GSSL HELP THREAD!!!

[kante1603]

So you have a serious issue,looks like a dead short somewhere.
You got readings without switching on power first?
Since they're lowish they might be just some hum picked up from the invironment.
But dropping down to zero is not a good sign.
I don't know the transformer specs or colour coding,but one can measure the dcr on all windings first,then measure for short conditions between them,there shouldn't be any.


Remember that mains voltage is dangerous!


If you are unsure please stop proceeding and try to get some help from a qualified person please!


This is not to bother you but to save your life.


Best,


Udo.

 

[Gustav]

Would that mean that I should disconnect the connector from the main PCB board, then measure the secondaries to see if I'm getting the proper VAC? That would mean I will turn them on again, right? And also put a new fuse?

Yes, first thing to do is establish that the transformer is working and wired correctly.

It looks like you have wired it for 110/115V mains, but I am not sure. Was this your intention? (If you put your location in your profile, that would help).

Gustav

 

[thomasdf]

My SSL is now working and all lighten up. Cool!
Still need to calibrate the meter because (1mA DC) because with the standard resistor it didn't behave properly.
I replaced the resistor with a 5K trim pot and I am doing it this way:
Without any signal adjusting the screw on the meter so the needle is lined up to 0 when not in use.
Sending a 1K sin wave to the comp at let's say -14dB FS level
Adjusting the threshold so the output level comp drops 4dB in my DAW
Adjusting the trimpot so the meter now reads 4dB gain reduction
And then if I set up the threshold to -8dB reduction on the meter, the result will be different in my DAW. (Usually less GR)
I am a bit lost here?

 

[Ave Crux]

Yes, first thing to do is establish that the transformer is working and wired correctly.

It looks like you have wired it for 110/115V mains, but I am not sure. Was this your intention? (If you put your location in your profile, that would help).

Gustav

Yes, I am in canada and our residential voltage is 120V.

I blew another fuse when I tried it again without connecting to the circuit board. And I am getting readings (2V and 1.6V on the secondaries) when the power is off and 0V when it is on.

Udo suggested I might have a dead short somewhere.  The first time I tried to turn it on it was in my room, I didn't check the fuse holder then though (only found out when I tried to power it in the studio again). The second time (meaning the second time I put a fuse) it was in my studio, connected to one of my power conditioners, and that is where I got the readings when the unit is off (but then again I didn't check secondary readings on the other room when unit was off).

What I did do in the other room is, out of curiosity to make sure I was even delivering power to the unit, is that I (carefully) tested the power cord I was using to see if it was delivering anything at all. So with the help of a power bar, I turned it off, disconnected my power cord from the receptacle in the GSSL, then I places my ground lead on my multimeter to the ground hole of the power cord and my red lead to L. No readings when power is off in the power bar, but when I turned it on I get a healthy 123V.  (Keep in mind again all of these testings are in the different room that I didn't do in the studio).

I should also note that, I do not have a proper case for the GSSL yet, so when I was testing it, everything looks like how it is in the photo. The chassis is some old rack gear I got just to use for my ground, since I'm still looking for one that fits my front panel (finding a chassis here is actually much more difficult than I thought without ordering something expensive online..but I digress).

I suspect possibly two culprits here.

One might be the toggle switch I'm using for my ON/OFF switch on the GSSL?

The other is that I actually might have a dead short in the studio? Though I haven't had any problems when I am running my equipment in a session though.

So you have a serious issue,looks like a dead short somewhere.
You got readings without switching on power first?
Since they're lowish they might be just some hum picked up from the invironment.
But dropping down to zero is not a good sign.
I don't know the transformer specs or colour coding,but one can measure the dcr on all windings first,then measure for short conditions between them,there shouldn't be any.


Remember that mains voltage is dangerous!


If you are unsure please stop proceeding and try to get some help from a qualified person please!


This is not to bother you but to save your life.


Best,


Udo.

