Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Hey There,

Built the Confi Boost last night and everything went great, the pedal works just as it's supposed to.

I'd fairly new to electronics. I've always changed pups and pots and jacks and am fairly decent at soldering BUT I want to start building pedals so I want to learn what I can do with my multi meter to check everything - trouble shoot - for the future.

What I want to know is: what setting on the multimeter would i use to check cap and resistors and solder joints? How do I find a problem with my multi meter?

If there is another thread or web page dedicated to this please just let me know.

Thanks so much!

For starters YouTube is a good place to look...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF3OyQ3HwfU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzjMIcER4EU

PCB soldering is a lot different than soldering pots and pickups. The quality of the solder joint is crucial if you want to have a working pedal when you are done. If you don't have any PCB soldering experience I suggest getting some parts and a perf-board from your local Rat Shack or equivalent and spend some time practicing. Check out some soldering tutorials on YouTube while you're at it.

now there's an NSD for somebody.

Good question. Generally, you use the DMM to take continuity and dc voltage readings. Those are the two main things you want to get to know really well on your meter. Like Stephen said, there are tons of tutorials out there. Where to take those readings is specific to each circuit.

Thanks for the great info! I'm trouble shooting a 250+.

I do get beeps touching various components (diodes in this case) together. What is the process of tracing it and figuring out which solder joint is bad? Do I follow the trace on the circuit board?

Thanks!

EDIT:

I'm going back over everything. I rewired my pots with color coded wire. It is not attachted to the PCB yet. Is there anyway to test it to make sure the connections / pots are good?

Hag when you say troubleshoot, are you saying the pedal doesn't work? Or are you just poking around seeing what you can learn?

If tracing a circuit an audio probe would serve you better. I would box it up and see if it works from there. If it does not first thing you do is reflow your joints pcn and jacks and stomp switch. Does it work now? Double check your resistors and your build in general.

Depending on why something doesn't work from there sort of depends on what the symptoms are. you would want to post some pics and describe your problem in detail in the troubleshooting lounge.

Thanks,

Yeah the signal passes in bypass but no sound when engaged.

When reflowing solder joints am I simply reheating and melting the solder or adding more solder?

Thanks!

Mostly you reheat with no solder unless a joint looks a little thin. You just lay that iron on there until you see the solder melt and pull it off. Pop a little solder on there, just a touch if needed. It will only take a few minutes to do the whole board. Don't forget those jacks and stomper too.

No sound at all could be a cold joint for sure. If not I would triple check the wiring and in particular the in/out jacks but it could be anywhere. All it takes is one wrong connection. If this doesn't work throw some pics up.

Another quick question:

I'm checking everything possible as I go through just to be clean and careful -

Checking the AC jack: I connected the battery to the ac jack and the ground to the ring of the in jack. hooking up the battery I get 4.8 volts by touching positive to the pos lead to the PCB and the neg lead to the ring.

The AC Jack is not hooked up to the PCB or the switch.

Is this the best way to check it? Does this reading suggest I will be getting battery power? Why would I not be getting 9 volts?

Thanks again!

Here you go Hag http://www.ladyada.net/learn/multimeter/voltage.html

If I understand your description right, you should be gettin more than 9v if not hooked up to the circuit, assuming a fresh battery. I'd check the battery itself first like the pic in the attachment so you know if you have a good battery. By the way check the rest of that site out for things. Cool learning site.

Thanks a lot! Great site.

I ended up getting the 250+ to work. I really learned a lot by screwing it up ha!

All kidding aside, you will indeed learn more by having a build not work than having one that does work.

So, any idea what did the trick?

Oh yeah, I'm glad I screwed it up. Since I was simply following the directions I didn't fully understand how everything worked. In the process I discovered great threads here on how to hook everything up cleanly and properly.

How To Check 3PDT:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=31545
How To Prep and Wire 3PDT:
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=33293
Stephen's Tips for a Successful Build:
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=6404

I went back through and rewired my switch, pots, jacks, and ac jack with color coded wire - making sure everything was very clean.

I had soldered some of the connection wire on the top and bottom of the PCB. I'm not sure if that could be an issue but I took them all out and did it properly.

My OpAmp leads were bent and not fully poking through the other side of the PCB so I pulled it out, picked up a new one from Radioshack and installed it properly with a socket.

The biggest problem might have been the two areas where multiple wires get soldered. The ground of the AC jack and #4 on the 3PDT. Originally I soldered one wire then added another wire on top. This time I twisted the wires together, soldered them, then soldered them to the lug.

Just ordered the Amp Switcher and Large Beaver!

Dude, that is how it's done. Nice job going back over your work and taking time to read the threads. A few minutes on the front end pays off in hours on the back end.

Ummmm... That's what she said?

Good catch!