# Kliche Mini build gone wrong



## Garrett335 (Nov 16, 2021)

Hello PedalPCB forum,
This is my first post! I have attempted to assemble a Kliche mini but I'm not getting any effect out of it when turned on.
The signal passes through when it's off, and it is very very faint when engaged.
Here are some photos of the wiring etc, any trouble shooting help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance!


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## Garrett335 (Nov 16, 2021)

Here are my voltages:

IC1
1. 4.7 
2. 4.7
3. 3.5v
4. 0
5. 4.7
6. 4.7
7. 4.6
8. 9.4

IC2
1. 2.1mV
2. 4.7
3. 4.7
4. -9v
5. 4.7
6. 4.7
7. 4.7
8. 17v

IC3
1. 9.4v
2. 4.9v
3. .1mV
4. -4.3v
5. -9v
6. 4.4v
7. 5.9v
8. 9.4v


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## TGP39 (Nov 16, 2021)

Hi Garrett.  Welcome.   I looked over your board and nothing glaring popped out at me (love the yellow cap) 😉. I will say testing a circuit outside of the box can sometimes be disorienting.  Make sure you are plugging the in jack to the guitar and the out jack to the amp.  I didn’t check all the components (resistors, some caps, etc.), but learning to read color bands on resistors is pretty easy and a huge time saver when trouble shooting.  My eyes are horrible though. 🤣

Steve.


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## Garrett335 (Nov 16, 2021)

Thank you Steve I appreciate it!
A couple things to note, the pots all affect the signal, when the switch is engaged.
It seems the output is just super weak maybe 1/8 the signal clean.


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## TGP39 (Nov 16, 2021)

I like all your IC voltages except for Pin 1 on IC 2. That should be approx 4.5volts.  Can you double check that?  You get that nice ~27volt separation between pin 8 (17v) and pin 4 (-9v) on IC 2.   Something is choking off your AC output.  This is usually a wrong resistor or some unwanted short sending the signal to ground.   Double check resistor values R28, R29, R30 and the volume pot.  Reflow those connections if you need to.


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## spi (Nov 17, 2021)

That big ass cap made me LOL.   I hope it fits in the enclosure.

In addition to checking your resistor values, there's a couple of places where it looks like solder is not taking to the pad.  Sometimes this is just appearance, but sometimes it's an issue.  Might want to reflow some of those joints.

I took a screenshot of example traces that were on the left side of your image.  Both of these look suspect, especially the right one.





This has happened to me a couple of times, and I usually go over the board with a magnifying lens after I've soldered the components.

Here's another one on the right side of your image:




The one on the bottom looks well bonded to the pad, but the one on top looks like a blob sitting above the pad.

Also, welcome to the forum!


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## Garrett335 (Nov 17, 2021)

@spi thank you very much! Such a cool community, just through reading through other posts.
And thank you for this information I will certainly go through and check these. I'm a noob to PCB work, I'll get better haha.


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## Mike52 (Nov 18, 2021)

Some of your solder joints look quite professional. But just for your own piece of mind, it would be good to hit anything that looks blob-like with a solder sucker and just reapply. Desoldering is a skill that you will quickly master with these things, ha.


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## Garrett335 (Nov 18, 2021)

@Mike52 thank you very much!
I went through and solder sucked, and reflowed all my connections.
I double checked all my resistor values and forgot that I changed a couple maybe one of you could tell me if this makes a difference.
R19 supposed to be 392 / I installed 390
R11 supposed to be 422k / I installed 470k

I tested again and same thing, I have signal and Vol/Gain/Treb work but there is minimal output. (And it just sounds like they are all volume knobs, I don't hear any tone difference when turning them.
Thanks again guys!


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## PJS (Nov 19, 2021)

Did you ever go back and look at pin 1 of IC2?  As mentioned about it should be sitting at about 4.5V, whereas it looks as if it is shorted to ground.  If something there or nearby is shorted to ground that will make your signal go away.  I would get out a multimeter with the pedal power off and check around there for continuity where there isn't supposed to be any.  Your voltage measurements are telling you that is where the problem is.


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## Mcknib (Nov 19, 2021)

This is pin 4 (top) of IC3 and pin 1 (square) of IC2 doesn't look like it's bridged but as @PJS says make sure there's no continuity you should get no beep and zero to very few ohms displayed on your meter





You can also check resistance on IC2 

Make sure the circuit is not powered if you've just unplugged it leave it for a few minutes for caps to drain 

From the schematic you can see what resistance to expect along certain paths 

Albeit you might not get entirely accurate readings with adjoining series or paralell resistors in circuit 

If you check resistance from IC2 pin 1 to ground you should get infinite resistance OL displayed on your meter because it's not connected to ground so should have very high resistance 

You can also check resistance between pin 1 and 2 where you should get around 390K (R19) but may get added resistance from R20 and the tone pot but  it will give you a ballpark figure 

Resistance between pin 1 and 6 should be 100K (R21) again might be more 

If you get much greater or much less resistance than expected you've found a problem and should check that path for solder bridges dry joints etc etc


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## music6000 (Nov 20, 2021)

Garrett335 said:


> Hello PedalPCB forum,
> This is my first post! I have attempted to assemble a Kliche mini but I'm not getting any effect out of it when turned on.
> The signal passes through when it's off, and it is very very faint when engaged.
> Here are some photos of the wiring etc, any trouble shooting help would be greatly appreciated!
> Thank you in advance!


Hi, and welcome to the Forum!
I believe you have an issue with your Cap Values.
You have your pF & nF Caps all mixed up, 1000pF = 1nF, 1000nf = 1uF
Your larger nF Mylar Capacitors usually start at 1nF - 50 to 100v & go all the way up to 100nF because they get too large.
Then you move to MKT which are known as Box Capacitors as they resemble one, These are the most Favoured for Pedal Builds as they go from
1nf all the way to whatever because of there size!!!   
The small round Ceramic pF caps are mainly used up to 1nf. They go larger but are not regarded as usable in pedal building.

You need a Digital Multi Meter & set it to Capacitors & measure each one prior to installing to be sure!
You may have a couple right but a few wrong ones for sure!


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## Garrett335 (Nov 22, 2021)

Thank you @music6000 
Turns out the green caps were of incorrect value....I've ordered the correct parts and they are on their way Whoo hoo!
C5 390n - I had 3.9n
C8 390p - I had 3.9n
(I've also ordered correct size parts for the other caps)

@PJS I had a misreading on IC2 pin 1, it reads 4.5v

@Mcknib thank you! I checked and no continuity between those pads
Going to build a probe also to check the signal once these parts arrive.

Thank you everyone, I'll report back when the parts arrive.


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## Garrett335 (Nov 28, 2021)

Hey everyone! I was able to fix it with the correct caps! Who would have thunk, put the correct parts in and the kit will work lol.
Thank you everyone for your help! I appreciate it.


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## fig (Nov 28, 2021)

There was no other outcome anticipated with those folks on the case! Top notch!


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