Boss pedal advice please repetetive failure

Im having a problem with my delay pedal (s). I've had 3 brand new Boss DD-3 pedals fail. All the same thing, seems to me the switch has failed, won't click on & hold. Switch is intermittent on the Blues Driver too.

I'm starting to think I'm doing something haywire on my end. I have the delay pedal plugged into the 9v power supply on my board.

Any guesses on what's happening?

Hi Jeff: have you tried squirting the switches with contact cleaner? Same for the jacks and controls? Do any of the switches look like These? Some might be mounted on a small pc board; others not ... the others easier to replace than the pc mounts. You can use your meter across the switch to see if there's continuity ... if not then the switch is shot. My limited experience with pedals is that all expenses are usually spared ... but they do get dirty faster than amp controls mounted on control panels. J

That seems pretty unusual for Boss pedals. They're typically very reliable.

Are you sure that you have good connections to the 9-volt source? If the jack is loose in the socket, the pedal could be becoming unpowered/powered when you step on the pad.

Those barrel plugs can be off by half a millimeter or so in diameter and still seem to fit ... but not really.

I would try the pedals with batteries to confirm that it is the switch and not the 9-volt connection.

That is definitely unusual. Boss pedals are built like tanks. I have had and still own several Boss pedals including a Keeley modded Blues Driver. I have never had a switch failure. Maybe shoot an email to Boss tech support?

BluesDan said:

.definitely unusual. Boss pedals are built like tanks. .never had a switch failure. Maybe shoot an email to Boss tech support?

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Dan, That's where I was going next but the problem was solved locally. Nothing wrong with Boss's pedal. I was doing something stupid on my end.

Took it back in to the shop, an experienced guitar player listened to my story, 10 minutes later he discovers the pedal has a "Hold" setting.

Keep in mind the knob settings, when the pedals are on the floor, are well outside my focal range, bifocals ain't cutting it.

Hold is the final function of the dial on the far right. Function is actually a bit of a mini loop & only operates while the pedal is depressed, I read about it in the manual, obviously didn't comprehend much.

It's all better now. Thanks for the help.

Hi Jeff ... glad it's working ... and .... no matter what, if there's something else, I promise not to ask whether you've read the tech lit yet ... :wink: J

LOL.......ok, so it was a little case of operator error on the delay, still having a problem with the blues driver?

A problem I've had with my DS-1 switching was the battery wire getting in the way of the motion of the pedal part of the box. It wouldn't go down far enough to engage the switch.

BluesDan said:

LOL...... still having a problem with the blues driver?

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Blues driver is a $20.00 pawn shop score,

Every so often it seems a bit cranky. Need to step on it a couple times to wake it up. I've checked the battery wire Dane spoke of, I think I'll do it again

It invariably powers up when I plug in the board, & I have to step on it to turn it off. Dunno if it's supposed to default to on.

Pedal board has been an absolute gas, worth the trouble,

Jeff said:

BluesDan said:

LOL...... still having a problem with the blues driver?

Click to expand...

It invariably powers up when I plug in the board, & I have to step on it to turn it off. Dunno if it's supposed to default to on.

Click to expand...

Some pedals just do that. From what I have read on-line, it has to do with a diode at the power input. If the diode is one way, the the pedal stays off when you power it up. If the diode is the other way 'round, the pedal turns on when you power it up. It seems it just depends on how it was assembled. I have six pedals on my board (no Boss pedals). Two turn on when the board is powered up.

Electronics folks know how to find that diode, and can reverse it.