DC Brick question - 18v -> 9v?

[coolrunner989]

Hey guys

So, I have a DC brick and I love it (especially the blue LED lol). Problem is I bought it with one 9v power cable short, leaving me 6 9v cables to power pedals with. This wasnt an issue, as I only had 6 pedals at the time. I now have 9 pedals on my pedal board, all of them being 9v. So, my two questions are: a) is there any where I can purchase just one extra 9v cable, and b) Is there any way I can use the three 18v outs on the DC brick and split them into two 9v cables each? If not then I guess I will use my one spot again, but I'd rather leave it all up to the DC brick.

Thanks
Dan

[JanusZarate]

http://www.stompin-ground.com/produc...ePowerMisc.htm

You can order custom individual power supply cables there. The 3.5mm mini plug is what the Brick uses for its cables (Voodoo Labs and others use a 2.1mm barrel plug).

Dunlop also sells them as well... just e-mail them about it.

Regarding the 18V outs... no can do. Technically, there's a way, but it'd be too cumbersome and not worth your time or money.

Instead, you could use a Y-extension cable:

http://www.stompin-ground.com/produc...blepp2.htm#ext

This would allow you to run two pedals from just one outlet.

Just make sure you have enough current to power all of your pedals. There isn't very much available on the Brick's 9V side, after all.

[niftydog]

Reducing 18V to 9V is possible, but splitting one 18V to two 9V will not work in this circumstance - you'll have multiple ground reference points which will all short together (= BAD!) when you connect the patch cables between pedals.

Transformers only work for AC, Boo!

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by niftydog

Transformers only work for AC, Boo!

Hmm... point. DC won't create electromagnetic induction. I forgot.

What would you use for DC, though?

The Godlyke Power Pump, for example, steps up the voltage from 9VDC to as high as 24VDC... but how, exactly?

It says it uses an inline step-up converter. Digital device, I'm guessing?

[niftydog]

Going upwards, it's usually a charge/pump circuit. It's analogue circuitry, far from ideal, but it works. I won't go into detail here, google it if you're keen.

Going downwards, the easiest is the regulator, but you could employ switch mode power supply technology to do the same thing, however that's much, much more complicated.

[phatbass30]

if you have a boss TU-2 tuner pedal in your chain, that will do the trick. i have 11 effects all powered by dc brick. 6 9V and 3 18V. i have a boss TU-12 powered by my dc brick and i use a daisy chain to power 2 more pedals out of it. actually i'm going to make that 3 more later cos i will get a new pedal.

[JanusZarate]

Thanks to the last post, I just thought of something!

You could also just use an ordinary 1-Spot or Godlyke daisy chain, attached to a regular DC Brick power cable, if you have one laying around. That way, you wouldn't need a fancy Y-extension cable that'll only power two pedals. A daisy chain cable is akin to a Y-cable... on steroids.

But again, be weary of your limited available current.

[phatbass30]

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

A daisy chain cable is akin to a Y-cable... on steroids.

But again, be weary of your limited available current.

i thought about that and then again i thought about the available current. boo, how many pedals do you think it can handle? a dc brick has 1,000mA. and for the TU-12, how many pedals can usually powered by it? does it has an effect on dc brick whether i'm powering more from a TU-2 or it only recognize TU-2 as one pedal?

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by phatbass30

i thought about that and then again i thought about the available current. boo, how many pedals do you think it can handle? a dc brick has 1,000mA. and for the TU-12, how many pedals can usually powered by it? does it has an effect on dc brick whether i'm powering more from a TU-2 or it only recognize TU-2 as one pedal?

Ah, you bought into the false marketing of the TU-2.

The TU-2 doesn't "power" anything; its DC-out jack is just a starting point for the official Boss daisy chain. It is NOT a power supply.

A 1-Spot or Godlyke daisy chain has a female plug on the end, which renders all pedals with DC-out jacks to be unnecessary.

Now, regarding the DC Brick's power output... I used to own a DC Brick, and the 1A rating is a little misleading. Read the website and you'll see... it's not in the manual.

