Troubleshooting "non working" pedals, what to do first if your pedal stops working

If you buy pedals of any sort, eventually you'll have a problem or two with a pedal at some point in time, it's inevitable. The good thing is that many times a pedal problem is actually a problem that's a simple oversight somewhere. Here's our normal FAQ/Troubleshooting guide:

TROUBLESHOOTING SUGGESTIONS & FAQ:

First, unplug from everything and plug directly into your amp. If this sounds normal go to the next step.

A few questions:
Are you using a power adapter made for guitar audio? If it’s an ordinary adapter purchased outside of a music store and it “multi-purpose” or “Multi-use” then you will need to use a different power adapter. However, as long as there is a battery connection in the pedal, we can use this to test it first. You won’t be able to do this test with our “mini” pedals, as there is no battery connection inside those. Also, with pedals such as the Tumnus Deluxe, it increase the voltage internally. Therefore, a new Duracell battery. Why Duracell? Because the cheaper batteries do not deliver enough current.

Next, let’s isolate the pedal. You’ll want to run the guitar directly into the pedal and then in the amp. This is CRITICAL. For this test, remove the pedal from any pedalboard, do not have any other pedals connected in series with it, and do not have the power daisy chained to it.

Go to the store and BUY a brand new 9v battery. Don’t borrow one from another device or pedal, this test will not work if you do that. You’ll also want to wiggle the cable ends a bit and if there is any sort of pop or crackle you’ll want to use different cables. Note that this fixes 95% of all problems that pedals have.

Make sure you are using the pedal on the clean channel of the amp.

Turn amp off, wait 5 minutes, turn it back on and start at the first step of plugging directly into the amp.

Has the amp been moved recently? For example, if an amp is on a 15 amp circuit and there are many other things on that circuit or even depending what else is on the circuit itself, the amplifier can act differently or have various noise issues. Fluorescent lights, for example, are notorious for creating noise problems in audio equipment.

Does the pedal still have the same problem? If so, reply back to the email and we will send you a return form.

IMPORTANT: Wampler reserves the right to charge a repair fee and shipping cost to the customer if the pedal is sent for repair and the problem is determined that the only problem is that the battery is low, and therefore not getting sufficient power.

FAQ:

Noise problem with gain pedal:
Keep in mind, any gain pedal is going to have some degree of hiss to it, just by the nature of adding gain. It’s no different than turning up a high gain distortion channel, any noise whatsoever there get’s amplified.

Pedal cuts in/out
-check cables. Are they plugged in all the way? Try a different set of cables.

Pedal sounds different than normal
-Do you have a sag control on your power supply? Make sure it’s turned up/off so there is no drop in voltage. Replace with BRAND NEW battery (fresh out of the package). Do not reuse old battery from a different device.

One of the pots is scratchy/noisy?
-Buy Deoxit electrical cleaner and spray it into the pots.    • How to clean dirty & crackling pots (...  

“The LED just flashes whenever I turn the pedal on”
-This means that the pedal is not getting adequate voltage, or current draw. This means that the chain of pedals is trying to draw more current than what the power supply/battery is capable of, or that the battery voltage is not high enough to turn the pedal on. This is common in circuits that increase the voltage internally, such as our Tumnus Deluxe pedal.

Should I disconnect my battery if I’m using a power supply?
If you use a power supply it won’t hurt the pedal to have a battery connected at the same time, as the power jack will disconnect the battery internally. However, batteries can and do leak a bit, corroding and causing a nasty mess on the inside of the pedal. For this reason, if you plan on using a power supply with the pedal it is recommended to remove the battery.

The battery keeps running down even when the pedal is not turned on.
This is because power is supplied to the pedal via the battery, even when turned “off”, any time the input cable is plugged into it. Of course, if you have a power adaptor plugged into it, it disconnects the battery inside (as mentioned above) and in this instance the battery will not run down outside of normal battery decay.

If at this point it's still not working, then yes now it's time to get it to the manufacturer for repair. Most repairs are generally switches. This is because most often the on/off switch is a mechanical part that simply wears out.

Music on this video provided by Youtube channel "My darn jam tracks". Check them out here:
   / @mydarnjamtracks2940  

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