# First build progress - Muroidea



## Grubb (Dec 29, 2020)

Started my first build a couple of months back but had to pause it. Just picking it up now to finish off, can anyone see any obvious issues before I continue? I've never soldered before so would appreciate some expert eyes. Cheers


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## Grubb (Dec 29, 2020)

Also need to know if I'm supposed to be trimming the legs on the transistor or leaving it? Thanks.￼


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## Robert (Dec 29, 2020)

You'll probably want to leave the leads full length until you can test to be sure everything works properly.  After that you can trim them down if

Once you're sure it works properly you might want to solder the transistor into the socket, they've been known to fall out.

Your soldering looks good, the square pad just above the "D" in "MUROIDEA" might need to be touched up, but otherwise I don't see any obvious problems.


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## Grubb (Dec 29, 2020)

Thank you so much, this is fun. I've got a LGSM here to put together when this is done and then parts for more drive pedals on their way to me. Thanks for making this possible!


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## Chas Grant (Dec 29, 2020)

WOW! That looks really good for a first time solder job. Good fillets, nice flow through and you cleaned the board! Keep it up!


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## BuddytheReow (Dec 29, 2020)

Chas Grant said:


> WOW! That looks really good for a first time solder job. Good fillets, nice flow through and you cleaned the board! Keep it up!


Agreed! My first build was a mess in hindsight, but I was patting myself on the back because it fired up the first time I plugged it in.


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## Barry (Dec 29, 2020)

Looks very good for a noob!


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## Grubb (Dec 29, 2020)

Chas Grant said:


> WOW! That looks really good for a first time solder job. Good fillets, nice flow through and you cleaned the board! Keep it up!


Thanks for the encouragement..I'm following the Basic Workflow Tips guide by @Jovi Bon Kenobi like it's my new religion, hence the clean board 😁


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## Ismacdon (Jan 1, 2021)

Yeah dude, you got the knack...keep that up.


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## HamishR (Jan 1, 2021)

You don't really need to socket the 1N5817 above the chip. It's a polarity protection diode and won't really affect the tone unless you put it in backwards. Apart from that all I can do is repeat what everyone else has said - nice work.


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## Grubb (Jan 1, 2021)

I'm super-cautious so I socketed everything 😂 I'm sure I'll start to learn what needs it and what doesn't.


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## Danbieranowski (Jan 2, 2021)

A million times better than my first pedal!


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## Grubb (Jan 2, 2021)

Danbieranowski said:


> A million times better than my first pedal!


I'm going to hold off getting too excited until I try to fire it up. I wouldn't mind approximating your upwards trajectory though mate, you've got some nice builds under your belt.


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## Danbieranowski (Jan 2, 2021)

Grubb said:


> I'm going to hold off getting too excited until I try to fire it up. I wouldn't mind approximating your upwards trajectory though mate, you've got some nice builds under your belt.


A lot of that is thanks to this community and just building a bunch. Check out the new Auditorium test kit for easy testing of your builds!

board here: https://www.pedalpcb.com/product/pcb365/

parts kit here:








						PedalPCB Auditorium Parts Kit
					

PedalPCB Auditorium Parts Kit - Stomp Box Parts - Pedal PCB




					stompboxparts.com


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## rmfx (Jan 2, 2021)

Your soldering looks great for your first time doing it. Nice work! Rat's are one of my favorite distortions, too. You're gonna dig it. Good decisionto socket the clipping diodes and chip for future swapping and experimenting. 

The Auditorium is really great for testing stuff out before you commit to making a million more connections inside an enclosure. You can get that parts kit fo' free with code "AUDITORIUM" with a $25 purchase.


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## Grubb (Jan 2, 2021)

rmfx said:


> You can get that parts kit fo' free with code "AUDITORIUM" with a $25 purchase.


He tells me this the day after I order it (as part of an order well over $25) 😑😂


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## Grubb (Jan 6, 2021)

So I bought a drill press and have successfully bored out a hole on my Tayda pre-drilled enclosure that was too small for the LED bezel I had. So far so good.

I've just sat down to solder the footswitch into the breakout board. All of my connections look ok (to me) except the bottom right in this photo. Looks white on the outside. I've reflowed it a couple of times, it looks silver when hot but turns white again when it cools. Should I de-solder and try again?


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## Grubb (Jan 7, 2021)

I ended up removing the solder and the next connection looked better. But now I have a worse problem I'm not sure how to solve. In starting to do the offboard wiring I was attaching the north end jack and power wires, when a small ball of solder flowed next door into the LED pad. I can't get my solder sucker close enough to the back of the hole to remove it because there's a pot really close. Is there another way to clear the hole? Help please!


