Sound in bypass but not when 'on'- Hoping there's an obvious answer

[Guybrush]

So...  I finished building a Bloviator some time back, tested it on my test rig and all was fine and worked perfectly.  I then (over the next couple of weeks) finished the off board wiring and painted the enclosure.  Tonight I came to box it up and you guessed it... nothing.  Well almost nothing.  I have sound in bypass but not when the pedal is engaged.   The LED turns on and off as it should and everything is nice and tight. 

I have taken it out of the box and checked my wiring and I can't see anything obviously wrong.  Before I start cutting wires and de-soldering stuff, has anyone got any suggestions on what may be the cause?

It's so frustrating!  I could have thrown the bloody thing at the wall.    Deep breaths.

Thanks guys.

[night-B]

With your dmm, check if there is continuity between in/out of the effect and the ground to see if this is a ground issue.

[gtr2]

photos could help too, an extra set of eyes for wiring is always good!

Josh

[Guybrush]

Thanks guys.   It's a bit late for me to start with the DMM now but I'll try and get on with that tomorrow.

Here's some photos for now.












I did spot that the black Ground at the PCB wire is possibly soldered onto the insulation so I'm going to re-solder that.


Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again.

[jkokura]

If when you engage the pedal the effect isn't working, the reasons are potentially many.

I would start working the typical debugging steps on your PCB itself. Look for parts that are incorrect, backwards, bad solder joints, etc.

Do you have an audio probe? They can be very helpful at this point.

Jacob

[gtr2]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but...

You have the 3pdt board upside down so your input and output jacks are backwards from a standard pedal.  Plug your in on the left and the out on the right with the pedal face down and I bet it will work.

You can still make it work like normal without desoldering the switch.  Just swap the your input and output tip wires.

It should be installed with the text up like this:

[Guybrush]

Thanks for the replies.

Jacob: As the pcb worked when it was hooked up to my test rig I'm pretty sure that things are okay in this department. Of course there could be a bad solder joint that has gotten worse over time though. I'll check everything out. 


Gtr2: How could I miss that!? I'm such a dolt sometimes. You make these fantastic boards to take the pain out of 3dpt wiring and I STILL mess it up!  Ha ha. I'll unsolder it and put it in correctly tonight. Fingers crossed!

Thanks.

[gtr2]

I wouldn't desolder the switch unless it REALLY bothers you. Desoldering 3pdt's from a double sided board is difficult.  You'll likely ruin the switch if it gets to much heat.  The board will work fine upside down. 

Just switch the input and output jacks and you'll be in business.

Josh

[Guybrush]

Unfortunately swapping the input and outputs didn't work.  I cut off  all the off board wiring components off and hooked it back up to my test rig and everything worked fine. I soldered on fresh in/out jacks, 3pdt board and switch and it still doesn't work. Turns on an offer (LED lights and goes out as it shlould) but there's no sound at all now. Not even in bypass.

I'm thinking that I may have wired the in/out jacks incorrectly. I'm using stereo TRS jacks and have wired from the appropriate points on the 3pdt board to the sleeve and tip connections leaving the ring unconnected (I'm not adding a battery snap).  Is this the correct method or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks.

[lincolnic]

You might want to check your jacks with your DMM to make sure that the sleeve and tip connections are where you think they are - some manufacturers have them laid out differently from the MBP standard wiring diagram. I don't know if this will solve your problem, but it's something I've run into that's easy to overlook.

[Guybrush]

That sounds like a good idea, thanks.  Would I put one probe on the actual tip and one probe on what I assume is the tip lug and test for continuity?

[jkokura]

Yes.

Jacob

[gtr2]

Also, make sure you are not using a switching style jack, where it breaks connection when you insert a plug.

Josh

[Guybrush]

Also, make sure you are not using a switching style jack, where it breaks connection when you insert a plug.

Josh

I've got a feeling that this may be the problem.  I bought the jacks off ebay and the two other circuits I'm working on don't have these jacks attached and they work fine.  How can I tell if it's a switching style jack?

Really sorry for all the questions.

[Bret608]

Let me build on what lincolnnic said about the jack lug layout. I can't completely tell on the picture of your input jack (your thumb is just slightly in the way!  ), but I'm wondering if you've got the ring and tip mixed up. I just say this because I recently almost made this mistake on a jack I had that didn't have the ring, sleeve and tip in the usual order as I've seen it on most diagrams.

Here's how you can tell: the lugs usually occupy three "layers." The ring will be the middle "layer" with the tip being closest to the enclosure side and the sleeve being farthest into the enclosure.

Again, you may already have this correct and my apologies if I'm being presumptuous chiming in!