# Well, here's a weird pedal problem....



## buckaroobanzai (Feb 2, 2006)

So, I was putting together a pedal board for my daughter, who wants some noisemakers to go with her new guitar and Vox Pathfinder amp. I pulled out my old DOD distortion and chorus pedals and an Aria digital delay pedal I haven't used in a while. The DOD's are fine (as much as they ever were, anyway) but the delay pedal was giving repeats only, no dry signal.

I futzed around with it for a while, and finally tracked it down to.....

The DC power input jack? WTF?

That's right folks - on battery ( which lasts about an hour in this thing), it works fine. Plug in any 9v DC adapter ( I've got several) and the dry sound disappears, leaving just the echoes. I opened the pedal, checked for pinched wires etc., but it all seems ok.

Just for fun, I took one of those battery-adapter clips that came with my Power-All, and ran DC to the pedal thru the battery connector - that works fine too. So that's how I have the thing wired to the pedal board at the moment.

I'll leave it that way unless somebody's got an idea what's up with this thing....


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Dear Mr. Smallberries, (wink wink nudge nudge)

The nearest I can figure out is that YOU have the missing part of the signal that belongs to someone else on the planet who plugged in their pedal and got only dry signal and no wet.

Jokes aside, that is a VERY weird problem. Typically, pedals involving any sort of time manipulation, like flangers, chorus, and delay, use a sleezy type of bypass switching in which only the wet signal is switched in and out by a single FET, leaving the dry signal connected at all times. That approach seems to be true of all such commercial pedals, regardless of quality, price, country of origin, year of manufacture, etc.

Without wishing to slander this forum in the least, I would recommend posting your problem over at Aron Nelson's DIY Stompbox forum. As a regular there for over a decade, I can vouch for it having a much broader range of expertise on handm if only because of the much larger membership. Maybe someone there will have some useful troubleshooting ideas.


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## buckaroobanzai (Feb 2, 2006)

Well, the pedal has developed more problems. It's echo-only now no matter what power source is used. As mentioned above, I suspect that the FET that controls the dry signal has gone south.

Are these things repairable, or should I just bin the thing?


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Definitely repairable, but it obviously requires some technical info on the pedal itself.

Is it this pedal?: http://filters.muziq.be/model/aria/1/ddd1


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## buckaroobanzai (Feb 2, 2006)

No, it's a DD-X10.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

From the other pics I've been able to find online, it seems like this has one dry+wet output. Is that correct?

Are you in any position to be able to take/post a picture of the inside of this beast? That might give some indication about where to look.


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## buckaroobanzai (Feb 2, 2006)

Here are some gut shots....

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r124/cameronalx/100_1064.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r124/cameronalx/100_1062.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r124/cameronalx/100_1063.jpg

There are 2 outputs on this thing - a wet+dry output on the side and a direct out on the back. There is no dry signal at either output. The wet signal is coming out fine from the wet+dry jack.

If I follow the traces from the input jack, they go thru a transistor located between the input jack and the power jack. You can see this transistor in the pictures. It has the numbers K118 on it. A Google search identifies this transistor as a FET. Perhaps my problem is there?


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

K118 Fets are regularly used for switching purposes in pedals, so you are correct in wondering if that's your target.

However, I also see a 4066 in the picture, which is a quad CMOS switch. Though FETs didn't not to self-destruct in response to static or overvoltages, CMOS chips do. So, it is also possible that, if the 4066 is involved in the changeover from effect to bypass, the 4066 may need replacing.

Happily, both parts are easily available in the large Ontario metropolis of your choice, though they may also be available more locally too. Obviously, removing the 4066 would be the bigger pain. Given the presence of other sensitive components, my choice for removal would involve use of solder wick, rather than a simple solder sucker.


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