Help With Crack, Audio Cut Out and Resistance Issues

[unowndanger]

Sounds good, thanks! I'll try reapplying solder to those 6 & 10 and see if I can get something to work.

Thank you for quoting the manual, I'm still waiting on the link for it after reaching out to the email you provided me with, so that's helpful to see!

[unowndanger]

Alright. So I broke my soldering iron tip which is why I was ghost for a few days. Had to go and replace the tip and then develop the energy to hop back in this. I resoldered all the joints. I got a pair of those flush wire snips. I snipped extraneous leads.

I did the resistance checks and everything comes up correct. I ran the resistance checks two more times after at different times of day to make sure I wasn't going delirious.

I ran the voltage checks with my pops next to me since he used to be an electrical engineer, and I needed a second pair of eyes in case something went bad and I got shocked or needed help. Voltage check came in clear.

I plugged everything back in after all the tubes and power stuff cooled down. I followed the steps in reverse to wait and make sure everything was good.

Plugged in the Sennheiser 6xx headphones I've been using and I'm good.... except...

I had the volume knob at 9 o clock roughly. When I turned the knobs with the headphones on, it was a little scratchy and I got some very light hissing. Me tapping on the volume knob removed that hissing, but this is similar to the issue I had prior to the entire resolder (minus all the audio cutting out).

Any ideas?

[Paul Birkeland]

If tapping on anything changes the nature of your issue, you still likely have a loose connection.  You can certainly post some fresh photos of your build as it sits and we may be able to spot it. You can also plug in a cheap pair of headphones and poke around the circuit with a wooden chopstick to listen for any noises produced by poking around various parts of the circuit.

[unowndanger]

When you say the circuit, is there a particular part the issue could exist in?

Here are some photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/PRx3Nh5tFeunywYW9

I can take clearer shots if needed. I'll do the headphone/chopstick test tomorrow cause I wanna be alert when doing it.

[Paul Birkeland]

I see many solder joints that haven't received sufficient solder/heat.  I also see many wires that need to be trimmed back.

CHP170 cutters will help a lot.

All your solder joints should look like the one on the chassis ground lug. 

[unowndanger]

Gotcha. I forgot to mention I got the cutters so I'll snip leads off today and then resolder stuff tonight.

the B1-B8, is it okay if solder from the upper lugs drops to the lower ones and potentially connects them? I know I had the question about the terminals 1-10 but I figured I'd ask to be safe.

[Paul Birkeland]

Yes, that's not a problem. 

You also want to bend over and crimp any connections that you can.  This makes for a much stronger connection before soldering, and when you solder it will flow into all the space between the terminal and the crimped wire and provide much more surface area for a more reliable connection.  If you just poke a wire straight through a terminal and try to solder that, you are very likely to have issues.  On the lower terminal strips, you can just bend the lead up to achieve the same results.

[unowndanger]

Hi!

Alright, so I resoldered everything a second time, cut loose ends when needed, filled up all the poorly done solder joints and everything seems to be in functioning order. The volume pot doesn't make noise when turned now, which is wonderful. I really appreciate all of the help.

I might have an audio question in a day or so, but before I ask the question, I'm going to do some research to rule out a few options before I bring it here. It has to do with the Crack, obviously, but I don't wanna approach the question without having done my due diligence.

[Paul Birkeland]

I might have an audio question in a day or so, but before I ask the question, I'm going to do some research to rule out a few options before I bring it here. It has to do with the Crack, obviously, but I don't wanna approach the question without having done my due diligence.

We'll be here!