Installed Speedball Small Circuit Board and getting issues

[calvinbui]

Hi,

I've installed the small circuit board from the Speedball upgrade and am now running into some problems.

I have been using the Crack for 1 month before I attempted this so it was working OK.

Based in Australia (240V)

The problems:

• OA voltage is 0V
• LED on small circuit board at D1 does not light up
• Voltage at 1 is now 0V, probably why OA is 0V
• LED on 9-pin socket from center pin to A8 does not light up, outputting 0.5V compared to 1.5V at A3
• Resistances at 6 and 10 are not 0 ohms anymore

Voltages
1 0V
2 183V
3 0V
4 183V
5 78V
6 0V
7 60V
8 0V
9 108V
10 0V

OA 0V
IA 183V
B-A/B 0V
IB 183V
OB 78V



Resistances
1 *
2 *
3 0
4 *
5 *
6 2.2K
7 3.3K
8 0
9 3.6K
10 2.1K
12 0
13 *
14 0
20 0
22 0

B3 3.0K
B6 3.2K

Ground Tab 0
Red Center Pin 98K
Black Center Pin 104K



Pictures

 

[elgringo81]

If I was you, I would check the A8 LED as it might be broken.
keep in mind that when you install the tube, the pins move and it can easly snip the LEDs, that happened to me.
in the Crack FAQ on this forum, they recommend that we have a good slack on the LED wires in order to give some space for movement.

 

[calvinbui]

If I was you, I would check the A8 LED as it might be broken.
keep in mind that when you install the tube, the pins move and it can easly snip the LEDs, that happened to me.
in the Crack FAQ on this forum, they recommend that we have a good slack on the LED wires in order to give some space for movement.

Yeah definitely.
It has been working all this time so not sure what could've broke it.
I ordered some more LEDs off eBay, but maybe there's another issue? (unless the LED powers OA and T1)

 

[Paul Birkeland]

I would reflow all the solder joints on the MJE350 on the offending side, especially the outer legs.  I also notice that there's quite a bit of solder on the middle leg of the PN2907.  That transistor is pretty resilient, but not beyond the possibility of being damaged.

Does the diode tester on your meter light up HLMP6000's?  Sometimes that is a handy way to check on the diodes.

 

[calvinbui]

I would reflow all the solder joints on the MJE350 on the offending side, especially the outer legs.  I also notice that there's quite a bit of solder on the middle leg of the PN2907.  That transistor is pretty resilient, but not beyond the possibility of being damaged.

Does the diode tester on your meter light up HLMP6000's?  Sometimes that is a handy way to check on the diodes.

Hey PB, thanks for reaching out.

Reflowed all 3 legs on the MJE350 and remove the excess from the PN2907.
Same result.

Used the diode tester and everything lit besides D1 on both the A and B sides (although a reading was given) & the A8 LED (no response)
Good to assume the A8 LED is dead and causing all the problems?
I read somewhere I can use some leftover cables (I assume the bare buss? or one of the solid core?) to attach A3 to A8 to mimic the HLMP-6000?
Otherwise got some 10x HLMP-6000-E001S coming in the mail off eBay

Next steps if any?

 

[calmiswar]

Yes, you can jumper that LED connection with a wire (A3 to A8). Have done that in my crack.

 

[kgoss]

You can put the jumper in temporarily, but you should replace with an LED once you receive them.

 

[calvinbui]

Yes, you can jumper that LED connection with a wire (A3 to A8). Have done that in my crack.

You can put the jumper in temporarily, but you should replace with an LED once you receive them.

Connected the a black cable from A3 to A8 and LED on small circuit board at D1 does not light up. Voltage at 1 is still 0, same with OA.
Difference now is A8 is giving me 1.5V though.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Can you retake photos of the PCB since you've reheated the joints?

 

[calvinbui]

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted in a while. I was waiting for my replacement HLMP-6000 to arrive in the mail instead of continuing with the jumper cable.

With the cables, I can test and see the LEDs are working but still the same issues as before (all above this post).

Here are the latest photos: imgur.com/a/M8Y9K

 

[calvinbui]

I've appeared to have fixed it.

The problem was the LED on the PCB what wouldn't light up. I replaced it with another HLMP 6000 and it's working again.  ;D
Was so happy!

I'll continue the upgrade, thanks for the help everyone

 

[calvinbui]

All done, Speedball working great !

Only two issues I have are:
- Slight noise at max volume, could be a due to a bunch of new stuff I have plugged in now around the amp (wireless/bluetooth card, microphone, webcam, capture card)
- I strangely feel the right side is louder than the left. But when I switched my headphones around it's still louder on the right. Must be my imagination 

 

[Paul Birkeland]

- Slight noise at max volume, could be a due to a bunch of new stuff I have plugged in now around the amp (wireless/bluetooth card, microphone, webcam, capture card)

See the Crack FAQ about this one.  If you put signal through your Crack at maximum volume, you'll likely damage your headphones and hearing, so having a bit of noise at this volume level simply reflect the signal to noise ratio.  Additionally, if you're performing this test without shorting plugs, the results aren't particularly valid.

-PB

 

[calvinbui]

I see, thanks.
I was planning to control volume somewhere else down the line but I suppose I'll leave it at 50%.

As for the right/left volume, I saw this thread: http://bottlehead.com/smf/index.php?topic=9843.msg91413
How would I go about measuring my HD 650s with a voltmeter?

 

[Paul Birkeland]

You should read my response to that post, most of what I wrote is applicable to your situation.

For the best signal to noise ratio, run your sources at full volume into the Crack, otherwise you may have too little signal relative to the noisefloor.