Crackling noise from stompbox

[Jazz Rock]

I have a Crunchbox from MI Audio, which has been making more and more of a crackling noise when I plug it in. Before I could get rid of it by moving the jack in the socket but it go to a point where it is hardly usable. I would assume it is a solder that failed. I have done soldering work before, rewiring guitars, but haven't touched to stompboxes or amps so far. Would it be an easy enough job to work out which solder causes the trouble and fix it or is it the kind of work you really need a specialist to carry out?

[JacksonRR]

This is definitely something you can do by yourself. Sounds like a typical bad jack to me. If it's the input, it will be a stereo jack.

Perhaps this can help: http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/diagrams/switch_lo_3pdt_ig_dcjack.gif

edit: Have you tried another lead? Sometimes the inside of the lead end can break, which also can be temporarily fixed by forcing it one way or the other. Either way, it should be real cheap and easy.

[Frank]

Like the man says, first thing to do is try different leads.

It's probably dodgy solder but it could be the lever contact inside the socket, those things can sometimes get bent out of shape or crack off entirely if the pedal has suffered serious gig abuse.

If you need to resolder then it's worth buying a solder sucker and removing all the old solder before trying to repair it. Some people recommend melting the old solder to make it flow round the joint again but I always prefer to get rid of it as much as possible and rejoin it properly.

[Jazz Rock]

Thanks guys.

I think I did try with different jack cables, but it will try again to be on the safe side.

I am not sure I understand the wiring diagram in the link you posted JacksonRR. Are you suggested I should do a mod to the crunch box??? Sory , but long time I actually looked into wiring diagrams, got a bit rusty :)

I had a very brief look inside the box and couldn't really spot any particularly dull or cracked solder. I guess I'll have to get all my electrical gear out again to try to work out which conection is loose and redo the solder as you advise Frank.

[JacksonRR]

Oh. Sorry I didn't see this again earlier. That diagram was just for the wiring of the switch, external power and the in/out jacks plus a status LED. I was hoping it would help you make sense of what's inside your pedal. Most of the time, this is what you will find as far as stomp boxes go, so it's a good general reference. I posted it just in case you got into some trouble with replacing one of the jacks and needed to see how it was to be wired up again. No mods there. Your pedal has all of those features. I could have posted just how to wire the jacks, but I thought this was more useful as you can trace most pedal signal paths with it as well.

[Jazz Rock]

Thanks JRR.

Nontheless, when I opened the crunchbox again and realised how tiny were the board and the componnents, and how compact  the layout was, I decided that was not a assault for me to lead. I found a tech in Edinburgh who hopefully will make a good job of it.