Thank you Udo, before I do anything else, should I disconnect my toroid from all it's connections to the board and receptacle and measure it's DC?

 

[Gustav]

Thank you Udo, before I do anything else, should I disconnect my toroid from all it's connections to the board and receptacle and measure it's DC?

Correct.

Connect the toroid mains to mains, measure the secondaries. It seems like you still had the switch in there - might be cross-eyed.

So to repat. Step one would be verifying if your toroid is even working and putting out the expected voltages.

Everything else you're doing is slightly confusing at best.

Gustav

 

[kante1603]

Thank you Udo, before I do anything else, should I disconnect my toroid from all it's connections to the board and receptacle and measure it's DC?

And you will look for dcr,not dc.........

 

[Ave Crux]

Okay, so I did some further testing with my toroid.

First test:
Connected all my primary wirings to L in my mains cord, measured the secondaries individually (well, black and yellow are measured individually, then the red and orange together since I have soldered them together according to the wire guide) and they all measured 72VAC individually.

Second test:
Connected primary blue and and violet together to L in my mains cord, measured all secondaries same way, all had 0VAC, gray and brown primaries not connected anywhere.

Third test:
Connected grey and brown primaries to L in mains power cord, measured secondaries same way, all had 72VAC individually (sometimes 71.5VAC)

Fourth test:
Connected grey and brown primaries to L in mains power cord, blue and violet to N, and measured secondaries the same way, secondaries had 68VAC individually.

Fifth test:
Connected blue and violet to L, grey and brown to N, measured secondaries same way, secondaries measured 3VAC individually.

Also with all of these tests, I placed the ground lead of my multimeter (or common lead..the black one) to the ground socket of my mains power cord.

Now when I moved my ground multimeter to the chassis, and do all of my measurements the same way on the above tests, everything is the same except my results become 40VAC.

Any help would be appreciated!!

 

[kante1603]

Sorry,I can't help you anymore because what you're doing is nothing but dangerous.
I don't want to be responsible for that.


Udo.

 

[Gustav]

Okay, so I did some further testing with my toroid.

First test:
Connected all my primary wirings to L in my mains cord, measured the secondaries individually (well, black and yellow are measured individually, then the red and orange together since I have soldered them together according to the wire guide) and they all measured 72VAC individually.

Second test:
Connected primary blue and and violet together to L in my mains cord, measured all secondaries same way, all had 0VAC, gray and brown primaries not connected anywhere.

Third test:
Connected grey and brown primaries to L in mains power cord, measured secondaries same way, all had 72VAC individually (sometimes 71.5VAC)

Fourth test:
Connected grey and brown primaries to L in mains power cord, blue and violet to N, and measured secondaries the same way, secondaries had 68VAC individually.

Fifth test:
Connected blue and violet to L, grey and brown to N, measured secondaries same way, secondaries measured 3VAC individually.

Also with all of these tests, I placed the ground lead of my multimeter (or common lead..the black one) to the ground socket of my mains power cord.

Now when I moved my ground multimeter to the chassis, and do all of my measurements the same way on the above tests, everything is the same except my results become 40VAC.

Any help would be appreciated!!

It seems like you are very confused about this, and you are making up experiments to try and figure it out, which may be dangerous. St this point, I would recommend that you find someone local to check your work instead of trouble shooting online. 

I wouldn't really know how to make in any clearer than the wire guide I put on the site, but maybe a different voice saying the same thing will help.

Your primaries need to be wired in parallel,  your secondaries in series with a center tap. Remember, the COLORS DO NOT MATCH on this image, but the connections do.

http://www.e-dan.co.uk/electronics/wiringtrans.html

IF you are determined to give it another shot, please show a picture of your transformer hook-up before trying to power it up/measure again (With nothing hidden by connectors or cables)

Edit:and also how/where you are measuring - and please check if your trafo actually says 2x15VAC

Gustav

 

[Ave Crux]

Sorry,I can't help you anymore because what you're doing is nothing but dangerous.
I don't want to be responsible for that.


