Soldering 3PDTs to Daughter Boards

[ddog]

I think I just fried a 3PDT switch I have a few questions:

When soldering a 3PDT switch into a daughter board, how important is it to fill the daughter board holes completely? I've been trying to fill them completely and I realized that I've probably fried it that way. Do you use a different soldering tip?

To check if the switch is successfully soldered, I check for continuity at the PCB board input and output of the 3PDT daughter board. Is that a good method?

How important is it for the wire to go through the daughterboard holes? What I did is fill a hole with solder to create a pad and then soldered my wires on that pad. However, when checking the other side the solder did not completely fill the hole. Would that be an issue?

I've been trying to clean up the wiring from some of my earlier (working) builds, so I switched to a 3PDT board and completely redid the wiring. When I am bypassed I get signal, but whenever I turn the effect on it is dead. I'm pretty sure its the 3PDT

[Stomptown]

1) I guess it depends on how hot your iron is. I've never had a problem filling the pads completely, BUT there is no reason to do so and I've recently started to add just enough solder to connect the lug to the pad, which works fine. No reason to overheat the pads or waste solder!

2) can you verify that the circuit works without the 3PDT PCB (did you "rock it before you boxed it")? If so then you definitely know the problem lies elsewhere. First, I would check for continuity between the input jack and the main PCB input. Next, I would check continuity between the main PCB output and the 3PDT PCB input. Then check between the 3PDT PCB input pad and 3PDT output pad (the one connected to the tip of the jack). If you do not have continuity then you know the problem is somewhere on the daughterboard (otherwise the problem lies between the 3PDT PCB and the output jack). If it is on the 3PDT you need to methodically work your way through the switch to find the issue. For example, your issue could be a cold joint between the output jack pad and the 3PDT lug connected to that pad...

3) I would recommend threading the wire through the holes of the pad. In theory your method should work, but IMO it seems far from optimal.

4) Is it possible your connections to the 3PTD board are wrong? When I first started using 3PDT boards I ruined a couple 3PDT's myself but it turned out that I misinterpreted the wiring diagram.

[ddog]

I've been using these boards:

http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=10834.msg97243#msg97243

I've done the following connections:

IS - The Sleave of the input; that is where all the ground wires are
BG - Board Ground
LG - LED Leg
BI - the input of the PCB
IT - the tip of the input
BO - the output of the PCB
OT - the tip of the output

I also connected the the sleave of the output to the sleave of the input for grounding reasons (or else I get noise).

The board worked fine before. Maybe some static electricity damaged the components, but thats pretty unlikely. When I turn on the board, the LED does work but the board goes silent. Here is the result of the connectivity tests

input jack - input PCB = YES
output jack - output PCB = YES
3pDT Input - 3PDT Output = YES

However, when I measured

Board Output and 3PDT PCB input (I measured both and the Input tip and Board Input parts) ,I get co connectivity. Still unsure what that means but Ill continue testing




PCB output

[Stomptown]

I also connected the the sleave of the output to the sleave of the input for grounding reasons (or else I get noise).

Have you already boxed the pedal? The aluminum enclosure should connect the output sleeve to the input sleeve.

However, when I measured Board Output and 3PDT PCB input (I measured both and the Input tip and Board Input parts) ,I get co connectivity. Still unsure what that means but Ill continue testing PCB output

You have definitely narrowed it down to the switch! Now work your way through the switch. Check for continuity between the following:

IT -> BI
BI -> BO
BO -> OT

This should help you find the dead spot. Reflow the joints in question and see if it works. If not, work your way through the switch again to see if the issue was resolved or not. It could be that there are multiple cold joints that need reflowing. Or the switch may be dead...

[ddog]

Thanks for your help Stomptown 

The Board Output seems to be broken (it only connects to the Output Tip and nothing else). I've reflowed it with the same result. I've moved on to another switch and another daughter board (1776 effects)

[Stomptown]

My guess is the 3pdt switch is broken or defective. The only other possibility is a cold joint between the main PCB output and BO. Good luck!