DIY iPod LOD (or is it the amp?) questions

you might need to open the dock connector to check the solder joints, but from the look i think you'll have a hard time to open the thing.

also look at the heads of the pins (the other end which is not soldered, dunno if i use the right word), where the dock connector connects with your iphone, to see if all 3 (l,r,g) line up in a same horizontal line. it happened to me once when my lod didnt work correctly with the left channel being a bit louder than the right, until i pulled the connector out a bit.

also the plug might be the cause, but it's very unlikely.

if all of these above dont work, wait for others' inputs or...well...make another lod, it takes only 10-15' anyways~~

next time dont apply too much glue on, some heatshrink would be a better choice

coz i was thinking about the cold joint case. diy world would be a better place if there were no cold ones.

if it's the case then you have no choice but to open the connector. it's not impossible to tear away the pvc glue, try to make use of some heat, i often use the soldering iron or glue gun's nozzle in this case (of course when they're hot).

that time my left channel pin didnt line up with the other 2. when i plugged the lod in, if the connector was pushed all the way in the sound was imbalanced, i had to twitched it and pull it out a bit (opposite direction with in) for the sound to be back to normal. it wasnt much of an issue to me but that was a very valuable experience. i think i used to much glue that time too :P

not with that much of glue inside.

why dont you just use the hp out of your iphone with a 3.5mm interconnect to check the cmoy?

perhaps both the amp and the lod are faulty!

errmm wow.....sounds like you put the pins in upside-down; with them that way the tips sit up a bit because the 'ramp' on the end that is meant to push down on the contact in the ipod instead pushes the pin away from the groove. why didnt you solder them while inserted anyway? best way is to remove all the pins you dont need altogether to give more working room and avoid bridges; plus as has been said (with a certain amount of understatement I might add), thats way too much glue man!!!; even without heatshrink that WAAAYY too much. what are you planning on doing with it; using it as some sort of carabiner for abseiling? hehe

it is possible you have a cold or otherwise marginal solder joint too, if it only works past a certain volume, at lower volume it might not be enough current to short over the gap, but with more energy it works. never had it happen to me out of hundreds of LODs, but hey I suppose its possible :D but of course I have had a cold or marginal joint before; so yes they do exist. they generally happen when yo have burnt all of the flux out of the solder, used too much heat or too long (for instance reworking a joint too many times without adding flux, like you probably did). I cant remember the last one I had and certainly I would recommend you buy some flux; it just makes everything easier and faster.

btw this thread's in the wrong place. could any mod please move it to DIY?

errmm sounds like you need to do some reading. the ground wire is like THE most important wire of the lot, without it none of the signals will work, as its the 'return path' for the other signals. return is a left over from the days when we thought signal flow was as simple as that, but circuits are still drawn that way, so I will use the term. but yeah the signal for each channel is shared between the signal and ground, the signal is meaningless without the ground to reference it to.

theres your problem right there. make another one

how did the pin break? even if it was broken it's still working?

I use smaller gauge, 26 would be best, I always bend the pins outward, then pour the glue in after finishing all the soldering, that way there'll be no possible short happens, but you cant do anything else with those pins anymore ;)

remove all the pins except for the ones you need for the signal and I use 1/8" heatshrink, solder each wire, then add a dab of hot glue (epoxy in my case) and slide the shrink over the joint and shrink. this isolates the wires from each other and also adds strength to the LOD. I then only use a small amount of glue to keep the LOD housing closed and a touch at the exit on the strain relief heatshrink to stop it moving. no need to fill the whole thing and its just as strong as if you did. also, you dont need to use 1 or 2 as ground. you can use 15 or 29/30 that way only 3/4 for left and right are next to each other, so with all the pins nearby removed, there is nothing to short against, even if you dont do the heatshrink thing.

The first one is the hardest and you learn as you go..

Make sure the pins are not leaning toward each other and touching.. Even with 1/8" heat shrink they can bend in on each other and touch...