Fried Pedals

[trev5269]

Is it possible to fry effects pedals using the wrong power supply...I think on Xmas day I fried 2 of my old pedals (micro Q-tron, and Sonic Stomp maximizer) by using the wrong power supply..Both of them dont turn on anymore....Is this possible, and what do i do now....?

[OptimusPrime]

Yes. You should call the manufacturers and see if they'll repair them. I think it's like $15 to get an EHX pedal fixed?

[trev5269]

Update - both of the pedals turn on, i was bein stupid bout the power supply, one is fine, but the other one, the sonic maximizer i think is done. The light comes on and the true bypass works fine, but when i hit the stomp button no sound comes out...oops

[bigchiefbc]

Yes it is quite possible. I admit that I too have fried a pedal before. It was one of the Boss pedals, and I plugged in the 24V adapter for my Stereo Polyphase. From that point on, I only got the bypass signal, whether the pedal was on or not - no effect

[lotsolowend]

i hooked a 2000 milliamp power supply to a guyatone micro chorus. may god rest his soul...

very possible - possibly repairable depending on the situation

[houser444]

I blew up a holy grail using the wrong power adapter, it literally started smoking, poped then smoked alot more.

[sonic assassin]

i blew a power adaptor before i blew the pedal. found a matching ac adaptor on some house appliance i didnt need, clipped it over and made a new one.

[whoatherechunk]

how do you fix a fried pedal? what exactly happens (technically speaking) when you fry a pedal.? wrong voltage goes through the pcb and just plain out fries it?

[Kevin Wilson]

Most newer pedals have a power protection diode that protects the pedal from reverse polarity and extreme voltages. Chances are it fried the diode and if the power gets past the diode it will probably fry the transistors, mosfets, or ICs depending on the type of circuit. One can only hope that there wah a power protection diode and thats all that needs replaced.
Some of your more modern pedals that aren't boutique like boss ect.... use the tiny chip resistors and capacitors which really makes it a pain to work on especially if you don't have a schematic. Good luck

[Jake of Bass]

Is there some tutorial floating around that explains all about matching correct voltage/milliamps to pedals, especially in a chain? I'd really like to learn more about this.

[bongomania]

Actually no tutorial is needed. All pedals (are supposed to) come from the manufacturer with clear markings or instructions indicating what sort of power supply is to be used. All power supplies come with markings or instructions indicating what they put out. Any failure to understand how to match them up comes from failing to read the markings or instructions.

There are only two things I can think of that may not be clear just from reading the instructions:
1) AC power is sometimes marked as a sine wave ~ and DC power is sometimes marked as a pair of lines like = except one of the lines is dashed.
2) A device will only draw as much amperage as it needs- you cannot fry a pedal by plugging a higher amperage supply into it. You can fry a pedal by plugging the wrong voltage into it.

[Jake of Bass]

Sweet, so using an 1100 milliamp power adapter doesn't matter as long as the voltage is the same as required to power the pedals? I got confused with the earlier post saying he fried his pedal on a 2,000mA adapter. But that would be incorrect voltage, yeah?

[Unrepresented]

This is the same scenario that caused the untimely demise of my Blowtorch.

[lotsolowend]

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.c...ply?sku=150387

it wasn't the amperage after all then. it was the AC part i suppose :P

[bongomania]

Yeah an AC supply can kill a DC pedal.