Clari(not) build jack wiring issue
Posted Jan 23, 2022, 7:52 AM UTC
310
After some trouble I finally got the board working and decided to box it up only to find that only a very low signal makes it to the amp. The odd thing is that everything works fine if I unscrew the 1/4" jacks and pull them clear of the enclosure so I think my wiring scheme is good. I have checked to make sure the jacks aren't in contact with the pots or anything else and continuity tests confirm that there aren't any shorts between the tips and sleeves of the jacks. I used both the layout and off board wiring scheme from tagboard. I have some more pics of the circuit if anyone wants to check it out but I think I narrowed it down to something in the above photo. If anyone has any ideas I'd greatly appreciate any tips!
2
I feel like something must still be grounding out somehow if it only happens when it's pulled clear of the enclosure, like maybe something is wired to ground that shouldn't be?
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What happened to the "hot" lug with the orange wire? It looks like it's bent to short with the sleeve - to bend it straight might already do it.
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The solder was pooled in such a way to look like that but there wasn’t any bend in the lug. I rewired with new jacks and it solved the problem. I couldn’t figure out the exact issue though.
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Yeah make sure they don't touch when the cable is in. If you really want to be safe, out some electrical tape or other insulated material on top of that pot.
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Maybe flipped the wires on one of the jacks? When installed, the ground lugs of the jacks are connected by the metal case, which would cause a short in that case.
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Been soldering guitar outputs for years, still did this wrong on my latest project xD note to self: ALWAYS use black for ground wire :)
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Did you insert a jack whilst testing them for shorts your out jack tip looks close to the pot so once you stick a jack in and the tip bends down it may touch it
Yes, I've accounted for that and found that there is no contact.
Try doing some non technical basic checks whilst it's in the enclosure wiggle all the wires to see if volume increases or is affected
Leave the pots loose so you can lift them up and see if that brings volume back, somethings partially shorting or being disconnected
Once I had a faulty jack of that type where it had broken away from the insulating layers took a while to find it, so check if the metal parts move by holding the tip part and trying to turn the jacks side to side
It's only ever happened once but worth a quick check to see if they're nice and solid