Cave Dweller Help

[meyerdanielw]

Hi folks,

This is only my second build and I'm having a little trouble. I'm building a cave dweller using a board that I purchased from mad bean. 1st question is when I tried to bias the Q1 transistor to 6v as suggested in the build guide I was only able to get a little above 4v when the trimmer pot T1 was turned fully CW. I was using a 9v battery and a bread board to bias. Is that correct, or do I need to use a dc power supply? 2nd question is when I have everything wired up and plugged in I'm not even getting a dry signal through the amplifier when the pedal isn't engaged. Does that mean I have a wiring problem with the jacks or switch 100% of the time or could it be another problem? I thought I had the off board wiring correct and double checked, but maybe I just need to start over with that.

Thanks in advance,
Dan

[midwayfair]

Measure your battery.

Post your voltages on all pins of the transistor and the chip and the voltage regulator and at your input.

Pictures will also help, since most beginner mistakes are a soldering problem or wrong value in the wrong place.

It would also be helpful if you formatted your post as presented in the tech help instructions. There is also a basic troubleshooting tutorial there.

[bamslam69]

Just jumping on board here - Anyone who's made a cavedweller, do you have any issues with Power supply noise?
I get constant hum when using a PS, and no noise when using a 9V battery.
Any ideas? (obvious choice would be to invest in a high quality PS, I guess)

[somnif]

Its annoying, but it could be your wiring. For example, I get nasty mains hum using my one-spot if my air conditioner is running (My apartment's grounding is utter shit).

First, try your power supply on an effect you know is "good", if you can. If its clean on that and hummy on a DIY pedal, the psu itself is probably fine.

If it hums on anything, try different outlets (specifically on different circuits).

If none of that ends up hum-free, then depending on your effort level, you could buy a nice isolated PSU (pricey), or throw the dice with a power pellet circuit (cheap and easy but of questionable utility).

[jimilee]

Some background would be great, what PS are you using? How is it wired up? In a box or test rig?  Have you measured the voltage on your PS?


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[bamslam69]

Thanks for replying. Sorry for the lateness of mine!
Ended up lending it to a mate over the weekend. He said he got no noise whatsoever from it. Basically, we can just put it down to an el-cheapo power supply.
Might put a decent one on the Christmas wish list.