# Depressed when it doesn’t work



## Olivier7960 (Jan 10, 2022)

Succeeded with a few builds …. Once in a while one doesn’t work …. No sound at all or a terrible hiss …. I’ve been super anal about my soldering work, doing it all with a 4X magnifying glass .. everything looks fine but it doesn’t work !!!! I am resilient so I keep on soldering but this feeling of despair … anyway …. Anybody going through this ?


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## peccary (Jan 10, 2022)

Illegitimi non carborundum.

Chin up, friendo.


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## Big Monk (Jan 10, 2022)

thewintersoldier said:


> We have all been there and have had failed builds or ones that need some trouble shooting. If your frustrated walk away from it and come back but don't give up. Most issues are minor and every mistake is a learning experience. Learning what not to do is just as Important as knowing what to do.



This.

We joke quite a bit about my Scrambler builds around here but in the end what was wrong with my 2nd was a 4.7M in place of a 4.7k.

When i went back to check my order history at Tayda, I realized I've never ordered 4.7M resistors from them. I was mistakenly given a bag of 4.7M from Tayda with a 4.7k label.

What I learned from this experience is to use your gut. I was not getting voltage to a key part of the circuit NOT through any error in wiring or powering it, but because the wrong component was there.

What I also learned training as an engineer was that most of what all engineers do is troubleshooting. Troubleshooting is a skill in itself.


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## thesmokingman (Jan 10, 2022)

you didn't learn the lesson of measuring the parts you work with? You've seen my bench ... the multimeter isn't on the table for instagram fluke flexing


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## thesmokingman (Jan 10, 2022)

and to keep it 100 ... I learned my lesson early thanks to mammoth electronics' infamously janky order fulfillment errors ... there's nothing like losing business because your supplier is manned by Okies


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## Big Monk (Jan 10, 2022)

thesmokingman said:


> you didn't learn the lesson of measuring the parts you work with? You've seen my bench ... the multimeter isn't on the table for instagram fluke flexing



As a general rule, yes.

This was tricking because I had used a few other 4.7k that same day. Measured one and rolled with it.


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## thesmokingman (Jan 10, 2022)

Olivier7960 said:


> Succeeded with a few builds …. Once in a while one doesn’t work …. No sound at all or a terrible hiss …. I’ve been super anal about my soldering work, doing it all with a 4X magnifying glass .. everything looks fine but it doesn’t work !!!! I am resilient so I keep on soldering but this feeling of despair … anyway …. Anybody going through this ?


Every failure is a learning opportunity. I'd like to know more about what you're doing when you've discovered that you failed.


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## Mr Phil (Jan 10, 2022)

I spent a fair amount of my time on this forum reading the Troubleshooting threads, especially ones that are solved so I learned what NOT to do.   Also, there are some very experienced builders on here.  Taking mental notes of what questions they ask can help you troubleshoot your own builds in the future (or help you build it better the first time).  Stick with it and good luck!


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## BuddytheReow (Jan 10, 2022)

Learning how to troubleshoot will pay for itself in dividends. It's also the most frustrating part of the build process. Once you find the culprit you will kick yourself at how silly of a mistake you made and you will most likely not make it again. I'm speaking in generalities of course, but it's still very true. Here is a link on how to troubleshoot. Be patient; that's the key. Good luck. If all else fails start a new thread here, but give it your best shot first. We may see things you can't and vice versa. Don't forget to post pics of both sides of the board.






						TUTORIAL - Troubleshooting 101
					

There comes a time for every builder to spend multiple hours soldering, wiring, and breadboarding a certain circuit just to have it work incorrectly, if at all. This could happen on your first build or any build after that. This write up is to help you in your quest to figure out why it isn't...




					forum.pedalpcb.com


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## Harry Klippton (Jan 10, 2022)

Mr Phil said:


> I spent a fair amount of my time on this forum reading the Troubleshooting threads, especially ones that are solved so I learned what NOT to do.   Also, there are some very experienced builders on here.  Taking mental notes of what questions they ask can help you troubleshoot your own builds in the future (or help you build it better the first time).  Stick with it and good luck!


I often asked myself "what replies would I get if I posted a troubleshooting thread?" And then just did those things. Visual inspection, check component values, signal and power tracing with continuity check, and audio probing. It helped me get a better understanding of  how things worked AND resolved my issues. I stopped viewing message boards as a place to seek help but rather a place to share


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## giovanni (Jan 10, 2022)

Big Monk said:


> This.
> 
> We joke quite a bit about my Scrambler builds around here but in the end what was wrong with my 2nd was a 4.7M in place of a 4.7k.
> 
> ...


