Enclosure and wiring help/tips?

[isoceles]

Hello! Here's what's going on. I built a Civil War version Mud Bunny. It works great... as long as I don't box it up.

I tried to make sure I read up on everything before and while I was putting it together. I had some enclosures that a co-worker gave me. He used to build pedals but hasn't now for years. He had some old enclosures left that he just gave to me. But the enclosures are kind of small. The best I can tell is that they are maybe 1590a or 1590b, but there doesn't seem to be enough height in the enclosures. Being new at this, I am trying not to have a spaghetti mess of wire in my box - but there kind of is anyway.

I don't expect early builds to be perfect, though - and in fact I almost want them to look homemade (dymo labels, et al). If I continue to get better at this, then I will try to get things neat and won't want them to look homemade. I put the circuit in an electrical junction box (a bit larger than the enclosure my coworker gave me), and it still really won't fit - and when I cram everything in there, it stops working.

I plan to order a 1590bbt enclosure for it and hopefully that will take care of the issue, but I was wondering if anyone might have any tips or tricks to keep wiring short and neat, or for boxing stuff up correctly/neatly.

Thanks (and sorry for such a long post)!

[jkokura]

Welcome to the forum, and to the hobby!

Building pedals sometimes has a steep learning curve. My first few pedals didn't work, and so I had to learn how to trouble shoot. Now I've got hundreds of builds done, and many of them needed troubleshooting. I get them all working.

It just takes practice and patience. If you don't have patience, you'll have more when you finish building a pedal! Keep at it, and show us where you're at when you need help. We're here to lend an eye and a word of advice when you need it.

Jacob

[das234]

I'm not the expert on neat wiring (talk to Juan or one of the other neat-freaks about that), but as for not working in the box; it's highly probably you developed a short somewhere when you stuffed it in the box.  Make sure things that might short out against the enclosure are covered with foamy tape or pot covers or something and try again.

[DutchMF]

Well-lit, in focus pics of your build might be of help also, to give us a better idea of what we're dealing with here. And welcome to a very addictive hobby! Believe me, if you stick with it, everything you build will eventually work. The help out here is amazing, and the rewards.... You can probably guess!

Paul

[Gledison]

Welcome mate!
As a noob myself i can tell that its a totally addictive hobby and the beginning indeed is difficult.
As Paul said, the guys here are great builders and know a lot. You will find always help and probably solutions for your problems on the road..
Keep up! there are sometimes some cold solder joints, broken wires, etc. etc...
you will learn how to troubleshoot them...
cheers

[isoceles]

Thanks for all the encouragement!  I will try to get some pics up here soon.

But as for making sure that nothing is shorting out, I have already covered the pots, and the inside of the enclosure with electrical tape. Still no worky when in the box. However, I'm pretty sure that there is nothing wrong with the circuit - it's with the wiring/shorting out.

I will most likely stick with the hobby - slowly. My first build was a BYOC tubescreamer (in 2011) - probably a bit to ambitious to start with - and of course it didn't work. A co-worker took a look at it and it was shorting out in the enclosure. We fixed that one, but I'm starting to notice a bit of a pattern with the builds I am trying - hence the cry for help

This build really solidified me on continuing with the hobby. I got some solid understanding under my belt with this build and I can't wait to get this one fixed and started on the next one - even if the wiring does look like a rat's nest on it too.

[isoceles]

Okay I have some pics now, but I am not sure how helpful they will be - I may need to re-take them. Just let me know if there is anything else that would help for anyone to see:

http://i41.tinypic.com/v7b0cp.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/25g54c0.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/4t5bf7.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/ohlmjc.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/2lnfj0w.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/2uom4oz.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/1hqc1t.jpg

[muddyfox]

I'll take a look at the pics in a little while but for now, a quick question. Did you cover the inside of the cover with the electrical tape as well? In my experience that's where most of the shorting happens.

EDIT: ok, I see, the thing is upside down and the cover is actually the top.  Well, once you move into Hammonds, my observation still stands.

[isoceles]

I'll take a look at the pics in a little while but for now, a quick question. Did you cover the inside of the cover with the electrical tape as well? In my experience that's where most of the shorting happens.

EDIT: ok, I see, the thing is upside down and the cover is actually the top.  Well, once you move into Hammonds, my observation still stands.

Thanks! When I get the new enclosure, I will coat the thing.

I was thinking of ordering my enclosure from Mammoth. Is there a better place to get enclosures?

[muddyfox]

Enough of editing, better do another post. 

I can't for a fact say that I see something wrong right now. That 3pdt looks funky as well as input/output jacks with lots of bare wire everywhere. It's either that or an iffy solderjoint (wire, most likely) someplace that loses contact when force is applied on it during the stuffing. 
Also, for future builds, consider socketing transistors and diodes (especially clippers). Comes in handy for expetimentation.

Also, welcome to the forum! It's a swell place!