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## BuddytheReow (Jan 7, 2021)

Use the solder sucker on the other side of the board. Just be careful not to overheat the board


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## Grubb (Jan 7, 2021)

Thanks for the suggestion, I tried it both ways around without luck before posting. I'm thinking I may need to get some solder wick.


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## BuddytheReow (Jan 7, 2021)

It's a bit of a skill to heat it up with an iron in one hand, sucker in the other, then removing the iron and simultaneously lining up the sucker tip and pressing on the plunger. I'm not the best at it but I can get by.

The lazy way around this is to ignore it until it's time to install the led. When ready just heat up the solder and slide the led through. Obviously youd have to reflow the "new" joint. Its not the cleanest solution, but ive had no problems doing that.


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## spi (Jan 7, 2021)

Another option to try is to  heat the pad and solder, then stick a pin through (solder won't stick to the pin).  Some people keep a dental tool handy for this.


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## HamishR (Jan 8, 2021)

Or sometimes you can heat it up quickly then tap it against your desk or whatever and knock the solder out. Don't stress, it's not a big problem!


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## peccary (Jan 8, 2021)

Grubb said:


> Thanks for the suggestion, I tried it both ways around without luck before posting. I'm thinking I may need to get some solder wick.



You can also try blowing it out if you have a can of compressed air - I've used lung power to do it as well - one quick, directed burst. Just make sure not to do it over your workspace or with anyone you like on the other side.


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## Ben Love (Jun 13, 2021)

Grubb said:


> I ended up removing the solder and the next connection looked better. But now I have a worse problem I'm not sure how to solve. In starting to do the offboard wiring I was attaching the north end jack and power wires, when a small ball of solder flowed next door into the LED pad. I can't get my solder sucker close enough to the back of the hole to remove it because there's a pot really close. Is there another way to clear the hole? Help please!
> View attachment 9001


I don't know if you've fixed this by now, but I usually bend the pots forward to give me more room to desolder when this happens.


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## Feral Feline (Jun 14, 2021)

peccary said:


> You can also try blowing it out if you have a can of compressed air - I've used lung power to do it as well - one quick, directed burst. Just make sure not to do it over your workspace or with anyone you like on the other side.


Or do do it with someone you don't like...

"Hey! C'mere, hold this up for a sec... up further, next to your face..."


Cerebrally, though, folks, try this:

VERTICAL DE-SOLDER SANDWICH

In your third hand holder or gob of Blu-Tack, modelling clay, whatever — fix the PCB in an upright vertical position such that the 2mm-thin edge of the board is facing you. Solder pump in one hand, iron in the other ... line up the pump over the clogged hole, attack the opposite side of the board with the iron (great if you've got a fine point tip). _Have at 'er. _The PCB upright in the vice or whatever is holding it is partially supported by the tip of the solder-sucker-pump so when you press the iron on the opposite side of the PCB you don't push over the PCB. 

Since adopting this method, I've never had to use my last-resort "de-solder" tools: ie ultra-fine 1.5mm / 2mm etc drill-bits.

An aside: If you need to bend something out of the way, check it for continuity/cracks after bending it back, maybe reflow the solder too.
If solder-pump and wick and compressed air aren't getting it, slowly HAND-drilling out the solder has saved many boards many times. 

EMPHASIS ON SLOW & BY HAND !! LET THE BIT DO THE WORK !!

Every time I got even slightly impatient and applied a little extra force to the bit, I broke the bit — every time.
Hey, they're whispy flimsy teensy bits, so they're gonna break... hmm then again maybe I _should've_ tried using an electric drill/Dremel-like thinger, that may have let the bit do the work in less time, but with great power comes great potentiallity and I was always sure I'd apply too much force and break the bit, so I hand-drilled.

Depending on where the bit breaks, you might be able to still use it for "de-soldering" holes, shorter is stronger. Alas, all too often they break right where the sharpness ends and the shaft starts. I did have one that broke near the tip, kept using it, a few builds later it broke again but the sharp part was just long enough for PCB reclamation, but it finally broke at the shaft. 'Twas a good run for that bit, three times a bladey! 
I just bought a new set of bits last week, but haven't needed/used them in the last year ...


The vertical de-solder sandwich (Pump>PCB<Iron) is working great for me, no quibbles & bits required.


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