BossAreaForum

This one was free from a local muso who said "it doesn't work anymore, I don't know why".

Looks kinda OK on the outside.
.


But inside is another story...
. .

I'm not sure I can save this pedal, but I'll try.
.
. . .

Oh good Lord!

Yikes!

Board repairs are done.

Replaced:

• 8 capacitors - the leads were so corroded that they had fallen out of the body of the device.

• 6 resistors - the leads were so corroded that they had fallen out of the body of the device.

• 2 wire links

• One of the 9VDC jacks - I would have done both but it is impossible to get one of them. Cleaned the one I kept and tested OK.

• One LED - the leads were corroded and had released from the PCB tracks.

Plus:

• Reterminated the ribbon cable.

• Cleaned and lubricated the pots and selector switch.

Still to do:

• Grind one of the jacks out of the case - the nut has rusted onto the jack threads and no amount of force will shift it.

• Fully clean the corrosion off pedal body and then clear-coat it to stop the corrosion.

• Fully clean the rust off pedal base-plate and then clear-coat it to stop the corrosion.

• Reinstall everything and rewire all the broken wires.

• Replace the jack I will be destroying removing it.

• Replace the missing switch.

• Test with fingers crossed.

I would never get rich doing these repairs - I'm about 3 hours into it so far, plus a bunch of (admittedly low cost) parts.

Pics to follow once it is all done.

Does anyone have a set of white knobs to suit one of these that they would be willing to sell me? I have a set of blue and a set of black, but no white.

laurie wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 26, 2023 11:38 pm

I have no spare knobs, sorry. The only (Spanish) shop in Europe that sells them at ebay takes 20 EUR per knob. They say that it is a discontinued Roland/BOSS spare part. Maybe you should ask Roland/BOSS in Canada?

I found another supplier in France who has them for four EUR per knob:
https://www.soundtoparts.com/en/bossrol ... white.html
If the shipping costs to Canada are 6 EUR as well, then you can buy three knobs for 18 EUR in total. Not exactly cheap, but not too bad, either.

The same shop offers the knobs on Reverb, but for a bit higher prices (due to all the fees at Reverb).

Thanks pepe! At those prices, I think I'll use either the black or blue knob sets that I have, depending on which ones look best.

After an initial cleaning and repair.
.

WOW! How did you clean it? In this picture you don't see too many traces of the previous damage anymore!

Pepe wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 27, 2023 1:18 pm

WOW! How did you clean it? In this picture you don't see too many traces of the previous damage anymore!

Scrubbed the board in soapy water with a toothbrush. Then millimeter-by-millimeter cleaning with isopropyl alcohol and a tiny brush.

Replaced the corroded components as noted above. I don't have 1/8W resistors so I used 1/4W.