My delay is acting up again

Bryan T · Post by **Bryan T** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:18 pm

Backstory: I've had issues with my delay pedal several times now. Basically, what happens is that I get fewer and fewer repeats; settings that used to 'runaway' would only give a dozen repeats, then five, then one, then none. If the mix is all the way up, there would be no signal.

The pedal has been back to Moog twice. The first time they replaced all of the delay chips and touched up some solder joints. It worked fine for a time, but then started acting up again. The second time the circuit boards were replaced. Basically, they gave me a new delay pedal in my old housing. That was also fine for a while, but then it started acting up again.

I then read about the shorting problem that people were having. The issue was that three pins were coming off of the small circuit board and could ground the unit, killing the repeats. I took mine apart and snipped the pins. Everything has been fine for several months.

Until today. Once again, I'm not getting very many repeats. If I unplug the unit (power and audio cables) I can sometimes get it to start acting normally. Right now it is functioning normally, but that doesn't mean that it'll work normally the next time I plug it in.

I'm at my wits' end here. This is my favorite pedal, but I can't rely on it to work properly. What do you think I should do?

Bryan

Alien8 · Post by **Alien8** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:19 am

Are the pins shorting again?

I had a dream last night about this, that because of the pin locations, and wood swelling / stomp deformation that mine did the same thing. The fix in the dream was to install an isolation pad (electrical tape) between the poles and the chassis.

Bryan T · Post by **Bryan T** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 4:17 pm

Are the pins shorting again?

Could be, but I kind of doubt it. I'll peek inside tonight and see if that is possible.

Bryan

Bryan T · Post by **Bryan T** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:26 pm

The pins aren't touching the casing. While I had it open it misbehaved and then starting acting normally again. Unplugging and reinserting the input jack seemed related to the pedal working correctly, but so did pressing lightly on the circuit board. Perhaps it is a cold solder joint somewhere? Intermittent problems stink.

What do you think I should do? Send it back to Moog for a third time?

Bryan

ColorForm2113 · Post by **ColorForm2113** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:53 pm

could be another ground point, too. maybe the contact from the cable and from your hand caused something to ground out again

i dont know much about electronics but i made a couple noise boxes out of cheap pedals through trial and error soldering and when they dont work if i touch a connection or sometimes just the input it fires up again... *ZZAP*

"hey! it works again"

EricK · Post by **EricK** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:10 am

Ive decided that the next time that mine does it im going to call Moog.

I think we should petition to find out whats wrong. Its my favorite pedal too and I woudl be devistated if it messed up a session, seeing as how all that I do is record music.

Keep me in the loop for sure whatever you find out.

Eric

Bryan T · Post by **Bryan T** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 1:54 am

EricK wrote:Its my favorite pedal too and I woudl be devistated if it messed up a session, seeing as how all that I do is record music.

Actually, the very first time it acted up on me was during a recording session. I had specifically taken it to show it off to my engineer buddy and it wouldn't do more than a handful of distorted repeats. I've used it on a number of sessions since, but am getting to the point where I won't rely on it. I thought I had figured out what was wrong, but apparently not. This is so frustrating!

Bryan

vier-personen · Post by **vier-personen** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 2:05 pm

this sucks.

tell us if you fix!

totalrejekt · Post by **totalrejekt** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 11:36 am

Bryan, I had been following your posts before I bought my 104z. I was reserved about getting one based on the problems people were having, but I couldn't resist. Last night the same happened to me, the repeats have gone away. Sometimes unplugging and plugging in helps it work for a bit. So I guess it is intermittent right now. I will check the grounding issue tonight. Are these pedals just expensive junk? Such a disappointment. I have only owned it for 4 months.

Bryan T · Post by **Bryan T** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 1:33 am

totalrejekt wrote:Are these pedals just expensive junk? Such a disappointment. I have only owned it for 4 months.

I don't think they are junk, but I do think there is a design flaw that needs to be addressed/recognized/documented by Moog. Having said that, mine has been fine for the last few weeks and sounds as good as ever. It truly is my favorite pedal that I've owned (and I've owned a fair share and tried a lot more).

I'll bet that the problem with yours is the three prongs on the smaller circuit board hitting the casing.

Bryan

EricK · Post by **EricK** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 4:57 pm

Alien8 wrote:Are the pins shorting again?

I had a dream last night about this, that because of the pin locations, and wood swelling / stomp deformation that mine did the same thing. The fix in the dream was to install an isolation pad (electrical tape) between the poles and the chassis.

Dude! Thats close to Bob's Level! I think though that he really had one of those Borg Eyes that can solve complex puzzles by staring at them.

I did post some pictures of mine in the other delay thread.

Eric

Bryan T · Post by **Bryan T** » Sun Nov 16, 2008 9:31 pm

It has been fine for the last few months, but started acting up again today. I'm getting an RMA from Moog and I'll send it back. Intermittent problems suck.

Bryan

Alien8 · Post by **Alien8** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 1:22 pm

Kind of on topic, do you use the loop in the delay? Could that somehow be related?

Bryan T · Post by **Bryan T** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 2:10 pm

Alien8 wrote:Kind of on topic, do you use the loop in the delay? Could that somehow be related?

Sometimes, but not all the time. The problem happens with and without the loop engaged. I shipped it back to Moog this morning. Amos has been very accommodating, so I'm sure things will turn out well.

Bryan

latigid on · Post by **latigid on** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 5:16 pm

For all of your troubles, they might consider just giving you a new pedal? It's not like you've kicked it around the stage is it?