Crack after Speedball update not doing so well

[decrink]

First time kit builder and the Crack went great, worked perfect for a couple of weeks. Installed the Speedball this weekend and plugged it in and although it started with kind of a weak sound, after a few seconds there was a loudish POP and then it sounded magnificent. I listened to a bunch of different songs for about 40 minutes and was absolutely amazed by the sound of the upgrade. Was feeling quite proud of my build.

But then...next time I turned it on later that evening, same thing, kind of quiet then a lot of crackling, a couple of pops and I turned it off. Now, I only have the right speaker and it sounds quite weak. I'm new to building and I don't have a clue as to what to do now. All the connections I can see look good but there are things under the newly installed boards that are really hard to look at. Help!!

Here are the readings I'm getting:

Terminal - Voltage - Actual
1 - 75 - 107
2 - 170 - 192
3 -0 -0
4 - 170 - 192
5 - 75 - 86
6-0-0
7 - 100 - 127
8 - 0
9 - 100 - 139
10 0
11 0
12 0
13 170 - 192
14 0
15 - 185 - 205
18 - 79 (not listed on sheet)
19 - 0
20 - 0
21 - 221 (not listed on sheet)
A1 - 75 -87
A2 0
A3 1.5
A4 0
A5 0
A6, A8 and A9 I can't measure because of the pc boards blocking
A7 0
B1 - 75- 96
B2 - 170 190
B3 - 100 - 122
B4 -75 - 85
B5 - 170 - 190
B6 - 100 - 136
B7,8 0

The numbers were all much closer when I did it the first time before the cracking started.

Bill

[Doc B.]

Are all of the LEDs lighting up?

[decrink]

Are all of the LEDs lighting up?

Yes, it appears so. Four on bigger board and two each on smaller board plus it looks like two down below in the tube wiring.

[Doc B.]

My hunch would be that this is due to a loose connection. I would suggest unscrewing the PC boards so you can lift them up a bit, and touching up all of the solder joints on the tube sockets with a hot soldering iron.

[ironbut]

One of my favorite things to forget is to solder both of the solder tabs when a wire is going through one and connecting to another. I think that's on both the pot and the headphone jack grounds. If you got sound before, an un-soldered connection could've just been in enough contact to complete the circuit. When you moved the wire to locate the CCS boards it might have broken that contact.

[decrink]

Frustrating day. I went through both manuals and re-soldered everything. I checked the connections that had double links. During the process of lifting the Speedball boards to get at the tube connections, some of the skinny little red and black wires broke off so I had to redo those. It's mostly sound through one speaker although sometimes it will pop and I'll get both speakers for a few seconds. It doesn't seem to have the power that it had but I am using it with a cheaper pair of headphones while I test it.

Could it be I received a bad tube? Would that cause the conditions I'm experiencing with the crackle and pops? Like I said, it ran great with just the Crack, and the first half hour or so of being Speedballed but now I can't make it happen. I just don't know what else to troubleshoot...it's taken me longer today than it did to do the kits...

[Paul Joppa]

Did the wires break (possibly nicked while stripping the insulation) or did they pop out of a solder terminal? If the latter, it's a sign that the wire did not get hot enough during soldering. In either case, it suggests there may still be some bad connections, either cold solder joints or nearly-broken wires.

If it worked before the upgrade, then the tubes are probably OK. It's possible that the tube sockets have a poor connection; this sometimes occurs when some solder flux runs down into the socket pin.

[decrink]

I was thinking about the wires, maybe one of them was cut through. I've disassembled the the three boards and pulled most of the wire and I'll give it a try again tomorrow. I guess I'm learning about cold solder joints too. Guess I got cocky with the Crack. Now that I'm up to Speedball with the smaller solders on the boards, I believe I need to improve my technique with those tiny little joints.

[Grainger49]

Bill,

At this point it would be really helpful for you to have someone looking over you shoulder.  Where are you?  Possibly one of us are in your area and can give some concentrated help.  Posting back and forth is slow, helpful, but slow.

[decrink]

Bill,

At this point it would be really helpful for you to have someone looking over you shoulder.  Where are you?  Possibly one of us are in your area and can give some concentrated help.  Posting back and forth is slow, helpful, but slow.

Portland, OR area. After a number of rewires, re-solders, and several tests yesterday, I had some smoke puff from the headphone jack. Looks like the 2.49k Ohm resistors look black in the center like they are burned out. So, yes I would love to have someone look over my shoulder and help put Humpty Dumpty back together again. My 18 year old son and I have been checking and rechecking our solders and connections and since we are both absolute beginners with the Crack and now somewhat experienced with the more difficult boards of the Speedball, we'd be happy to have a more expert set of eyes tell us where we went wrong.

I don't know where to get new resistors, I'm out of thin wire, my patience and time commitment are being challenged, yet for three weeks and about 30 glorious minutes I heard the Crack and then Speedball through my Senn 800's and I can't wait to get this thing up and running so I can experience that again! Thanks all for your help for an electronics kit newbie. If you're in the area you can PM me or email at bbriare 4037 AT comcast 5038 dot 4392 net (leave out all numbers.

[Grainger49]

I'm in Portland about every other year.  But I know there are Bottleheads there.

Post in the General forum asking for a Bottlehead in Portland (in the title) and refer them to this thread.  I think you will find someone there who can help.

You know that Bottlehead World Headquarters is near Seattle, right?

[Doc B.]

Those resistors should not have enough voltage or current going through them to ever be damaged. That tends to indicate that the output coupling caps might be connected wrong or fried. Take a look at the 100uF caps by the 6080 socket and see if they look bulged on the end, and check if the wiring coming off the PC board over the 6080 socket is properly connected to the various terminals.

AS Grainger mentioned we are not impossibly far away from you. And we have a head-fi meet coming up next Saturday. If you wanted to drive up and take in the meet you could leave the Crack kit for Shawn to repair for you.

[decrink]

Those resistors should not have enough voltage or current going through them to ever be damaged. That tends to indicate that the output coupling caps might be connected wrong or fried. Take a look at the 100uF caps by the 6080 socket and see if they look bulged on the end, and check if the wiring coming off the PC board over the 6080 socket is properly connected to the various terminals.

AS Grainger mentioned we are not impossibly far away from you. And we have a head-fi meet coming up next Saturday. If you wanted to drive up and take in the meet you could leave the Crack kit for Shawn to repair for you.

Thanks Doc and all. Maybe those resistors are OK, I just saw smoke coming from that area and figured they must have gone kaput. I may have touched them with the soldering iron when I did my last re-solder and blackened the surface. I've pulled the three boards off, and re-flowed every joint. I'll have to leave it till next weekend to try and reassemble it again. I didn't know you were up in Seattle area, I was thinking Midwest or Chicago area for some reason. I have to be up in Seattle on Wednesday but work related and don't think I can make it up Saturday also, although I'd love to join a future hifi event. I have a colleague at work with extensive electronics background so I'll ask him this week for help and I'll give it another go before asking for a local Bottlehead tutor. I appreciate your help and suggestions. I usually can figure these type of things out but this one's got me stumped but I'll sort it out in the next few weeks as time allows, on my own or swallowing further pride and with more questions and help.

Thanks.

[decrink]

Success! Had a friend with a bit more experience with Bottlehead kits come by and we disassembled the Speedball, rewired, checked the joints and rebuilt. We did find one of the 2.49k resistors on the headphone jack that had broken its lead when we removed and tested. Hard to know exactly what was the overall problem, but right now as I'm typing I'm listening to the repaired and completed Crack with speedball into the Senn 800's and it sounds terrific. Thank for your suggestions and for sending a great sounding kit.
Bill