OMG now I have to test all my components all the time!


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## Paradox916 (Jan 10, 2022)

It happens they can’t all be winners especially when you first start into something that can be this complex... hey you could be like me and be depressed even when they work because you spent so much time building it you forgot how to play guitar.


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## vigilante398 (Jan 10, 2022)

Failure never goes away. I'll have times when I get a dozen in a row with no problems, then I'll have a batch of everything dead and nothing works. But you definitely learn what to look for, how to fix it, and how to make sure it doesn't happen the next time around.


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## Mcknib (Jan 10, 2022)

All part of the game

I just scream abuse at myself my neighbours must think I'm a complete lunatic when they hear me shouting:

Its only a +×@#$€ fuzz work you absolute @!+£¥%& whilst kicking a cupboard or slapping myself very roughly

It's usually the most basic one's that don't work with me


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## fig (Jan 10, 2022)

I just keep saying over and over to myself..._keep at it_...._one day, you'll build something that works_


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## Dan M (Jan 10, 2022)

My last failure was a stray single strand of wire connecting the + directly to the -.  Made me consider using solid wire for hookup from now on.

But more depressing for me is when I finally fix it, it starts working, and I think, “this pedal sucks.  I think I hate this pedal.”


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## zgrav (Jan 10, 2022)

I have never had a board with a problem start working by tapping it against the table three times.  but it hasn't stopped me from trying.....


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## cdwillis (Jan 10, 2022)

When I first started building stuff on vero board in 2019 or 2020, I picked a Devi Ever fuzz because it seemed pretty simple due to the low parts count. I did everything meticulously and then it didn't work. My LED lit up when the I hit the stomp switch, but I had no audio unless it was bypassed. I reflowed every solder connection, double checked the cuts, made sure I didn't bridge any traces, the whole nine yards. I was ready to hurl the thing into the wall or the trash, I couldn't decide which. Somehow I figured out that I was orientating my stomp switch 90 degrees sideways compared to the way the wiring diagram showed. Of course this diagram didn't show which was the pins on the switch were running so I had no way of knowing until I noticed someone else's vero build had the switch turned. 

One of the big muffs I built last year (maybe the Hoof clone) worked when I finished, but the volume output wasn't even unity when maxed out. Turned out that the collector resistor in q4 (supposed to be 10k) got a 1k in it's place. Once I swapped it out everything was copacetic. 

The thing I've learned in my case is that it's almost always something simple, but once I'm irritated things don't stand out as easily lol. I take a break, sometimes don't even mess with it for a day or more. Hell, I had a bluesbreaker clone that sat in the drawer for six months because I fucked up the tone pot cramming it into the enclosure. That's how I learned to solder the components on the board, screw the pots into the enclosure, then lay the board onto the pot legs to solder that stuff waaaay more easily. It's so obvious now, but someone it didn't even occur to me.


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## jimilee (Jan 10, 2022)

If you can learn how to read schematics, like I didn’t 10 years ago, it will be a huge time saver. I’ve taught my self with the help of some great form members from multiple forums, although I still have much to learn.


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## Olivier7960 (Jan 11, 2022)

Thank you all for the support ! Some good thoughts in there. I will definitely look into troubleshooting. I will look at the links since I don’t really know what to do (apart from the obvious mistakes) my unsuccessful build was the oasis …. Really took my time with it …. But no sound at all … mmmm ….. I resisted the urge to throw it at the wall so it’s  still there … time to give it a thorough inspection


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## HamishR (Jan 11, 2022)

There are some very good suggestions here. Usually when I build a pedal on Vero which doesn't work it takes me less than a minute to work out why. It's usually me rushing and putting a resistor one row too high or something. Sometimes I'll leave a component out. And sometimes it's as simple as installing the IC upside down or even not at all!

With PCBs it takes me a little bit longer but I'm often surprised at how quickly I can work it out by checking that everything connects where it should and checking that the bits have continuity where they should. I'm surprised at how often I have had to add a wire bridge to a PCB because there is no continuity where it should be on the board. And when I say how often I mean maybe 1-2%! I figure PCBs should be perfect, and sometimes they aren't.


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