help/advice/tutorials

[jtn191]

Hi guys,

I've got slambox, zombii, and a mostly finished sqweeker boards laying on my desk. I've gotten more comfortable with soldering technique and buying appropriate parts, but frankly I'm kind of afraid of messing something up finishing/wiring these things.

I've considered buying ggg kits, but how do they handle this? Do they include precut wire?

Should you wire everything up before putting it in the enclosure? I'm hoping madbean's upcoming tutorials cover things like this

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

Have you ever built any BYOC kits? If not, referring to their manuals is always an excellent guide in the order of construction. The ggg kits come with everything you need to build the pedal advertised for sale, including components, hook-up wire and solder! The wire isn't pre-cut though. The instructions are downloadable online.

Should you wire everything up before putting it in the enclosure?

I would say thats a matter of preference and you should experiment with different methods. I have sometimes found doing things in a slightly different order than suggested in those tutorials makes it easier for me. Whatever seems most practical to you 

[jkokura]

Yes, there will be an upcoming Build tutorial covering each stage of building. It will include pictures, and perhaps some video as well. I'm not sure yet. How long can you hang tight for? I'm just waiting on some parts and the enclosure and such.

Jacob

[jtn191]

thanks guys. I'll look into BYOC, because I was hoping to at least finish the slambox for spring break. For the zombii, I want to buy a translucent plastic enclosure...and would have drill/buy more parts for that

I'm trying to figure out how to wire a DC jack, w/o a battery clip connection...and hopefully I could easily add a battery clip when/if I wanted

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

I'm trying to figure out how to wire a DC jack, w/o a battery clip connection...and hopefully I could easily add a battery clip when/if I wanted

It's the same to wire up a DC jack with no battery clip. And you can easily add it in later. Sometimes it can be a bit of tight fit inside the box with everything in there but it's totally do-able.

[gtr2]

To the OP.

Feel free to ask any questions you've got.

Here is a link to the power jack wiring from small bear http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=93

Just ignore the battery info.

You've made it this far, there's enough people on this forum that will help you out where you need it.

You'll have to shield a plastic enclosure if you get one.  That's you really don't see them much in pedal building.  Kind of defeats the purpose of a plastic enclosure...

Josh

[jtn191]

thanks again, I carefully wired up everything last night. I left my 9v adaptor somewhere else so I can't test it until I get it, but I realized I could at least test the bypass...and there's something odd going on.

I did everything according to http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=707.0;attach=212;image
I'm using a mammoth 3pdt that had been previously soldered/desoldered. I'm getting no signal except when I touch lugs C2 and C3 with my finger. could the guts of the switch be messed up by desoldering?

And, Josh, you're sure about the shielding? The thought had crossed my mind, but this http://www.beavisaudio.com/projects/LargeHadronColliderDelay/ made me think otherwise

[jtn191]

bump? 

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

I'm using a mammoth 3pdt that had been previously soldered/desoldered. I'm getting no signal except when I touch lugs C2 and C3 with my finger. could the guts of the switch be messed up by desoldering?

Use your DMM to check continuity between the 2 throws. In one position the top and middle lugs connect. In the other the bottom and middle lugs. Like this:

Throw 1        Throw 2
1-2-3     and   4-5-6
4-5-6             7-8-9

But that is a weird intermittent problem..If its rows 2 and 3 on lugs 4,7 and 8 those are the ground wire so I would say ground is a ground place to start looking for a mistake made. Probably something simple.

[jtn191]

Ok I just tested what you said. There was only continuity between 5 & 8 (and 4&7, because they're grounded). 6&9 weren't connecting, nor were 1-3 and 4-6 on the other throw

here's a pic



I used a fairly high wattage soldering gun to desolder the switch from a previous attempt...it melted some of the red wax but I don't see how it could damage the switch. What's even more frustrating is I HAD the bypass working last time and nothing else.

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

Those solder joints look pretty cold to me. They should look smooth and shiny. It looks like your applying too much heat with your soldering iron but its not flowing the solder properly. I wouldn't be surprised if the switch was damaged by the look of it but the only way to really know is to test like i explained.
You said you got a connection from 5-8. When you tested the top row to the middle did you press the switch to change the throw from effect bypass to effect on? otherwise 1-4, 2-5, 3-6 won't be connected.
Also do you have an audio probe? You would be able to follow the signal and see if it flows completely through the switch.

[jtn191]

yeah you're right. I took my switch out, DMM'd it, and it just ain't right  well I'll get another switch and do a third try asap

[gtr2]

Buy a low wattage soldering iron first.  Your soldering will turn out much more consistent.  You can buy a 25-watt Weller at lowes or home depot for around 10 bucks.

The solder should suck right in when it's done right.  Heat the components with the tip and add solder to the components.  Don't add more solder on the iron this just results in cold joints.  Tinning the iron really helps to transfer the heat quickly to provide an excellent joint.  When the heat isn't transferred quickly with a properly tinned iron you will melt and damage switches as well.  I did when I started out soldering.

Good luck and keep going!  You'll get there 

Josh

[jtn191]

-moved-

[mandrewbot3k]

i agree about the iron, get a weller from lowes or something or for a little more (about $30) you can get a decent soldering station from www.circuitspecialists.com. i have the CSI-STATION2A, but the analog version is only $30. i have about $40 worth of radio shack pencil irons sitting in my tool chest now. plus you can get free stuff if you order $50 worth of stuff. i got some extra tips and some heat shrink.