375mA is shared among the 9V outlets. 625mA is shared among the 18V outlets. So realistically... you only have 375mA to play with. Fortunately, most analog pedals draw less than 30mA. But there are exceptions. And digital pedals draw much more (often 100 - 200mA or more).

Here's a decent chart of common pedals and their current usage: http://www.diago.co.uk/powerstation_compatibility.html

Out of curiosity, what pedals do you have? I can help you figure out the details.

[coolrunner989]

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

Ah, you bought into the false marketing of the TU-2.

The TU-2 doesn't "power" anything; its DC-out jack is just a starting point for the official Boss daisy chain. It is NOT a power supply.

A 1-Spot or Godlyke daisy chain has a female plug on the end, which renders all pedals with DC-out jacks to be unnecessary.

Now, regarding the DC Brick's power output... I used to own a DC Brick, and the 1A rating is a little misleading. Read the website and you'll see... it's not in the manual.

375mA is shared among the 9V outlets. 625mA is shared among the 18V outlets. So realistically... you only have 375mA to play with. Fortunately, most analog pedals draw less than 30mA. But there are exceptions. And digital pedals draw much more (often 100 - 200mA or more).

Here's a decent chart of common pedals and their current usage: http://www.diago.co.uk/powerstation_compatibility.html

Out of curiosity, what pedals do you have? I can help you figure out the details.

I have (not in order):
Rat2
EHX Soul Preacher
Dunlop 105q bass wah
Electronix Submarine (possibly two of these)
EHX Mini Q-tron (on its way, I have an Electronix MessDrive Hybrid+ tonight but I'm trading it tomorrow for the q-tron)
EHX SEM (again, on it's way)
Sansamp BDDI
Boss TU-2

I have a Fatman on its way but I probably wont put that on the board (no room) and I have a digitech jamman looper that I'd like to power somehow...

I currently (as of about 10 mins ago lol) run everything except the Soul Preacher from the Brick and then use my one-spot daisy chain off of the TU-2 to power the Soul Preacher...

I can provide a picture if that would help

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by coolrunner989

I have (not in order):
Rat2 (7.8mA)
EHX Soul Preacher (<100mA)
Dunlop 105q bass wah (3.5mA, I think)
Electronix Submarine (possibly two of these) (<100mA)
EHX Mini Q-tron (<100mA)
EHX SEM (again, on it's way) (<200mA)
Sansamp BDDI (6mA)
Boss TU-2 (55mA)

The Fatman will be very low draw, but the JamMan... that runs on 9VAC, drawing 1.3A of current! No way it can be powered by the Brick.

For four of your pedals above - the Soul Preacher, Submarine, Mini Q-Tron, and Mistress - I have no clue how much they draw. But they all can use fairly low-current supplies (except the SEM... it comes with a 200mA adapter, but it probably uses less).

For all the pedals I do know, it adds up to about 75mA. That leaves 300mA to work with. I think you'll be able to power all of them, as the Soul Preacher and Mini Q-Tron are fairly simple, low-draw circuits. The Fatman, being analog distortion, probably doesn't draw more than 15-20mA, and that leaves the Mistress... which could possibly be between 100mA and 200mA.

[coolrunner989]

yeah, I didnt think the Jamman would go - its not really important anyways, I dont use it regularly. The fatman wont fit on the board so it will probably be a bedroom/jam pedal, not for gigs.

So lets say I hook all the others up and I dont have enough current, what will happen?

Danke

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by coolrunner989

So lets say I hook all the others up and I dont have enough current, what will happen?

Overloading a power supply isn't a good idea... you risk permanent damage to the power supply and possibly put your pedals at risk, too (if I'm not mistaken).

But I should probably also mention...

As long as the pedals are off (and assuming they're true bypass), they're not using power. They only draw power if they're on or have a buffered bypass. So technically, you could plug them all in, and as long as you don't use too many of them at once, you'd be fine.

But ideally, you want to avoid that...

[coolrunner989]

ah, ok. I can actually see myself having all of them on at once (either the q-tron or wah off, dont need both of those on at once lol). But I dont know if they are all buffered/ true bypass...hmm...

