# Relay Bypass and (bi-color) LED Always On



## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Sep 28, 2019)

I just finished building the Circulator and first off I want to just say WOW, it's such a perfect phaser. My question is, did I do something wrong? The bi-color LED is always indicating the LFO in red whether the pedal is bypassed or not. It never switches to green. The footswitch turns it off and on like it should but the LED is just always on, pulsating the LFO, not indicating if it's on or off. Other than that the pedal works perfectly and sounds AMAZING.


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Sep 28, 2019)

I also used a DC splitter. Running the +/- from the relay to one set of it's pads and the +/- from the Circulator to another set of pads. Not sure if that's the right way to do it or if there is another way without using the splitter.


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Sep 28, 2019)

Is retrospect, I probably should have moved this to troubleshooting. Apologies.


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Sep 28, 2019)

Another question...why does it require a Common Anode bi-color LED? The original used a standard one I thought. The LED pads in the Circulator board stated "R · G"  so I oriented it so the red was on the R side and the green on the G side.


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## Nostradoomus (Sep 28, 2019)

Are you sure you didn’t use a common Cathode LED? 

DC Splitter is all good


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Sep 28, 2019)

Hmm I can check the bags my CA and CCs came in since I ordered em together.

Yes, positive it's a CA


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## Nimm (Sep 29, 2019)

Hi Jovi
I was wondering if you were able to sort this out?  I just built it and just as you everything works and sounds great but the led is always red.  I just spent a while trying to troubleshoot but glad I found someone else with the same issue.  
I used this led:








						Bi-color LED Red/Green 5mm Common Anode
					

Get It Fast - Same Day Shipping




					www.taydaelectronics.com


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## Robert (Sep 29, 2019)

The problem here is likely because the LFO isn't supplying enough current to light both sides of the LED.      Try lowering the value of R100 and see if that helps.         Originally R100 (and R33) were spec'd at 4K7, then were lowered to 1K because of this.

I used an RGB LED with one of the leads clipped off.   It worked fine, but wasn't quite as bright as I would have liked.

The most recent revision has done away with the dual LED (and LFO speed indication) altogether.


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Sep 29, 2019)

Nimm said:


> I was wondering if you were able to sort this out?


Nope, but it sound so good I'm tempted to just leave it as is...not knowing if it's on or off?



Robert said:


> The problem here is likely because the LFO isn't supplying enough current to light both sides of the LED. Try lowering the value of R100 and see if that helps. Originally R100 (and R33) were spec'd at 4K7, then were lowered to 1K because of this.


R100 may be too well buried under the relay bypass. I'll try give it a shot though. Would changing the bi-color LED to a regular one be possible?

Also, I have RGB LEDs. Which lead did you snip?


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## Nostradoomus (Sep 29, 2019)

You could install a normal one if you don’t want to waste an RGB. Anode in the middle cathode to either G or R.


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## Nimm (Sep 29, 2019)

Thank you!
Putting the 1k in R100 mostly worked for me. Still a bit red but fits the more psychedelic theme I’m going with so going to keep as is. 

I can open another thread if necessary but to be sure would phase be switch left and vibe switch right?  Thanks again


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Sep 29, 2019)

Nimm said:


> Thank you!
> Putting the 1k in R100 mostly worked for me. Still a bit red but fits the more psychedelic theme I’m going with so going to keep as is.
> 
> I can open another thread if necessary but to be sure would phase be switch left and vibe switch right?  Thanks again


Cool! Just to be clear, it turns off for you now? Or was your issue that it never switched to green?


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## Nostradoomus (Sep 29, 2019)

Nimm said:


> Thank you!
> Putting the 1k in R100 mostly worked for me. Still a bit red but fits the more psychedelic theme I’m going with so going to keep as is.
> 
> I can open another thread if necessary but to be sure would phase be switch left and vibe switch right?  Thanks again



Should be left for phase right for vibe yeah


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## Robert (Sep 29, 2019)

One side of the LED (Red) never turns off, this is by design so you could see the rate of the LFO even in Bypass.    
The other side (Green) is switched by the SW line.     

