Pedal Problems

Walt-Dogg

Walt-Dogg

New member
So I've got a RAT that's getting up there in years and well, it's starting to die it seems. I turn the pedal on get a full signal out of it for a split second then it goes away and I then have to pick up pedal by its back at a 45 degree angle and slam/drop it down to the floor or top of my amp to get a full signal out of the pedal again. Not really much else to say other than ask what's wrong with it?

NOTE: I had the pedal open when I was typing this out and now that I closed it up it doesn't seem to be doing this anymore. But it's done it before and it'll do it again.
 
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probably some solder joints getting corroded. Or conceivably a wire that's barely hanging on by a strand.

Quite likely can be fixed by going in there and checking hard for loose wires and reheating solder joints.
 
Sounds like a plan. Hopefully that solves it so I can get rid of the replacement RAT I got that doesn't sound as natural (serial number is only 5000 higher than the serial on my RAT that needs work and the chip in it was replaced with the chip from a Turbo RAT).

EDIT: Working on it now, hit a roadblock, there is no way to get the PCB out of the top half of the box once it's opened up.
 
Yeah, I've tried, I can't get the PCB out of the case because of the on/off button and the shape of the casing. Maybe my tech can do something with it when I'm back home for the holidays, but I did manage to inspect the pedal while it was open, no loose wires and no components are hanging loose either...
 
In very old electronics, the traces can actually separate from the circuit board. If it's not a simple solder joint problem, it may be time to get another pedal.
 
Walt-Dogg said:
Yeah, I've tried, I can't get the PCB out of the case because of the on/off button and the shape of the casing. Maybe my tech can do something with it when I'm back home for the holidays, but I did manage to inspect the pedal while it was open, no loose wires and no components are hanging loose either...
Click to expand...
well, a fractured or corroded solder joint won't show up as something hanging loose.
If you have a good tech he'll be able to spot it.
And he should be able to get that PCB out too. It went in there ..... it'll come out.
 
So I got the PCB out of the pedal casing and took these pictures. Aside from a bit of corrosion, I'm not quite sure what to check specifically, should I just go through the whole thing reheating all the solder joints? Here's a couple of pictures, one of each side, of the PCB.

photo1.jpg

photo.jpg
 
Yeah, nevermind, I fixed it. Turns out one of the hard wires coming from the bottom of the button was lose.
 
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