different values within this range)

D1
A (anode, the non-band end) = 0
K (cathode, the banded end) = 9.63

LED
A (anode, the non-band end) = 9.62
K (cathode, the banded end) = 0

Thanks for any advice.

Links:

Build documentation/schematic: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wo40kkfnb9gug1l/aion-flare-fuzz-factory-documentation-v1.1.pdf?dl=1

Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/Xzq6mcP

[Slowpoke101]

Welcome to the forum. Hopefully you will have fun here.

Just had a quick look at your picture of the component side.
Are you certain the Q2 and Q3 are plugged in the correct way around?
They are in backwards. Swap them around and see what happens next.

Q1 appears to be OK.

[potcryan]

You're right, I did have Q2 and Q3 backwards! However after fixing them, I'm still not getting anything. Is it possible that I ruined the transistors? I don't understand how the effect was initially working with the transistors backwards.

[aion]

The Fuzz Factory is surprisingly tolerant of reversed transistors. I worked with one guy who made a production pedal based on this circuit, and he actually intentionally reversed Q1 (and maybe Q2, I don't recall) because he liked the sound better.

[potcryan]

I set up an audio probe and have been trying to follow the schematic to figure out where I'm losing signal. I'm not getting anything when I touch R6, the TONE pot, and C6. I can still hear the signal when I touch C4. I tried reflowing solder around these components, but no difference. Any ideas what else I can do to troubleshoot?

Edit:
When I probe where the PCB is scuffed up (underneath the GND pad, see attached picture), I can start to hear the signal and sometimes it causes my looper that's connected to the pedal to shut off. Could the trace be messed up here? It looks like it goes to the TONE pot after this.


Edit 2: If I use a jumper wire from the negative side of C4 to lug 3 of the TONE pot, I'm getting sound at R6 and C6 and also at OUT. Can I just solder a wire to connect those 2? Does this seem like a good solution?