Broken crybaby 535Q PLEASE HELP!!

[EuphoriX]

I bought a Dunlop 535Q crybaby wah off of ebay. It came with a hot potz II potentiometer and a silver stock inductor. Note that is was workign fine when I got it, the potentiometer was just a bit scratchy on a clean amp channel. Anyways, being someone who likes to mod, I bought a red fasel inductor, and a 150k potentiometer to install in the pedal. When I desoldered the old inductor, I accidentally tore off the PCB pads on the circuitboard, thinking they were merely solder. (Yes, I'm new to soldering.) Even still, I was able to sodler the inductor in place. Sadly, when I tested the wah after that, it had no effect anymore. Rocking the treadle did absolutely nothing. Thinking this was a matter of poor soldering, I opened the wah back up and re-soldered the inductor. Then, I decided to just go all in and solder the new potentiometer in there as well. Firstly, the potentiometer seems to be working fine, it sweeps without a hitch, and I even got the Q to work by soldering it in line with my yellow signal wire. BUT, the pedal was only changing volume now, no wah effect. I did some research and thought it was the capacitor inline with the inductor... replaced that, no dice. If someone knows exactly what's wrong with this, can you please tell me? I've got it now where it will send signal through the pcd easily, but it's really just a volume pedal now, and I miss my wah. I really don't wanna replace the inductor... It was brand new! Could I have gotten a faulty fasel inductor? Or is this a result of the torn PCB pads? I highly doubt it's the pads, since all signal is going through, but I need help, and I really want those wah tones back. : ( Thanks for reading, and I appreciate any replies.

[EuphoriX]

Re: Broken crybaby 535Q PLEASE HELP!!

EDIT: I was able to use a knife and carefully scratch away the pcb to reveal the trace. The trace was broken, so that would make sense as to why it wouldn't be working. Anyways, I was able to solder the inductor directly to the trace line. Now the volume effect is much more pronounced, but still no wah. Could this just be a faulty fasel?

[EuphoriX]

Re: Broken crybaby 535Q PLEASE HELP!!

FURHTER EDIT: I removed the fasel and re-installed the old inductor. Volume pedal once more... Even took out the inductor and ran it... same deal.. so the inductor's not getting signal... Now what...

[GoldenVulture]

Re: Broken crybaby 535Q PLEASE HELP!!

Pics of the [PCB- track side] board will help.

[EuphoriX]

Re: Broken crybaby 535Q PLEASE HELP!!

http://postimg.org/image/8s9s6cb1d/

-As you can see, I wired fasel to two electrical wires... one runs to the trace after the switch, the other to the capacitor leg. I had no choice. :/ I also actually soldered a wire to the backside of the board, which contains the track that goes through the right side of the pcb (amplifier jack side). Without this third connection, there's no "wet" signal whatsoever, but at least I've fixed that...

[Hank-]

Re: Broken crybaby 535Q PLEASE HELP!!

Actually if the pads had come of then you could have used wires to connect to the next point/pad where the trace was leading to/from instead of cutting the traces. Check for continuity to see if the component leading to the inductor terminal are connected or shorted. Holding the pcb between the sun & your eyes will show the traces more clearly, flip the board to see the other side. Also double check the pot wiring.

[EuphoriX]

Re: Broken crybaby 535Q PLEASE HELP!!

Actually if the pads had come of then you could have used wires to connect to the next point/pad where the trace was leading to/from instead of cutting the traces. Check for continuity to see if the component leading to the inductor terminal are connected or shorted. Holding the pcb between the sun & your eyes will show the traces more clearly, flip the board to see the other side. Also double check the pot wiring.

Ok, so I'm confused by what you mean by "next available pad"... All of them are torn, and I already tried them all. Shouldn't cutting the traces and soldering directly work? There's gotta be a signal coming through, since it's affected down the line. By "component leading to the inductor" do you mean the 13 wire plug running into the top of the pcb? If so, how do I check its continuity? And what am I hoping to accomplish by holding the pcb to the sun? Pot wiring looks good, and there IS a sweep, just a volume sweep, no wah. Thank you for your reply, by the way.