When the pedal is in Bypass the LED should pulse Red.    When the pedal is Active the LED should pulse Yellow-ish. (Red + Green)
If the Green side isn't working the LED will just pulse Red all the time, regardless of Bypass.


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## Nimm (Sep 29, 2019)

Jovi Bon Kenobi said:


> Cool! Just to be clear, it turns off for you now? Or was your issue that it never switched to green?



My issue was not switching to green when pedal is on, which it is now with a bit of redness still mixed in. Goes to all red in bypass, which is nice so you can adjust the rate before clicking on.  
I see we picked the same bright green for pedal color. I think that’s the only option for this one. 
I had gotten a MXR M290 not long ago and on quick comparison so far the Circulator seems to keep the signal intact more as the m290 seems to darken it a bit. Also much more control on Circulator. 


Nostradoomus said:


> Should be left for phase right for vibe yeah


Thank you!


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Sep 29, 2019)

Nimm said:


> which it is now


Ok good. Just wanted to make sure. I'll give it a go. 



Nimm said:


> I see we picked the same bright green


Yeah! "Lawn" green from Tayda. Apparently they water their lawns with plutonium in Thailand.


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Oct 14, 2019)

Well, I was going to try and swap out the CLR so I removed both the C9 and R100 because I couldn't reach the R100. Problem is, the build doc says 4.7k, so that's what I assumed I originally installed, but upon removing the R100, the PCB is silk-screened with 1k, which is what I installed. I was going to replace it with a 1k! Haha. Anyway, while I'm here is there anything else I can try to resolve this issue?

This is PCB245 btw.


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## benny_profane (Oct 14, 2019)

Are you getting voltage from R100? I’d check that before doing anything else.


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Oct 15, 2019)

benny_profane said:


> Are you getting voltage from R100? I’d check that before doing anything else.


I'm getting voltage that fluctuates to the LFO. At peak it's about 4.2v and at minimum it's about .8v


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Oct 15, 2019)

As it stands right now I resoldered in a smaller 1uf mlcc and there's nothing in R100. I used my multimeter to test R100's lower pad. *See photo on next page*

Still having the same issue. The pedal sounds perfect, it just that the red/green bi-color CA LED is always on, fading in and out of red... regardless if the pedal is active or bypassed. Honestly, I would prefer it it it was just solid on or off, not indicating the LFO. Is there a way to do this?


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Oct 15, 2019)




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## Nostradoomus (Oct 15, 2019)

Have you tried just using a regular LED? If your R100 is empty put the cathode facing R33 (R pad on the left)


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Oct 15, 2019)

Nostradoomus said:


> Have you tried just using a regular LED? If your R100 is empty put the cathode facing R33 (R pad on the left)


I'll try that. Thank you ?


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## benny_profane (Oct 15, 2019)

Jovi Bon Kenobi said:


> I'm getting voltage that fluctuates to the LFO. At peak it's about 4.2v and at minimum it's about .8v



Have you tried another LED? You’re getting enough Vf in order to illuminate the LED. Another issue might be with the switching.


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## benny_profane (Oct 15, 2019)

If you replace it with a regular LED in the same spot, you’ll still get LFO rate indication.


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Oct 15, 2019)

benny_profane said:


> If you replace it with a regular LED in the same spot, you’ll still get LFO rate indication.


Ok thanks. Hmm.
Unrelated, but I just tested the bi-color LED with my Peak Atlas and it definitely works in both green and red.


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Oct 15, 2019)

Also, Wouldn't just clipping one of the leads of the bi-color LED do the same thing as installing a regular LED?


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Oct 15, 2019)

I found a solution. I temporarily put a 500Ω trimpot in the R100 spot. Played around with the trim and found that green now lights up when active. Very dim at 500k and strong at the minimum, around 2Ω. I'll just solder in a 10Ω in R100 and call this finished.


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## Jovi Bon Kenobi (Oct 15, 2019)

On second thought, just a scrap lead for a solder bridge.


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