Udo.

I understand, thank you Udo. But do know that even though I am doing some seemingly risky things, that I am not alone doing it by myself just incase something goes wrong, and that I am being very careful.

And I would like to give it another shot before going up to our in house tech at my workplace, since they usually take weeks to get back to me with a result... Gustav, that link helped me understand a lot better, thank you. I will give it another shot maybe tonight or tomorrow.  I think it was very easy for me to overlook some things in your wire guide initially -- but nonetheless you are very helpful. Will get back with some photos. Thanks!

 

[Ave Crux]

It seems like you are very confused about this, and you are making up experiments to try and figure it out, which may be dangerous. St this point, I would recommend that you find someone local to check your work instead of trouble shooting online. 

I wouldn't really know how to make in any clearer than the wire guide I put on the site, but maybe a different voice saying the same thing will help.

Your primaries need to be wired in parallel,  your secondaries in series with a center tap. Remember, the COLORS DO NOT MATCH on this image, but the connections do.

http://www.e-dan.co.uk/electronics/wiringtrans.html

IF you are determined to give it another shot, please show a picture of your transformer hook-up before trying to power it up/measure again (With nothing hidden by connectors or cables)

Edit:and also how/where you are measuring - and please check if your trafo actually says 2x15VAC

Gustav

Okay, here are the photos of the tests.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/p4yprfu87emt9kr/AACC14yQaz2jsIimU4--UvU1a

The red alligator clip is connected to my red lead on the multimeter, and the black lead of the multimeter is connected to ground on the power cord. The rest is pretty self explanatory.

 

[Gustav]

The red alligator clip is connected to my red lead on the multimeter, and the black lead of the multimeter is connected to ground on the power cord. The rest is pretty self explanatory.

I can't really tell 100% whats going on in those pictures, other than its wrong -  but first off, the mounting kit should go, from bottom up.

Rubber ring, toroid, rubber ring, metal disc.

Second, you should measure the voltage potential on your mains between the parallel pairs you have created, not from the ground.

Since you are in a 110V mains country, this should give you a 110/120VAC reading (With or without the toroid connected, actually).

When/if you have that, look at the secondaries again, and measure the voltage potential from the connected pair to each of the others individually. They should each give you around 15VAC (probably a little more).

You are working with mains here, and you are slightly off on a  few basic principles, so I would suggest finding someone to help you out, who could quickly check if your transformer is still alive and set it up correctly

Gustav

 

[Harpo]

I wouldn't really know how to make in any clearer than the wire guide I put on the site, ...

put a link to the transformers datasheet at your shop offer in order to show all relevant data

 

[Ave Crux]

I can't really tell 100% whats going on in those pictures, other than its wrong -  but first off, the mounting kit should go, from bottom up.

Rubber ring, toroid, rubber ring, metal disc.

Second, you should measure the voltage potential on your mains between the parallel pairs you have created, not from the ground.

Since you are in a 110V mains country, this should give you a 110/120VAC reading (With or without the toroid connected, actually).

When/if you have that, look at the secondaries again, and measure the voltage potential from the connected pair to each of the others individually. They should each give you around 15VAC (probably a little more).

You are working with mains here, and you are slightly off on a  few basic principles, so I would suggest finding someone to help you out, who could quickly check if your transformer is still alive and set it up correctly

Gustav

Man I am probably the biggest idiot here. Sorry about that.. I got an old friend to check out my toroid, and was quoted "it seems okay", the secondaries are both putting out 17.8VAC though (which I believe is okay since it's just a little over 15VAC?) Also, he double checked my mains in the studio -- 123VAC which should be correct.

What should my next steps be?

 

[thomasdf]

Three questions here

1) Sometimes when I start my compressor, it seems like the PSU doesn't properly boot and the needle of the meter jumps to half course and stays there. And the comp passes no audio.  Then I'll turn it off and on again and all is perfectly fine. Happens 1 every 5 times I start it I'd say?

