Boss pedal problem

[Nv_D_SlapnPop]

I have a boss dd-3 that works fine on my pedal board with it's power but it does not work with a battery or a boss replacement adapter. I don't remember the brand of the pedal board but the adapter is an ehx 9 volt. Any ideas? Thanks!

 

[govind678]

Hey.
I have the same pedal and the same problem. Well, the DD3 works only with some kinds of 9v adaptors. Also, when you use a battery, it needs a minimum of 6.5v (or something around that) for it to work. Otherwise, the delays dont kick in. So yeah, you pretty much need to run a fully charged battery always.
I guess you could try a different adapter or just use your pedal board. But dont run it on a battery. It wont last for then 15 mins.

 

[warwick.hoy]

Is it brand new or old? If it is old does it have blue label or say use with ACA adapter anywhere on it?

I don't know enough about the DD-3s but they have been in production since '86 and if it is an older ACA powered pedal that might be the issue.

Pertinent linkspam:

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[warwick.hoy]

I'm also wondering if the ehx Power supply is the wrong polarity/voltage.

This Boss Area thread details someone having a similar issue with early DD-3

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Apparently (in the linked thread) a previous owner used the wrong polarity adapter and shorted a diode.

 

[recnsci]

Hey.
Well, the DD3 works only with some kinds of 9v adaptors. Also, when you use a battery, it needs a minimum of 6.5v (or something around that) for it to work.

Make that 8V minimum in worst case scenario. DD2/3 has inside linear voltage regulator that provides stabile 6V for digital bits and pieces inside, and requires around 1.7V at least of drop voltage, which means that battery/PSU neads to provide 8V and more. It might work down to 7V but not reliably.

 

[Nv_D_SlapnPop]

The pedal is the older blue label. I don't really use it so I tried to sell it on craigslist and was embarassed when I got to the guys house and it didn't work, lit up but no effect. So I apolagized took it home and still doesn't work on the adapter but works on my board's power supply. I guess my board is providing more power than 9v batteries and ac adapters? If so will this damage pedals?

 

[warwick.hoy]

I'd try sourcing a Boss ACA adapter and see if that works.

Are you daisy chaining the pedal when you have it on your pedal board?

The early compact pedals was designed to run on either a 9V DC battery or 12V DC adapter. Because of this the ACA adapter was a 12V adapter. The voltage was reduced to 9V internally by using a 470 Ohm resistor and 1S2473 diode between the minus input on the power jack and ground. The resistor diode pair was later removed and at the same time the ACA adpater was redesigned to output 9V instead.

[snip]

Powering the older pedals designed for 12V DC input with either a newer ACA or PSA adapter will not work very well. The voltage drop over the resistor and diode will prevent the pedal from getting enough power and its LED will usually only glow faintly. The solution is to use a daisy chain and plug in another pedal designed for the newer ACA or PSA adapter. The lead between the two pedals will short the resistor diode pair and the pedal will receive full power.

Source: Link Removed

It's also possible that powering the pedal with the wrong adapter has shorted a diode and the pedal will require a repair as laid out in my previous post's linkspam.