#4900861
Hey folks! Looking for some advice.

I built three packs last year for my colleagues and myself to wear for Halloween at the school we work at. This year I started work on upgrading the packs with lights and sounds. One pack will have a Matty Board in it and another an Amplified Sound Board. The third pack has a cheap owner.

I test fit the electronics for the Amplified Sound Board Pack last weekend and it seemed to work like a charm. Since the wand was 3D Printed without any idea of the space needed for a PCB, it needed to be modified. Not a problem. It gave me time to refine some things that were rushed last year.
https://youtu.be/0Ry0pdnV0Qc

Today I started having issues with the pack sounds. They started when I turned the volume knob 3/4 up. The sound seemed to cut off and make an "error" type sound. I would describe the sound as a distortion of some type. Almost like it wanted to play but couldn't. When I turned the volume down it was fine. You could hear the startup sounds, theme song, and stream sounds. Thinking it was the speaker I connected a different one. I turned up the volume 1/2 way and the error noise came back. After a while, the board stopped playing sounds altogether. It would only emit popping and hissing noise. Still thinking it was the speaker I changed to a higher end one and still no sound. Finally, I connected my iPhone to the audio jack and heard no sound at all. But when I turned the volume knob really slowly I heard the music. However, the volume would not go up past halfway.
https://youtu.be/4-77nzR93NA

Any idea what might be causing this? I'm currently using a 9V at the moment until I can order a blue battery pack. I tried connecting the speakers with tinned wires, non-tinned wire, quick disconnects, and various types of speakers. I've changed the power input from the main board to the pack lights board and back. I sometimes get distortion and popping when I turn it on and other times I get no sound at all!
#4900981
A 9V "Transistor" battery? Amazing it worked at all.

Look at the discharge curves https://www.powerstream.com/9V-Alkaline-tests.htm

Even at 100mAh, the voltage rapidly drops to 8V - below the 9v minimum in the documentation.

If I get time this weekend, I'll take some current measurements - Standby, throwing, half-volume, etc.
#4907771
2018 update to the Sound Board problem.

I finally got around to connecting the Blue Brick Battery and the Sound Board power indicator lit up. I then connected it to the GBFans Pack Lights and Wand Kit and all seem to be working.

The only issues so far are that pressing on the black trigger button activates the vent sequence and I can't control the volume using the potentiometer. I've tried moving the DIP Switches and seem to have fixed the venting issue, but I still get a random vent sound every once in a while despite not being in Video Game mode. As for the volume, I may end up replacing the potentiometer or using another potentiometer and placing it elsewhere on the pack.

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