[Hank-]

Re: Broken crybaby 535Q PLEASE HELP!!

I meant whatever component pad thats connecting to the following inductor pads. Like the way you soldered the wire from the inductor to the yellow cap negative pad/point. It looks messy there from the pics, it maybe shorting. Find where the trace is connecting/leading from the inductor terminals then solder a wire there like you've done earlier.

[EuphoriX]

Re: Broken crybaby 535Q PLEASE HELP!!

So, you're saying I should solder the negative side of the inductor to the point where the 13 pin plug meets the PCB? Where exactly would that be? At the start of the trace? Then I'm assuming you suggest I de and resolder the wire to the cap leg?

[Hank-]

Re: Broken crybaby 535Q PLEASE HELP!!

No dont do that. It's hard to tell what all was connected to the inductor pads. I can't make out properly from the pic you posted. Remove the pcb out of the enclosure, hold a torch on the underside of the pcb, this will highlight all the traces around that area when you look at the components side from the top. Flip the board & use the torch to see on the other side for traces as well. There maybe more than one connection at the inductor pad terminals. Since those pads were removed/damaged you may have broken a connection between two traces meeting at a single pad point of the inductor.

And when connecting a wire to replace a broken trace, solder to the underside of that board. Its all through hole components in there, solder to the correct component & terminal. Most importantly do a continuity test with a multimeter to check if the inductor is connected to all the points that it should be connecting around that area.

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Broken crybaby 535Q PLEASE HELP!!

I'll say it: Sure botched this one my friend.

Good advice from hank there. Any wires you're adding in for a fix need to go through the board. Bust out your multimeter and check continuity to where your going to be soldering to an whatnot. That will allow you to test your 'trace fix' too. ALSO, the capacitor your replaced: Did you a) use the same value b)check the polarity and install correctly? Capacitors are polarized and their orientation is very important.

Hopefully this turns into a good learning experience.

[EuphoriX]

Re: Broken crybaby 535Q PLEASE HELP!!

I'll say it: Sure botched this one my friend.

Good advice from hank there. Any wires you're adding in for a fix need to go through the board. Bust out your multimeter and check continuity to where your going to be soldering to an whatnot. That will allow you to test your 'trace fix' too. ALSO, the capacitor your replaced: Did you a) use the same value b)check the polarity and install correctly? Capacitors are polarized and their orientation is very important.

Hopefully this turns into a good learning experience.

The capacitor I used is 10uF instead of the original 20uF one. In truth, I didn't really need to replace it apprently, but I'm not very sure on how to know which end is which. I believe I did solder it correctly though.. shoudln't the lower hole be the negative? ... Anyways, I'm confused with what you mean by soldering to the bottom... do you mean the underside? as in the side facing the chassis of the pedal?

[EuphoriX]

Re: Broken crybaby 535Q PLEASE HELP!!

In an effor to show the traces and more of the PCB, I took 2 pictures of it agaisnt my bedlight... http://postimg.org/image/wopsco54r/ and http://postimg.org/image/tkf4fvocb/

[EuphoriX]

Re: Broken crybaby 535Q PLEASE HELP!!

From what I can tell with the lighted pics, there's only 1 PCB track. By "Through the board" do you mean I should find a trace, drill a hole, feed a wire through, and solder on both sides?

[EuphoriX]

Re: Broken crybaby 535Q PLEASE HELP!!

I'VE GOT IT!! So, like you guys suggested, I ran a continuity test with the multimeter. Surprisingly, signal was in fact carrying through that mess of soldering, through the inductor, and up to the yellow capacitor, THEN IT STOPPED. It stopped between the legs of the yellow device, (I believe it's a capacitor), and thus, that's where it ends. This makes sense, since my reeplacement capacitor is working, and so is my inductor, but that yellow one is busted, causing a signal gap. Can someone confirm that this is a capacitor, and reccomend where to get a new one? Here's a picture focusing on it... http://postimg.org/image/5c29pn005/