Power an original sansamp

GibsonLP · #1 09-25-2011, 04:53 AM

Hi guys.
I purchased a NOS (still wrapped in original nylon in original box with price sticker and a pair of manuals) sansamp unit (not the classic reissue, the original one).
I was a bit shocked to see a 6v PSU, I opened up the effect to see if I can power it up with a battery and saw that not only it has a battery connector - the positive (red) wire is shared with the DC input. This looked good and I thought - hey, I can run it with 9v... What threw me off was that the negative from the DC input goes to the dip switch pad while the battery's negative goes to the jack input...
Does anyone here run his 6v sansamp with a 9v PSU?
Should I just rewire the DC input and hook the negative to the input jack as well instead of the DIP switch pad?

Thanks!

bongomania · #2 09-25-2011, 09:57 AM

The DC jack is also a switch; it disconnects the ground from the battery (effectively disconnecting the battery) when you plug in a DC plug. So that should not be changed, unless you plan on never using one of the two power options.

As far as having a 6V supply but then having its + in common with the 9V battery's +, that's a mystery. Most of the time when the external supply is a different voltage than the battery, one of the two sources will go to a little resistor network before joining each other. This couple of resistors drops the higher voltage down to match the lower one.

Dash Rantic · #3 09-25-2011, 12:58 PM

I have an original SansAmp (original like yours, not re-issue) that I run on my pedalboard with the 9V output of my Voodoo Pedal Power 2, works fine.

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GibsonLP · #4 09-25-2011, 06:00 PM

Thanks!

GibsonLP · #5 09-26-2011, 05:15 PM

B.t.w, got this response from Lloyd Schwartz/Tech 21:

----------- SNIP ----------
Dear Gil,

Thanks for your inquiry. There are a couple of ways to answer your question:

The pedal runs on 9VDC (which is why it can accept a battery). The power supply provided is 6VDC UNregulated, which means the pedal will DRAW the 9V it needs. Another way of looking at it is, the power supply will "tap out" at 6V when using a 100mA load... but the pedal draws much less milliamperage than that, which is why it can reach 9V. So you can safely use your 9VDC power supply with the unit.