Lithium Grim Orange Alpaca Instruction Manual

Orange Alpaca
Building instructions v1.0

Orange Alpaca v1.0
Manufacturer and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable their trademarks are the property of their
respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or endorsement is implied.
2
Table of contents
Table of contents ......................................................................................................2
Components.............................................................................................................3
PCB layout ...............................................................................................................3
Building sequence .....................................................................................................4
Modifications ............................................................................................................4
Mode switch ..........................................................................................................4
Off board wiring........................................................................................................5
Troubleshooting ........................................................................................................6
Schematic................................................................................................................7
Read this entire manual thoroughly before you start building the effect! Especially the
modification part. Decide before building the effect which mods you want to try so that
you do not need to desolder parts later.
Last update: 17-10-2021

Orange Alpaca v1.0
Manufacturer and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable their trademarks are the property of their
respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or endorsement is implied.
3
Components
Name
RL
RL 25th
TSF
OA
Comment
C1
100u
330u
100u
100u
Electrolytic
C2
68n
68n
100n
68n
SMF/MKT/Wima
C3
51p
51p
10p
51p
MLCC/Ceramic
C4
33n
33n
50n
33n
SMF/MKT/Wima
C5
100p
100p
10p
100p
MLCC/Ceramic
C6
10u
10u
10u
10u
Electrolytic
C7
x
33n
x
33n
SMF/MKT/Wima
D1
x
1N4001
x
1N4001
IC1
CD4049UBE
CD4049UBE
CD4049UBE
CD4049UBE
P1
B1M
B1M
B1M
B1M
Drive
P2
x
B100k
X
B100k
Hi-Cut
P3
A10k
B10k
B10k
B10k
Volume
R1
1k
1k
100R
1k
1% metalfilm
R2
1M
1M
x
1M
1% metalfilm
R3
100k
100k
100k
100k
1% metalfilm
R4
x
x
10M
10M
1% metalfilm
R5
1M
1M
1M
1M
1% metalfilm
R6
x
1M
x
1M
1% metalfilm
R7
Jump
27k
Jump
Jump
1% metalfilm
R8
x
1M
x
1M
1% metalfilm
R9
100k
91k
100k
91k
1% metalfilm
SW1
Jump 2-3
Jump 2-3
SPDT
SPDT
Mode switch
RL= Red Lama™,RL 25th = Red Lama 25th anniversary Edition™
TSF = Tube Sound Fuzz™, OA = Orange Alpaca
PCB layout
A=Log, B=Lin, C=Rev. Log

Orange Alpaca v1.0
Manufacturer and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable their trademarks are the property of their
respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or endorsement is implied.
4
Building sequence
Soldering this board can be very complicated for some people since the solder pads are very
close together. Use a magnifying glass to make the job easier.
Do not blow on your solder in an attempt to cool it down. That will possibly result in a bad
join that might corrode!
First you need to decide which version you are going to build, then you can start by soldering
the resistors and then the diode (if applicable). Solder the IC socket next and then the small
SMF/MKT/MLCC capacitators, transistors (if not socketed) and finish with the electrolytes.
Do not yet place the IC (and diodes/transistors if socketed). Wait until after you soldered the
potentiometers and switch.
The Mode switch (SW1) controls the range Drive (P1). You can either use a PCB mounted
switch SPDT (on-on) or a regular SPDT and solder it using wires (see off board wiring)
Besides the components mentioned in the table on the previous page, you will need:
•2 input jacks. 2 mono jacks if you are not going to use a battery but only the 9V
adapter. 1 mono (for output) and 1 stereo jack (for input) if you will be using both a
9V battery and the 9V adapter.
•3PDT footswitch (9 pins)
•2,1mm DC jack (isolated).
•9v battery clip (optional).
•22 gage stranded hook-up wire.
•LED and LED flange.
•Hammond 1590Bcase (or similar) in your favorite color. If you need more space,
use a Hammond 1590BB.
Modifications
Mode switch
You can make the switch SW1 into a footswitch. Use a DPDT so you can use the second row
of pins to connect an LED to so you can see if the lead mode is engaged.
If R4 (lead resistor) is 10M the drive pot will become almost useless. You might consider a
lower value like 4M7.

Orange Alpaca v1.0
Manufacturer and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable their trademarks are the property of their
respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or endorsement is implied.
5
Off board wiring
The biggest challenge of this build is to get all the offboard wiring correct and fit it in a box.
Take your time measuring and testing before you start fitting everything in the box.
P1-P3 are PCB mounted potentiometers (Alpha). The rectangle pad marks pin 1 of a
potentiometer. NB the pots need to be soldered ont the bottom side not the component side
(top side). The image to the left shows how you can recognize which pin is
which on a potentiometer. You can break off the pin I marked with the
yellow circle with a small pair of pliers.
SW1 is a regular PCB mounted SPDT (on-on) switch or you can use a switch
with solder lugs for external use.
Place the potentiometers in the predrilled enclosure and then insert the PCB.
Once the PCB fits nicely and is not touching the enclosure, solder the
potentiometers to the PCB. Now you will need to wire the footswitch, LED
and DC jack:
S
Tip
Sleeve
Sleeve
Output Jack
Input Jack
Cathode (short leg)
Anode (long leg)
Footswitch
Ring R led
Tip
The LED requires a resistor (R led in the diagram) depending on the type of LED you are
using. An ultra-bright red, green or blue LED requires a 4k7 resistor, diffuse green requires
680R. If you want to be more exact then go here: http://www.muzique.com/schem/led.htm

Orange Alpaca v1.0
Manufacturer and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable their trademarks are the property of their
respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or endorsement is implied.
6
Troubleshooting
All PCB’s have been 100% factory e-tested and out of every batch I receive I build an effect
to double check, so there should not be a connection problem on the PCB itself.
The board is not working (at all), what now?
•Check if your 9V is plugged in correctly (and/or soldered correctly on the board).
•Check that you oriented the capacitors, IC’s ,transistors and diodes the right way. SMF,
MKT and ceramic capacitors as well as resistors do not need to be oriented.
•Check if you used the correct values of the components. For resistors you can look
here: http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/Electronics/Color/
•Double and triple check your soldering! A loose or cold solder can be really bad for your
board.
•Replace the IC, it might be defective. Before doing that first unplug the 9V and wait for
5 seconds.
•Check that you have good/high grade components. A lot of Chinese sourced parts are
fakes (especially high end opamps, vintage diodes and transistors) so be careful that
you source your parts from reliable suppliers.

Orange Alpaca v1.0
Manufacturer and product names are mentioned solely for circuit identification, and where applicable their trademarks are the property of their
respective owners who are in no way associated or affiliated with the author. No cooperation or endorsement is implied.
7
Schematic