# Sunflower Volume Drop



## bens (Aug 14, 2019)

Hey everybody,

i just finished my sunflower build. It sounds great. The issue i have is that as soon i touch the pcb or some component on it the pedal turns silent. I assume that i have a grounding problem. However I can't seems to find it and i loose my head over it. Did I mess up the wiring? i there something i need to be aware of since the pedal works with positive ground?


----------



## zgrav (Aug 14, 2019)

You might want to take it all out of the enclosure to see if it works OK then, even when you are touching things on the PCB.  Then you could take a picture of the other side of your board and post it as well if things are still not working.  That will also give you a chance to see if any parts on the other side might be touching where they should not.

If your pedal  works OK when it is out of the enclosure, you likely do have a grounding issue.   I would start by seeing if the pots are grounding to the case, and might put some tape or something underneath them on the case.


----------



## Chuck D. Bones (Aug 16, 2019)

Maybe the board is shorting to the body of the Sundial pot.  If you take the board out, look for leads that might be a tad too long underneath the pot.  You can slide a piece of cardboard in between the board & pot as an insulator.


----------



## bens (Sep 1, 2019)

hey, thanks. sorry that i haven't answered earlier. I had some family issues to take care of. 

Here are some pictures of the other side. When i get it out of the enclosure, I doesn't work either.

I put an cardboad between the board and the sun dial pot. that doesn't seem to fix it. however, i have the suspicion that it is the sundial. If i wiggle the sun dial pot i get it to go silent. 

At this point, I'm absolutely clueless.


----------



## bens (Sep 1, 2019)

Oh one update:
After testing around it doesn't work anymore at all. I realize the my voltmeter won't show any voltage between 9V+ and GND. Whatever that might mean...


----------



## Chuck D. Bones (Sep 1, 2019)

Where on the board are you measuring from +9V to GND and getting nothing?  If wiggling the SUNDIAL pot makes it drop out, and you're sure that nothing on the board is making electrical contact with the SUNDIAL pot body, then it has to be a bad solder joint on the pot.  Hard to tell by the photos, the focus is not good.  Some of the solder joints where the wires connect to the board look sketchy.  I suggest that you reflow the solder on the wires and pot.  Inspect them under magnification.  Good luck.


----------



## Nostradoomus (Sep 1, 2019)

Could have a bad pot too, it happens.


----------



## bens (Sep 1, 2019)

I measured right at the leads from the dc jack. I will reflow the soder and rework the wiring in the next couple days. maybe that will help.


----------