Is there any power supply that can support 9 or so pedals? The voodoo labs seems to only do 8, and I cant think of any others right now.

This is alot trickier that I thought :/

[coolrunner989]

if I had 200 bucks it looks like a Fuel Tank is what I'm looking for..

[phatbass30]

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

Ah, you bought into the false marketing of the TU-2.

The TU-2 doesn't "power" anything; its DC-out jack is just a starting point for the official Boss daisy chain. It is NOT a power supply.

A 1-Spot or Godlyke daisy chain has a female plug on the end, which renders all pedals with DC-out jacks to be unnecessary.

Now, regarding the DC Brick's power output... I used to own a DC Brick, and the 1A rating is a little misleading. Read the website and you'll see... it's not in the manual.

375mA is shared among the 9V outlets. 625mA is shared among the 18V outlets. So realistically... you only have 375mA to play with. Fortunately, most analog pedals draw less than 30mA. But there are exceptions. And digital pedals draw much more (often 100 - 200mA or more).

Here's a decent chart of common pedals and their current usage: http://www.diago.co.uk/powerstation_compatibility.html

Out of curiosity, what pedals do you have? I can help you figure out the details.

i have:

mxr 80 bass DI
demeter compulator
boss geb-7
turbo rat
micro pog
bottom feeder
boss tu-12
loop-master 3 loops with bypass/tuner out

all powered by 9V

these are powered by 18V:

fulltone bassdrive
VFB-2
analogman chorus

i'm planning to get a blowtorch and move the analogman to 9V. is there enough power left out of my dc brick?

[JanusZarate]

Originally Posted by coolrunner989

ah, ok. I can actually see myself having all of them on at once (either the q-tron or wah off, dont need both of those on at once lol). But I dont know if they are all buffered/ true bypass...hmm...

The 105Q, BDDI, and TU-2 have buffers (but all are extremely low draw - and you thought they drew little when on! ). The Soul Preacher, Submarine, and SEM are true bypass. The Mini Q-Tron, I'm not 100% sure.

Buffers in general are extremely low draw, so I wouldn't stress over that.

Originally Posted by coolrunner989

Is there any power supply that can support 9 or so pedals? The voodoo labs seems to only do 8, and I cant think of any others right now.

You can split the power using a Y-cable or daisy chain, once again. But you have more power to work with this time. Plus, they're isolated outputs.

If you wanna go nuts, there's this: http://www.jimdunlop.com/index.php?p...p_and_e_detail

[coolrunner989]

alrighty, I think I'll just buy the 7th power cable for the DC brick and get a few y-splitters. I'm not to worried about the current draw now.

That big power supply does look cool, but a little over the top hehe.

Thanks alot

[JanusZarate]

Damnit, I'm not a calculator! You guys need to do your own research once in a while.

Below you'll see some real numbers and a few estimates.

Originally Posted by phatbass30

i have:

mxr 80 bass DI (<25mA, I'm fairly certain it's low)
demeter compulator (10-15mA, based on the current usage of similar compressors)
boss geb-7 (16mA)
turbo rat (8mA)
micro pog (200mA, most likely)
bottom feeder (?)
boss tu-12 (20mA)
loop-master 3 loops with bypass/tuner out (extremely low... just enough to power the LEDs. Probably 10-15mA?)

all powered by 9V

these are powered by 18V:

fulltone bassdrive (LOW - probably 5 - 15mA)
VFB-2 (?)
analogman chorus (7mA if normal version, 10mA if stereo version)

i'm planning to get a blowtorch and move the analogman to 9V. is there enough power left out of my dc brick?

The Blowtorch is 9mA.

You can figure out the rest.

(It looks like you'll be fine either way.)

[phatbass30]

i'm really sorry for re-posting. but i think boo didn't see this. so here goes again:


mxr 80 bass DI
demeter compulator
boss geb-7
turbo rat
micro pog
bottom feeder
boss tu-12
loop-master 3 loops with bypass/tuner out

all powered by 9V

these are powered by 18V:

fulltone bassdrive
VFB-2
analogman chorus

i'm planning to get a blowtorch and move the analogman to 9V. is there enough power left out of my dc brick?