2) Is bending the VCA's pin 4 needeed on the latest PCB revision with THAT 2180B?

3) any help welcome with my calibrating questions (read more up there)

Otherwise, I really love the sound of the unit and find it to be really quiet. Even tho the "grab" is different from the real 4K desk comp I am used to, it sounds really cool. I'm toying with the idea of "oxfording" it But I need to fix these things first!
Pictures soon!

 

[Gustav]

Three questions here

1) Sometimes when I start my compressor, it seems like the PSU doesn't properly boot and the needle of the meter jumps to half course and stays there. And the comp passes no audio.  Then I'll turn it off and on again and all is perfectly fine. Happens 1 every 5 times I start it I'd say?

2) Is bending the VCA's pin 4 needeed on the latest PCB revision with THAT 2180B?

3) any help welcome with my calibrating questions (read more up there)

Otherwise, I really love the sound of the unit and find it to be really quiet. Even tho the "grab" is different from the real 4K desk comp I am used to, it sounds really cool. I'm toying with the idea of "oxfording" it But I need to fix these things first!
Pictures soon!

1. Measure output from the 7815 regulator. Replace if needed (put "latching problem" in search).

2. No.

3.  Meter calibration? Its hard to tell if you're being  super picky, or if there is a huge discrepancy. Ive never felt the need to trim the meter, so it may be

A: a case of expecting too much of it.
B:different metering scale from you DAW
C:an actual error.
D:?

Are we talking 0,5dB differences or 5dB differences within 10dB of compression?

 

[borderlineaudio]

Hi

Can i please ask for some advice , i'm a newbie to the whole DIY thing. so bare with me if the question seems plan & simple to some, i just want to be sure and ask before advancing.
I bought the mic & mod GSSL kit with sidechain mod as my first project . seemed nice & simple as a first project.

I have found that both my compressor ' bypass' switch & sidechain PCB need to go to the [ on , off , com ] on the front switch PCB
i have attached an image to show what i mean.

I want to know is it ideal of me to join the sidechain [ on , off , com ] wires to the bypass switch wires shown in my diagram.

Apologies in advance if this seems like a basic stupid ?? but its all new to me

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1fnsdjciq7obxm7/Wiring%20GSSL.jpg?dl=0

 

[gyraf]

I bought the mic & mod GSSL kit with sidechain mod as my first project . seemed nice & simple as a first project.
I have found that both my compressor ' bypass' switch & sidechain PCB need to go to the [ on , off , com ] on the front switch PCB

I want to know is it ideal of me to join the sidechain [ on , off , com ] wires to the bypass switch wires shown in my diagram.

Not stupid at all - but it's hard to help not knowing exactly what parts you have.

If I were you, I'd ask mic & mod for help - after all, it's their kit, and they should know the details better than anyone..

Jakob E.

 

[thomasdf]

3.  Meter calibration? Its hard to tell if you're being  super picky, or if there is a huge discrepancy. Ive never felt the need to trim the meter, so it may be

A: a case of expecting too much of it.
B:different metering scale from you DAW
C:an actual error.
D:?

Are we talking 0,5dB differences or 5dB differences within 10dB of compression?

Hi Gustav, I will redo proper measurement but there was something between 3 and 8 dB difference depending on how much GR was going on. I am monitoring all of this in a Protools HD with a scale in dB FS.

 

[TheBassgasm]

Hey guys.

I just finished my very first DIY project which obviously is a G-SSL Kit by Gustav (Thanks for that btw.!).
Yesterday night I switched it on for the first time (without a case but ground in- & output connected).
It passes no audio and the gain reduction meter is stuck at 18dB gain reduction.
I know that somewhere in this thread there is a trouble shooting diagram for measureing but I can't seem to find it. It would be very nice if somebody could help me with that.
I'll post my results ASAP once I know where to measure.
Thanks for help in advance!