Build it / box it and then rock it

[jimilee]

  So as I've just completed pedal number 5 (pics coming soon) I find my self building pedals into enclosures rather than building them and then boxing them. I do it as kind of a way to measure wire (keeps it shorted and neater) and sometimes for drilling purposes for switches and knobs. Once I build and debug,then I disassemble and paint. This seems like maybe a little more time consuming way to do it,but my layouts are never the same. How do you do it?

[jkokura]

It depends. For me, I build many of the same pedal, so I don't 'rock it before I box it' everytime. I probably should though, as it would save me pain when things don't work correctly.

But whenever I'm doing an unproven build, I always rock before boxing. However, I always assemble with the box in mind. For instance, I'll stuff and solder the PCB as a first step, and if I'm using board mounted pots, I'll put the pots in the enclosure and then install the PCB into the enclosure with the pots and solder them in. Then I'll take it all out, and then I'll install the neccessary wires. I'll always make those wires longer than they need to be, but hopefully not more than 1/2" longer. Once the wires are installed, it's time to rock it before boxing it. Once tested as fully working, I'll install it back into the enclosure, and start trimming and connecting those wires to the appropriate jacks. I never have issues with too short wires, and I most often throw out little pieces of wire that are 1/4 to 1" long I keep anything longer, but I'm getting to have bags and bags of 1-2" wires. the 2" wires and up are getting reused though.

I advocate FULLY building a testing rig and rocking BEFORE boxing. Especially if you've built less than 20 pedals. Now that I've built close to 200 pedals or so, I know how to handle a non working circuit board much better, and I rarely build anything that I haven't built before now, so my choice to not rock before box is an educated one. Until you've got the experience... rock before boxing and you will save yourself headache and gain the experience needed to skip some steps.

It's like they say - you need to learn all the rules before you know when to bend or break some of them.

Jacob

[DutchMF]

Jacob is completely right (as usual...  ) !! What I usually do is connect wires to the PCB's with a lot of extra length, connect those to the testing rig and trim 'm down when I mount all the stuff into the enclosure. The small bits you get from that can be used in wiring LED's or switches or whatever. Also, a 'dry fit' of all the parts/jacks/switches/PCB's without any wires helps a lot in the planning of how you wanna wire up your box.

Paul

[whitebread47]

Yeah, basically what Jacob and Paul said.  Every now and then I get a rush of confidence and box first with a circuit I've never built.  In at least half of those cases, there's some troubleshooting to do.  I've probably built 30 or more pedals since I started out early last year, but still run into this.  For accurate wire lengths, installing the pots into the drilled enclosure and wiring them to the board like this is best IMO.

For me, the biggest advantage of rocking before boxing is that when I box up a tested circuit and it doesn't work, I have a pretty good idea that the problem could be a wiring error.  With an untested circuit, I have less a clue depending on the symptoms.  That process helps me know where to look in fault diagnosing and has greatly diminished the number of tech help threads I start. 

[DutchMF]

Good stuff Blake, you're spot on!

Paul

[juansolo]

If I've never built it before, it's build/rock/box. If it's a known entity, it's build/box/rock.

[madbean]

I always rock before boxing. That's just how I roll.

[jimilee]

That's what I need to do then, build a test box and relax a bit.

[pickdropper]

I used to box before rocking, but now I almost always rock first.  I've found that, even if the circuits fire up, there are times when I want to tweak things.

[hammerheadmusicman]

Since I built my test box life has become a lot easier!!

Ill post a pic on this thread in a bit.. Mine is a little different.

G

[jimilee]

You know what's funny, I started this hobby because I couldn't find an affordable compressor that I liked, now I'm 5 pedals in and I can't stop! I may have a problem.

[aballen]

I also go the route of long wires to the board first.  Test rig is really the way to go.  I built myself a "Beavis Box", it really makes it easy to test.  Pots and switches are also attached with long wires.  Rock, maybe tweak it a little.

Separately, I drill the enclosure, get all my jacks mounted, etc... kind of like Brians baby build guide.  I'll wire up my 3PDT, in/out jacks, whatever I can.  When I need to put it in the box, I know the circuit works and its pretty easy to marry the two.

... and yes, its totally addictive.. my board only has one purchased pedal on it now, my polytune, but that was free, so I think its ok.

[angrykoko]

I dunno, I kind of do both.. just depends on what I'm building and my level of patients at that moment.

I guess thinking about it more, I've built one of every type of thing so I'm getting picky about what actually makes it into an expensive box so I've been trying them out for a week or so before committing to drilling a 8.00 + enclosure.

Hmm.. and now that I'm understanding more about what I'm building giving them a try before boxing them up makes it easier to do things like change pot tapers or swap out this cap value for that.  I guess I'm just changing tactics now a days.

But yeah, I'm addicted to the smell of burning flux and the anticipation of "what will this one sound like?"

[GermanCdn]

I'm in the rock it first group as well, partially for tech reasons and partially monetary.  You build a new circuit, and you hate it, for whatever reason.  If you haven't drilled out the box, wired up the jacks, etc, etc, etc, you're probably out $5 if it's a vero, $15 if it's a fabbed board.  You toss it into the box of WTF or scavenge it for parts, and lesson learned.  If you've boxed it up at before trying it out, you've now drilled out an enclosure, wired up a 3PDT, and all the sockets, you're into it for a good $15 - 20 bucks more, and the likelihood of messing up at least one of the more expensive components in taking it apart.

Whenever I get brave and don't test ahead of time, my failure rate goes up.  Same thing with unsocketted ICs and transistors.

I built my first test rig for under $5 from Tayda, works like a charm.  Building a new test rig with Jacobs Tiny Tester, Headphone Amp, and an audio probe.  I go the long wire route as well, though I template out typical pot layouts to measure out the pot wires ahead of time.

[jeffaroo]

build the board and add only the offboard leads, then wire it into a project breadboard rig and check it out. if it passes and gets the green light, then do the offboard crap in the box
this way your not wasting time and soldering on switches and pots several times.
big deal if you throw a inch or two of wire away. i just chuck it in my bucket-o-jumpers (coffee can)