Confidence Boost didn't work out.

Mr_DNA · **Joined:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:33 am **Posts:** 16

Hey everyone. I tried the confidence boost, annnd failed. Bummer. When I plug it in, I just get some fuzz, which dampens when I touch the guitar strings. Here are some pictures of the build:

http://imgur.com/a/VOfN9#0

I'm going to check it with the multimeter when I get back home, but can anyone see any obvious problems from the pictures? I did a poor job on the wires for the input/output jacks, so I had to desolder and resolder on new wires. I couldn't find the 24AWG that BYOC supplies, but I was under the impression that 22AWG would work, as well.

Thanks in advance!

patrickbrose · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:46 am

I can't quite tell from the pictures, but can you confirm the orientation of the Electrolytic Cap ( the big tall cylinder shaped one). Make sure that the + and - are not switched.
-P

Mr_DNA · **Joined:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:33 am **Posts:** 16

I will check that out and get back to you. I was extra careful about that kind of thing, but I wouldn't put it past me to double check it and then put it in wrong anyway

grievousangel · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:53 am

Any changes in the output when you turn the trim pot?

Mr_DNA · **Joined:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:33 am **Posts:** 16

Just some really slight scratchiness. Nothing major.

Morgan · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 12:24 pm

The soldering looks a bit suspect. Reheat all of the soldering joints to re-flow the solder (don't add any more). Make sure your iron tip is clean, shiny, and hot. After you finish that, clean the bottom of the pcb with some alcohol to get rid of flux residue - that can cause shorts sometimes. And clip those component leads shorter on the bottom of the pcb.

Mr_DNA · **Joined:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:33 am **Posts:** 16

Morgan wrote:

The soldering looks a bit suspect. Reheat all of the soldering joints to re-flow the solder (don't add any more). Make sure your iron tip is clean, shiny, and hot. After you finish that, clean the bottom of the pcb with some alcohol to get rid of flux residue - that can cause shorts sometimes. And clip those component leads shorter on the bottom of the pcb.

Will do! I'll do that and then do some more testing and report back.

Mr_DNA · **Joined:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:33 am **Posts:** 16

grievousangel wrote:

Any changes in the output when you turn the trim pot?

I didn't remember right, apparently. Turns out that, yes, the volume of the fuzz is affected by turning the trim pot.

I touched up the solder joints, still the same result. I have to go buy some alcohol to clean it up, though.

patrickbrose · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 4:32 pm

Did you check that Capacitor?
-P

Mr_DNA · **Joined:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:33 am **Posts:** 16

patrickbrose wrote:

Did you check that Capacitor?
-P

Yep! It's on there correctly.

Morgan · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2012 11:28 am

I'm concerned your not getting enough heat on your solder joints. The bottom of the pcb doesn't look too bad, but the topside solder looks really cold and unconductive, especially around the pins of the op amp.

Would you mind uploading new photos from after you reflowed the solder joints?

Mr_DNA · **Joined:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:33 am **Posts:** 16

Here's an album of pictures post-reflowing.

http://imgur.com/a/LfHJv#0

I'm glad you mentioned it, Morgan, because that's not something I would have thought to check. I'm pretty sure I didn't let my gun heat up long enough when I started. I think they're all well-flowed through now.

Unfortunately, I'm no longer getting a fuzz that reacts to touching my guitar strings. Just straight fuzz

Might be time to order another Confidence Boost before I try the Scrambled Octave or Compressor that I got with my kit.

patrickbrose · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2012 10:06 pm

Wait a minute, are you using a soldering gun or iron. A soldering gun will damage some of the parts in the build.
-P

Mr_DNA · **Joined:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:33 am **Posts:** 16

patrickbrose wrote:

Wait a minute, are you using a soldering gun or iron. A soldering gun will damage some of the parts in the build.
-P

No, sorry, got my terms mixed up. I'm using the soldering station that byoc sends out.

Morgan · **Posted:** Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:32 am

It's always hard for me to spot the differences in resistor color bands, but after some starting at your photos, it looks like you have R4 (100k - brown/black/black/orange/brown) and R6 (10k - brown/black/black/red/brown) reversed. I.E. you have the 10k in the R4 spot and the 100k in the R6 spot.

Mr_DNA · **Joined:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:33 am **Posts:** 16

Morgan wrote:

It's always hard for me to spot the differences in resistor color bands, but after some starting at your photos, it looks like you have R4 (100k - brown/black/black/orange/brown) and R6 (10k - brown/black/black/red/brown) reversed. I.E. you have the 10k in the R4 spot and the 100k in the R6 spot.

Wow, good eyes! Thank you for taking the time to look at it so closely. I'm working on removing them from the board, which is proving to be pretty difficult, but when I get them switched I'll report back.

Big Dan · **Posted:** Sun Apr 15, 2012 4:24 pm

Wow Morgan, that was a good catch. My eyes missed that one too.

pickdropper · **Joined:** Tue Feb 21, 2012 1:02 am **Posts:** 1445

You may know this, but it really helps to add solder to the tip of your iron before you solder the joint. A tip that is wet with solder will transfer heat much better.

When I first started soldering I didn't know this. I found I could solder much more effectively once I learned this trick.

Same holds true when going back and reflowing existing joints. I also find a bit of flux can help reflow the joint even easier.

Mr_DNA · **Joined:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:33 am **Posts:** 16

Well, thanks to Morgan and his incredible eyesight, it works now! I did a pretty sloppy job of switching the resistors so I thought for sure it was shot, but I plugged it in and it worked perfectly. Thanks to everyone who helped out, this is a great forum.

Next up: the scrambled octave! Wish me luck...and I'll definitely be reading up on some already-completed builds before I start.

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