How much power?

[The Thinker]

I know I've read somewhere on this board about how to find the power requirements for pedals in "ma" (milli-amps?? ). But I've searched again and can't find it. I don't have manuals for my pedals (other than the Sansamp and Muff, and neither seems to have that info). Can anyone tell me where I can get this information?

Specifically, I'll need to power:

Korg Pitchblack
Sansamp BDDI
MXR Auto Q
BBE Opto Stomp compressor
EHX Bass Big Muff Pi
Boss OC-3 Octave

And maybe one or both of these:
Older Boss bass chorus (the one from the late 1980s)
Older Boss bass eq pedal

I have a standard Boss adapter, which I understand to provide 200ma. Would that be enough to power these if I get a daisy chain cable and run off the Pitchblack? Or do I need something else...and if so, what?

Thanks!

[BruceBass3901]

Look on the websites for each of the companies / products and it will say what the current draw is

[The Thinker]

I did that already. And just now I went back to the Korg specs and still don't see anything called "draw" or anything expressed in "ma". (If I had to guess, I'd say it's the "A4 continuous input" but this is like a foreign language to me--the only thing I know about electronics is that they require electricity )

Here are the specs from Korg:

******
Tuning: 12 note equal temperament

Detection accuracy: +/- 1 cent

Detection range: E0 (20.60 Hz) -- C8 (4186 Hz)

Calibration range: 436--445 Hz (1 Hz steps)

Display modes (auto): Full Strobe, Half Strobe, Meter, and Mirror

Input impedance: 1 M ohms (when tuner is on)

Connectors: INPUT (mono 1/4" jack)

BYPASS (mono 1/4" jack)

DC IN (9V)

DC OUT (9V)

Power supply: 9V battery) or 9V AC adaptor

Battery life: Approximately 5 hours (A4 continuous input, tuner on, display mode: Meter, using a 9 volt battery)

Dimensions: 2.68" (W) ×4.72" (H) ×1.85" (D) (including feet)

Weight: 0.64 lbs (including battery)

Included items: One zinc-carbon battery for verifying operation

Options: AC adaptor (9V)

[cheapbasslovin]

Try google searching '(pedal name) current draw.'

I just found that the OC-3 and the Korg each draw 50mA. It took less than 2 minutes.

I wont necessarily be the first result, but it usually will come up.

[Taylor Livingston]

It's fairly rare for manufacturers to mention current draw of their pedals, unfortunately. The only place I know of with a comprehensive listing is bossarea.com, which has info for all Boss pedals. In general, simple distortions are usually only a couple of mA. Few analog pedals draw more than 10mA. Digital pedals, however, can draw much more, like the OC-3 (45mA). Incidentally, compare the analog OC-2, which uses only one tenth the power of the OC-3, its digital counterpart.

You'll probably be ok with 200mA since you have only 2 digital pedals on your board (Pitchblack and OC-3).

But it's a good reason to grab a 1spot (1700mA).

[The Thinker]

Originally Posted by conical johnson

It's fairly rare for manufacturers to mention current draw of their pedals, unfortunately. The only place I know of with a comprehensive listing is bossarea.com, which has info for all Boss pedals. In general, simple distortions are usually only a couple of mA. Few analog pedals draw more than 10mA. Digital pedals, however, can draw much more, like the OC-3 (45mA). Incidentally, compare the analog OC-2, which uses only one tenth the power of the OC-3, its digital counterpart.

You'll probably be ok with 200mA since you have only 2 digital pedals on your board (Pitchblack and OC-3).

But it's a good reason to grab a 1spot (1700mA).

Thanks. That is very helpful.

[kenstee]

If your older Boss pedals need the ACA adapter here's what to do. Put them on a daisy chain with some newer 9v pedals (like the Pitchblack or OC-3) and they'll work just fine as long as the combined draw - mA - (of all the daisy chained pedals) does not exceed that of the output - mA - of the power source.

[Mad Maestro]

Measuring Current Draw by Andreas Moller

"It's easy - all you need is a multimeter, a 9v battery and a patch cable. Oh, and the pedal, of course.

Unplug the battery connector and put it back on sideways, so only the negative (-) pole is connected. Plug a cable into the input jack - to turn the pedal on - and measure (multimeter set to DC, 100-200 mA) between the open battery pole and the open receptor in the connector. Use the multimeters' red wire on the battery positive, and the black wire on the connector. The reading you will get is the "bypass" figure.

To get the "active" reading, things get slightly tricky. With the measuring probes still on the battery/receptor, click the switch to put the pedal in "active" mode. The trick is to not let the measuring probes lose contact - that will cause the pedal to shut off, and when it receives power again, it will be back in "bypass" mode.

You don't have to input any signal (thank God - you'd need an extra pair of hands to hold the probes in position and play at the same time), as most pedals draw full power as soon as they turn on. The Boss TU-2 is the only exception I've seen so far..."

Visit his website for the current draw list.

[Implosion]

Originally Posted by The Thinker

I did that already. And just now I went back to the Korg specs and still don't see anything called "draw" or anything expressed in "ma". (If I had to guess, I'd say it's the "A4 continuous input" but this is like a foreign language to me--the only thing I know about electronics is that they require electricity )

Here are the specs from Korg:

******
Tuning: 12 note equal temperament

Detection accuracy: +/- 1 cent

Detection range: E0 (20.60 Hz) -- C8 (4186 Hz)

Calibration range: 436--445 Hz (1 Hz steps)

Display modes (auto): Full Strobe, Half Strobe, Meter, and Mirror

Input impedance: 1 M ohms (when tuner is on)

Connectors: INPUT (mono 1/4" jack)

BYPASS (mono 1/4" jack)

DC IN (9V)

DC OUT (9V)

Power supply: 9V battery) or 9V AC adaptor

Battery life: Approximately 5 hours (A4 continuous input, tuner on, display mode: Meter, using a 9 volt battery)

Dimensions: 2.68" (W) ×4.72" (H) ×1.85" (D) (including feet)

Weight: 0.64 lbs (including battery)

Included items: One zinc-carbon battery for verifying operation

Options: AC adaptor (9V)

The product manuals that are also available for downloading contain usually the more specific information such as the current consumption. But in this case the specs presented on the website are the same except for the current consumption, so probably someone has just accidentally skipped a line when copying.

Originally Posted by Pitchblack manual

Specifications
Detection range : E0 (20.60 Hz)–C8 (4186 Hz)
Calibration range : A4 = 436–445 Hz (1 Hz steps)
Detection accuracy : +/-1 cent
Input impedance : 1 M-ohm (tuner on)
Power supply : one 9 V type battery or AC adapter (9 V, 600 milliamps or greater)
Battery life : approximately 5 hours continuous use with tuner on (A4 input continuously, Meter mode)
Current consumption : maximum 30 mA
Dimensions (W x D x H) : 68mm x 120mm x 47mm/2.68" x 4.72" x 1.85" (including rubber feet)
Weight : 292 g/10.3 oz (including battery)
Included items : one 9 V battery
Options (sold separately) : AC adapter (9V, 600 milliamps)

[The Thinker]

Thanks, all!