I really need some answers about three of my pedals!

[thespricket]

Wow, i just posted a thread concerning my bad monkey dying. The thing is toast. Before I get going, I haven't played my rig in about a week and had left everything still plugged in to my one spot and bypassed. The bad monkey's LED was flashing uncontrollably and it wasn't making any sound. When i opened it up to investigate there was this dark rust colored brown goo dabbed all over the pcb and into some of the components of the pedal. Could it have been moisture or condensation that had built up and eventually rusted the pedal?

Then I went to use my wah pedal, it too had stopped working. When bypassed it darkened up the sound terribly and when engaged it produced a very weak and quiet wah sound. I looked at the 9v adapter jack and it looks like it's all corroded, with a blueish/white residue around it as well as on the 9v adapter plug. Now, this wah i'm not too worried about, because I think it should be under warranty. I hope to get a new one as a replacement.

The third is my crappy little behringer digital delay. It's stopped working as well. But i'm not worried about that one as much. It's crap and I've been wanted a reason to get a decent one.

three other pedals made it through fine.

But could the reason for all of these deaths be that I had them all plugged into power and bypassed for so long without use?

 

[Sanford]

Re: I really need some answers about three of my pedals!

The dead pedals...all next to each other in the signal chain? What's the environment like in the room? The pedals that are still working, what's different about them (placement, connector insulation, etc.)? How's your amp?
The bluish-white residue on the wah, is it mold-like, or maybe does it look like the corrosion that builds up on car battery terminals?

Sounds to me, just based on your description, that maybe the room got a bit too humid for a while. I've seen brown goo inside of amps/pedals before, usually there's a cap somewhere to blame (IME).

 

[GoldenVulture]

Re: I really need some answers about three of my pedals!

But could the reason for all of these deaths be that I had them all plugged into power and bypassed for so long without use?

I doubt it but I'd be testing/checking the power supply myself to see if it's working properly,especially when you've had 3 items go kaput.It sounds a bit like its gone high on the output volts and is frying them.

I looked at the 9v adapter jack and it looks like it's all corroded, with a blueish/white residue around it as well as on the 9v adapter plug. Now, this wah i'm not too worried about, because I think it should be under warranty.

I'd be concerned about the corrosion considering it doesn't appear to be very old [under warranty period].

 

[J Moose]

Re: I really need some answers about three of my pedals!

I haven't played my rig in about a week and had left everything still plugged in to my one spot and bypassed. The bad monkey's LED was flashing uncontrollably and it wasn't making any sound. When i opened it up to investigate there was this dark rust colored brown goo dabbed all over the pcb and into some of the components of the pedal. Could it have been moisture or condensation that had built up and eventually rusted the pedal?

So you left the pedals plugged in, powered up for a week straight?

That could likely be the root of it...

The "rust colored goo" is the stuff that was in the electrolytic capacitors.

Somehow all the magic smoke leaked out.

Time to go shopping for some new pedals... or buy parts & fix 'em.

 

[thespricket]

Re: I really need some answers about three of my pedals!

Yeah, i'm not too torn up about it. I'm not qualified to fix them. I just want to know what happened so i don't do it again. The only thing I really would be pissed about is if the wah isn't covered by the warranty. Thats 85 bucks down the crapper. The Bad Monkey has been with me for a long time. i'm pretty sure I got it when they came out. And the behringer delay, well that's a no brainer. I'll be in the market for a new dirt pedal and a delay. Not for a while though. I've got to do some gigs, or make some money before I can justify buying gear.

 

[thespricket]

Re: I really need some answers about three of my pedals!

The dead pedals...all next to each other in the signal chain? What's the environment like in the room? The pedals that are still working, what's different about them (placement, connector insulation, etc.)? How's your amp?
The bluish-white residue on the wah, is it mold-like, or maybe does it look like the corrosion that builds up on car battery terminals?

Sounds to me, just based on your description, that maybe the room got a bit too humid for a while. I've seen brown goo inside of amps/pedals before, usually there's a cap somewhere to blame (IME).

Actually no, they weren't right next to each other. The wah was in the front, followed by a dano vibe (which works), then the Bad Monkey, then a cool cat fuzz (which works), then the Behringer delay.

The white residue is most def corrosion like on a car battery. It seems it could be because of how long it was plugged in unused. Same with the delay.

It's possible that my room has been humid. That seems like it could be the answer to blame for the bad monkey.

It's just crazy how I lost three pedals in one night. I mean within 5 minutes I came to realize that my Wah OD and Delay were all dead. It was pretty nuts. :banghead::banghead:

 

[eschoendorff]

Re: I really need some answers about three of my pedals!

I'd open the pedals up and spray 'em with some Deoxit. You might have a short or something from some moisture (as has been stated). What have you got to loose?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: I really need some answers about three of my pedals!

Do the sick pedals smell kinda funny inside? Are there white "high water mark" lines on the PCB? These are caused by moisture - either condensation or spillage.

Once the moisture creates a bridge between components on the PCB, you are going to have short circuits. If a track carrying high voltage links with a component expecting a lower voltage, something is likely to burn out.

+1 on cleaning the PCB(s). Same goes for the input/output sockets and the power supply socket. Check that any removable IC chips are properly seated in their pin bases.