buying DC Brick and have a question..

[Diddii]

i'm thinking about buying Jim Dunlop's DC Brick, liked it better than VoodooLabs PP2.

1. i don't understand how the mA works on amps
I red that my Multicomp uses 9 V DC - 15mA max (and the dc brick handles 7x 9v plugs that have 375mA total.

does that mean 375 - 15mA (from the multiComp) = 360mA left?
i'm afraid to fry my pedals, also becouse it's says in the manual "15 mA max" and the word max scares me.

[Rob22315]

Originally Posted by Diddii

i'm thinking about buying Jim Dunlop's DC Brick, liked it better than VoodooLabs PP2.

1. i don't understand how the mA works on amps
I red that my Multicomp uses 9 V DC - 15mA max (and the dc brick handles 7x 9v plugs that have 375mA total.

does that mean 375 - 15mA (from the multiComp) = 360mA left?
i'm afraid to fry my pedals, also becouse it's says in the manual "15 mA max" and the word max scares me.

The pedal manufacturer is telling you the pedal draws no more than 15mA at 9V. This is well within the capabilities of your brick, hook it up with confidence. As long as the current capacity of your brick or the individual output lead exceeds the total of all the maximum current draw of all the pedals connected to it, you're good to go. The rating of the brick only tells you the maximum it can support. As long as you're using the specified voltage (9v for most pedals), the pedal won't use any more than what it's rated at.

You are only in trouble if you are using the wrong voltage for your pedal, the polarity of the connection is wrong (many pedals use negative center, the polarity of the pedal should be printed on it) or if the sum total max current draw of all the connected pedals is more than what the brick is rated.

[Diddii]

1. how do i know if the pedals have passive or negative polarity?

2. could the pedals og the Brick damage if the sum total max current draw of all the connected pedals is more than the brick is rated?

3. i'm planning on buying EHX bass micro synth, but that requires 9,6v which dosent seem to be available on any multi-powersupply, do i have to use a special adapter with the BMS that comes with the pedal?

[Rob22315]

Originally Posted by Diddii

1. how do i know if the pedals have passive or negative polarity?

2. could the pedals og the Brick damage if the sum total max current draw of all the connected pedals is more than the brick is rated?

3. i'm planning on buying EHX bass micro synth, but that requires 9,6v which dosent seem to be available on any multi-powersupply, do i have to use a special adapter with the BMS that comes with the pedal?

1. There's usually a little diagram next to the plug, on the bottom of the pedal, or in the instructions which shows the required voltage and polarity for a DC supply. The diagram will show most of a circle with a little dot in the center. The mostly-circle represents the shield or outside of the plug. The dot represents the center. There will be a line with a + or a - indicating which polarity goes with which part of the plug. Many are 9V, center negative.

2. Probably no permanent damage will result, a good brick is protected against drawing too much current. Likewise, providing too little current or voltage doesn't usually damage electronics either but neither can be guaranteed. One thing to think about - if pedals could be damaged by low voltage, you'd have to buy a new pedal every time the battery ran out. Reverse voltage is a much bigger problem.

3. I don't know, ask EHX or someone who owns that pedal. EHX has forums on their website, you might check to see if someone else had the same question. For reasons noted above, you could simply try a 9V source and see if it works. If it runs off a 9V batt, it should run off a 9V DC source.

[lowfreq33]

If you exceed the mA capability of the brick it will just shut off. No damage should occur.

I personally can't recommend the dc brick. I found it to cause hum and it didn't have enough power to run all my pedals. It especially doesn't get along with EHX pedals which generally require quite a bit of power. I use the Voodoo Labs now and have had zero issues.

[Johnny Crab]

Q1
Polarity should be noted on the pedal power input and in the manuals for them.
There is usually a symbol with the PLUS SIGN(+ positive voltage) to the tip(inside conductor) and MINUS SIGN(- negative polarity). Some are reversed. For that, there are adapters that flip the PLUS and MINUS.


Q2
What Rob said

Q3
Email or call the manufacturer and ask them!
Normally running a pedal 6% below its stated voltage will not hurt it.
It may cut your headroom and let distortion happen easier and it may not be a pleasant-sounding distortion.