3PDT Wiring Boards

[peAk]

Quick question....

I have some 3PDT Wiring boards from 1776, SmallBear, and GPCB and I was wondering what you need to do if you want to use the LED on the main PCB board and not the 3PDT board. Do you need to put a jumper anywhere?

Also, are there any advantages/disadvantages to using the LED on the 3PDT board vs. the main PCB. Any mods for using both?

Thanks,
Noob

[mattlee0037]

If you have onboard LEDs then just follow the instructions for one. If in doubt find the schematics for the boards and make sure the LED positive is connected to 9v and a current limiting resistor on one aside and that when the effect is switched on the negative side of the LED gets grounded

[Stomptown]

Quick question....

I have some 3PDT Wiring boards from 1776, SmallBear, and GPCB and I was wondering what you need to do if you want to use the LED on the main PCB board and not the 3PDT board. Do you need to put a jumper anywhere?

Also, are there any advantages/disadvantages to using the LED on the 3PDT board vs. the main PCB. Any mods for using both?

Thanks,
Noob

I don't think there are any advantages/disadvantages to speak of. The important thing is to make sure the cathode of the led is connected to the 3PDT. If the PCB has a board mounted led there will be an associated pad that is supposed to be connected to the 3pdt. This connection is what makes the led turn on and off when the switch is engaged. Make sure to run a wire from that pad to the pad on the 3pdt daughterboard that your would normally stick the LED cathode through. (cathode = square side of the led). Hope this helps!

[peAk]

Quick question....

I have some 3PDT Wiring boards from 1776, SmallBear, and GPCB and I was wondering what you need to do if you want to use the LED on the main PCB board and not the 3PDT board. Do you need to put a jumper anywhere?

Also, are there any advantages/disadvantages to using the LED on the 3PDT board vs. the main PCB. Any mods for using both?

Thanks,
Noob

I don't think there are any advantages/disadvantages to speak of. The important thing is to make sure the cathode of the led is connected to the 3PDT. If the PCB has a board mounted led there will be an associated pad that is supposed to be connected to the 3pdt. This connection is what makes the led turn on and off when the switch is engaged. Make sure to run a wire from that pad to the pad on the 3pdt daughterboard that your would normally stick the LED cathode through. (cathode = square side of the led). Hope this helps!

yes, it definitely helps!

So basically you would have your LED wired like normal to the LED anode/cathode on the main board but you would also have another wire coming from that same cathode going to the cathode on the daughter 3PDT? If that is correct, anything you need to do with the anode on the daughter 3PDT? And what about the resistor? Would it serve as the same function (LED Brightness) just applied to the LED on the main pcb?

Hope I was clear with my questions 

[Stomptown]

Sounds like you understand the concept. You do not need to add a resistor to the daughter board and you can leave the annode pad on the daughter board empty. There should however be an extra pad on the main PCB that is electrically connected to the cathode. This pad is what you should connect to the cathode pad in the daughter board. here is a main PCB with a pad labeled "SW" that is meant to connect to the cathode spot in the daughter board.



Just connect SW (the PCB designer may have used a different naming convention) to the square side of the led shown on the silk screen. Never trust that the square led pad is connected to the annode. Some PCB designers use parts that have the square pad the the cathode and vise versa. The silk screen never lies!

[peAk]

Thanks stomptown

what a day this has been,.....not a good pedal building day, that's for sure.

I tried using a 1776 3PDT board but boy, I just couldn't get it (Sharkfin) working. I am not sure what was going on.

After a little bit of confusion and RobA's help, I realized that the Sharkfin actually has two LEDs. So I thought "okay...perfect, I will use the 1776 Daughter board LED for my main bypass LED and the onboard LED will be for the rate"

Well, after looking at this build report http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=14198.msg131901#msg131901 and wiring it up what I thought was the exact same way, I couldn't get any sound other than bypass and my bypass LED kept getting hot and dimming out. I checked the LED to make sure it wasn't backwards and it wasn't. I tried other LEDs and same thing.

Now I am at the point of just wanting to skip the 3DPT daughter board and wire it up the traditional way.

I am sure I am doing something stupid and being a total noob but I have never had this much trouble before and I really haven't even gotten to the hard part which is setting up the Sharkfin's trims.

Somebody throw a life preserver, I am sinking over here!!

(goes grabs a beer)

[rullywowr]

Did you solder the lugs to the 3pdt board so the holes in the lugs point north to south?

[peAk]

Did you solder the lugs to the 3pdt board so the holes in the lugs point north to south?

Yes, I don't even think they would fit the other way...unless I am misunderstanding you?

the thru holes are going north and south

[Stomptown]

Did you rock it before you boxed it? Can you post some pics?

[peAk]

Did you rock it before you boxed it? Can you post some pics?

No, I haven't boxed it.

I can shoot a pic and post it.

One sec

[peAk]

I will split these photos up so I can have them a bit larger

FYI, the LEDs are disconnected

[peAk]

Let me know if you need me to zoom in on something else.

BTW, I tried connecting the 9V on the daughter board to the 9V on the main PCB but it didn't change anything. The first way I hooked it up was the way it was hooked up in that build report link I posted earlier.

[Stomptown]

Cool! I will look it over and get back to you. After looking at the schematic I noticed this is a negative ground circuit with a voltage inverter at the front end of the power section. It is very possible that you wired it in a way that is sending negative voltage where is shouldn't...

[peAk]

Cool! I will look it over and get back to you. After looking at the schematic I noticed this is a negative ground circuit with a voltage inverter at the front end of the power section. It is very possible that you wired it in a way that is sending negative voltage where is shouldn't...

I appreciate man, please don't spend too much of your time on it. If you see something glaringly obvious, awesome...but if not, I will just disconnect the daughter board and follow the traditional madbean wiring diagram. I read through the building docs a few times but I didn't see anything that stood out as being different. Unfortunately, I am still learning to read schematics so I wouldn't have caught anything there.

[Stomptown]

Everything looks good to me. No obvious smoking gun or anything. Before you rip the 3pdt out make sure to double check transistor/electrolytic capacitor/diode orientations and look for cold solder joints. Also double check the wiring to the 3pdt toggle switch. It is possible that you have a solder bridge on the foot switch if you used a lot of solder. Regardless, don't shy away from using daughter boards. I messed up the first one I used but have never had a problem since. Good luck!