9.6v

[M0ses]

Is it cool if I power a 9v pedal with 9.6v? I can't find an adapter that has positive on the outside for less than some ridiculous $20, but I have one already that does 9.6v.

[Domz]

sure... if you dont mind buying a new pedal

[jbybj]

Originally Posted by M0ses

Is it cool if I power a 9v pedal with 9.6v? I can't find an adapter that has positive on the outside for less than some ridiculous $20, but I have one already that does 9.6v.

Yes, it's way cool............

I've never owned a pedal with that tight of a voltage tolerance. many 9 volt devices are happy with 12 -18 volts, not all, but some even perform better.

[McSpunckle]

New 9V batteries are about 9.6 volts.

A 1Spot puts out 9.5 volts.

So, yeah, it's cool.

[gnasher1993]

Originally Posted by Domz

sure... if you dont mind buying a new pedal

[M0ses]

Ok well that answers that question fairly conclusively.

Another one, where can you get an AC adapter with the positive on the outside for non-ridiculous markups? Adapters with positive on the inside are all over the web for $5, but nowhere can I find one that will work on a pedal for less than about $20, which I'm just not willing to pay.

[SurferJoe46]

Did you get the 9V battery snap-on/clip adapter with your power supply?

Use that.

[john m]

Cut the cord about 6 inches from either end.
Strip the wires and reconnect them (reversed from their original position). Solder them, then heat shrink tubing or electrical tape.

I've got lots of jury rigged pedals with power supplies that I salvaged from phones, old cassette players, etc.

john m

[Chrisk-K]

I just measured the voltage of a brand new Duracell 9v battery. It's 9.6v.

[M0ses]

Originally Posted by SurferJoe46

Did you get the 9V battery snap-on/clip adapter with your power supply?

Use that.

I've got batteries, but I don't want them.

Originally Posted by john m

Cut the cord about 6 inches from either end.
Strip the wires and reconnect them (reversed from their original position). Solder them, then heat shrink tubing or electrical tape.

Great idea, I have done similar things myself and should have thought of this. Annoyed that I can't buy it the way I want it, though. I mean seriously. 1Spot for $19.95? I think not. Power supplies are power supplies.

[SurferJoe46]

Originally Posted by M0ses

I've got batteries, but I don't want them.

No - that's not what I mean.

The power supplies usually have a connector/adapter that will hook up to the same end that a battery normally would.

This replaces the battery too just like going in through the jack on the side would.

I have had to use it when I ran a buddy's extra stomp and didn't have my #3 gig case with me and just used the power-to-battery-adapter to operate the stomp.

One comes in every 1-Spot power supply I think.

[Taylor Livingston]

Originally Posted by M0ses

Power supplies are power supplies.

Not true. Power supply design is complex stuff, and power supplies meant for digital clocks are not at all similar to ones meant for audio.

Many cheap power supplies are unregulated, so they deliver varying voltage under different loads (11v if you have only one pedal, 8v with many pedals, for example), or they can be transformer-based with insufficient or non-existent filtering (hum), or they can be switch-mode supplies whose switching frequency is within the audio range so you hear annoying whining sounds, etc.

The 1 spot is not just an expensive cell phone supply. For one thing, it has huge current capability. Great for big boards. It also has protection circuitry so that if one of your pedals develops a short and it tries to pull more current than the supply can provide, the 1 spot just shuts off, which saves both the supply and the pedal from death.

You CAN find a perfectly usable supply that's dirt cheap, absolutely. But the 1 Spot really is much better than many junky supplies not designed for this application. This note is not to tell you that you need a 1-spot or similar, or that what you've got around can't work for you. But power supplies are not all created equal, and the 1-spot is pretty good IMO.

[KarateKid25]

Originally Posted by Taylor Livingston

Not true. Power supply design is complex stuff, and power supplies meant for digital clocks are not at all similar to ones meant for audio.

Many cheap power supplies are unregulated, so they deliver varying voltage under different loads (11v if you have only one pedal, 8v with many pedals, for example), or they can be transformer-based with insufficient or non-existent filtering (hum), or they can be switch-mode supplies whose switching frequency is within the audio range so you hear annoying whining sounds, etc.

The 1 spot is not just an expensive cell phone supply. For one thing, it has huge current capability. Great for big boards. It also has protection circuitry so that if one of your pedals develops a short and it tries to pull more current than the supply can provide, the 1 spot just shuts off, which saves both the supply and the pedal from death.

You CAN find a perfectly usable supply that's dirt cheap, absolutely. But the 1 Spot really is much better than many junky supplies not designed for this application. This note is not to tell you that you need a 1-spot or similar, or that what you've got around can't work for you. But power supplies are not all created equal, and the 1-spot is pretty good IMO.

+1 Absolutely!

[john m]

Yes, all power supplies are not created equal.

My salvaged ones are regulated. I've watched their output under load on a oscope and varied the input voltage with a variac. If you don't have that equipment, cut them open and look for a voltage regulator (it will be a 3 pin transitor, most likely with a number 78xx). A wall wart from a consumer audio device (old portable tape player, CD player etc) will most likely be regulated.

That being said, I've used "junk" wall warts on stomp boxex with low mA requirements with no issues.

john m