MXR Carbon Copy problem

[Andree88]

Hi, I've bought a MXR Carbon Copy used 1 month ago. Yesterday I wanted to use it without my PedalBoard so I decided to insert a battery in and.. I've found a piece (it's a smd) inside the box..

I've done research on internet images and I saw what is the piece that is unsoldered (and I cannot put it back because I see a leg of the smd broken).

The CC still works perfectly like before but I'm scared if it will stops working during a live or, worst, it can damage my other pedals.

Can you help me? I cannot find schematic online but I can upload a photo of the smd that I've not anymore on my CC..

It is the Q12 in blue circle in the photo that is broken and I don't know anyone near me in Italy to recover it..

Thanks a lot!

 

[t_e_l_e]

hi there and welcome,

 

first of all, don't worry, you can't damage your other pedals with this.

second, the part in the blue circle has 3 legs and is titled Q12, the letter Q is used usually for some kind of transistor.

which kind of transistor it is, npn, pnp, Si or Ge etc i can't tell, aswell what its function might be...

 

interesting thing is, that it is still working, do really all setings work? or are there some special settings which don't?

if it works now, it is likely that it works for longer without the tranny

 

but send the picture to the mxr customer support and ask your question there, without a schematic its hard to tell what this damage has whic impact...

[WRGKMC]

Manufacturers may have done that intentionally. That transistor may be soldered in that way to work as a diode instead of a transistor.

 

Rule #1. If it ain't broke don't mess with it. All you'll do by messing with it is cause a real failure so leave it alone and just use it as is.

 

I also learned an important lesson as a green tech too. Don't go straightening up transistors and resistors on a circuit board either. I did that once and was severely scolded by a senior tech who had to undo what I had thought was good for the circuit. Often times components are bent over to minimize noise, hiss hum and feed back caused by field effects of one components emission being picked up by another. The components bent over to minimize EMF emissions in one part of the circuit being picked up and contaminating another part of the circuit.

 

It may look pretty to have everything straight and proper to the eyes but it can spell disaster when it comes to signal quality. Again, if it aint broke don't touch it. Tinkering by amateurs is likely the second to abuse as the biggest cause of electronic failures.