So, you finished building your kit and it's not working. Here's our recommended troubleshooting procedure:

• Don't panic! In all likelihood the issue is something small and simple to fix.

• Retrace your footsteps. Go back through the assembly guide, checking each step as you go. Don't assume you got something right - confirm it visually as if you were doing a pre-flight checklist.

• Check your audio setup. Rule out your audio interface as a variable before troubleshooting your build.

• Check your assembly for common errors. 90% of issues we see are caused by a single misplaced component.

• Check your soldering. Joints should have a smooth, shiny, concave surface, and cover the entire pad.

• Clean your board. Sometimes small pieces of solder or flux can get stuck to the PCB and cause issues. Go through methodically and remove any flecks on the top and bottom of the board -a little pressure from the tip of the screwdriver is all it takes.

Still not working? Check out the product-specific Issues at the end or contact us.

Before you even start checking your assembly and soldering, it's a good idea to check your audio setup first.

• Run a cable from the input and output on your interface that you were using to test your gear. This will confirm that the routing in your DAW and interface software are correct.

• If you are using XLR cables to connect to your gear, just connect the cables together, bypassing the gear. This will also confirm that the cables are good.

• If you are testing a 500-series module, make sure it is screwed in all the way.

• Swap the module to another slot in your rack, if possible.

• If you have a known-good module, test that in the slot you are using to test the gear.

Once you've confirmed that your audio setup is working correctly, proceed to Checking Your Assembly.

Many kits have test pads for testing the power rails with a multimeter. To confirm that the power rails are correct with a multimeter, follow these steps:

• Set a multimeter to read DC volts.

• Place the black probe on the test point labeled GND or 0v

• Place the red test point on each of the power test points in turn. These are usually labeled +16v, V+, -16V, +5V, -5V ,V-, etc.

When testing a power rail, your meter should display the expected voltage within +/-0.5 Volts.

More often than not, the issue with your build is a single misplaced component. Carefully check your board for the following?

• Are all ICs in the correct position and orientation?

• Are all resistors in the correct positions? Check the color bands of every resistor against the sorting sheet. Pay especially close attention to those that start with the same number, for example 4.7k and 47k.

• Pro tip: use our handy resistor color code calculator.

• Are all non-polarized capacitors in the correct positions?

• Are all electrolytic capacitors in the correction positions and orientation?

• Are all diodes in the correction orientation?

• Are all transistors in the correct positions and orientation?

If everything above looks good but you're still having problems, it's time to check your soldering.

Take a look for these issues in your build:

• "Blob" joints where the solder doesn't form a neat "tent" around the lead. This is from either too much solder or not enough heat.

• Joints that don't cover the pad completely.

• "Cold" solder joints where the joint is not perfectly shiny and uniform. This is the result of not enough heat during soldering.

Follow this process to re-flow any suspect joints:

• Get your soldering good and hot, make sure the tip is clean (no black oxidation) and tinned (plenty of solder covering the tip)

• Heat the solder joint, touching the iron to where the pad and the lead meet

• Heat for 2-5 seconds until the solder melts completely. Sometimes the solder will seem to suddenly “snap” onto the pad. That’s what we want!

• Add a tiny amount of solder to the molten joint. Leave the iron for another 2 seconds after this

• Remove the iron

If the LEDs don't turn on or turn off quickly after turning on your unit. Please check the following:

• Check for solder bridges causing a short between two pads

• Check the orientation of all ICs and transistors

• Remove all the socketed ICs and power the unit up.

• If the LEDs work now, replace the ICs one-by-one, powering down every time before placing a new IC.

• If one or more of the ICs are bad, please contact us for a replacement

• Is the module completely screwed into the rack? You may get intermittent power/signal if it is not totally screwed in, or in a test jig like our test adapters, check if you have the right orientation.

• Check your routing. Connect the cables you were running to your 500-series module together to confirm that your routing and cables are correct. For example, if you were using the module as an insert between output 3 and input 3, connect the XLR from output 3 directly to the XLR going to input 3.

• Test your 500-series rack. If you have another, known-working 500-series module, test it in the same slot of your rack where the module was not working.

• Are all resistors in the correct positions? Check the color bands of every resistor against the Colours Codes of the Resistors. Pay especially close attention to those that start with the same number, for example 4.7k and 47k.

• Are all ICs in the correct position and orientation?

• Are all capacitors in the correction positions and orientation?

• Are all diodes in the correction orientation?

Although it's not strictly required, and it's unlikely to fix any issues you are having with your build, cleaning your PCB will make it look nicer and ensure there is no flux or solder residue left behind.

• First, gently scrape off any leftover solder with a screwdriver. Sometimes little bits of solder will jump off during soldering and stick to the solder mask. You can easily remove these with just a tiny bit of pressure.

• Clean the board with high-purity isopropyl alcohol (90% or higher) and a microfiber cloth or tooth crush. We recommend three rounds of cleaning.

We always work on a worldwide network of trusted repair techs to help you out with your project. If you want to be listed on this page, reach out to us. All of the techs that will be listed here will have access to our repair documentation and replacement parts.

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At the moment we highly recommend groupdiy.com (there are several support threads about our projects) and our Email support.