Did i blow up my Boss BF-2?

[Systolic]

So i've had the old Boss BF-2 on my board for a while now. No issues, had about 6 other pedals on there at any given time. Powering with a One Spot. Got up to about 8 or 9 pedals on this board and figured that i should probably get a nicer power supply. Luckily i work for a very large music retailer, so I pick up that newly released MXR M238 ISO power supply, looks good. Much like a PP2+ it has the different jacks/ports for different power options. 2x 9v 100mA, 2x 9v 300mA, 2x 9v 450mA, 2x 18v, 2x variable. Being a worry wort about things like this, i spend a few hours combing through threads and articles about what my pedals like and draw and so on. The old BF-2 should be a standard 9v and only draws 15mA, so any of my options are plenty. Plug everything in..in the exact same order. The BF-2 gets plugged in to the the 9v 100mA..... the blue light on the power supply says everything is kosher, go through clicking on all the pedals to test everything is kosher (including other Boss pedals)...except for the for the BF-2. Don't smell any burning. So i tried it on a different port....nothin. Tried back on my One Spot...nothin. It worked yesterday.


What's the next step?

 

[Dark Barn]

Pedals will only draw as much current as they need, you can brake a pedal by running it at the wrong voltage or wrong polarity, but as far as I know you can't break a pedal by connecting it to a supply that has more available current than the pedal uses.

 

[Systolic]

Pedals will only draw as much current as they need, you can brake a pedal by running it at the wrong voltage or wrong polarity, but as far as I know you can't break a pedal by connecting it to a supply that has more available current than the pedal uses.

That's what i though. The mA shouldn't matter in this case, and i didn't plug it in to the 18V port:

So i had a chance to mess around with this a bit this morning and have some more information:

+ Yes, the jack on the pedal has some play in from the outside. That'll be the next issue to tackle.
+ I was actually able to get the pedal to consistently turn on with my One Spot. The plug just needs to be fiddled with a bit. Once i had it facing the way it wanted....it turned on every time.
+ Tried the exact same setup with the new power supply....same plug fiddling and everything. No power.
+ Just to be certain, i plugged my Boss CEB-3 pedal into that port. Works just fine

 

[CHILDISHGAMBINO]

Isn't the BF-2 one of those pedals that runs on the old 12V boss power supply? Yep it is. The reason it worked with your one spot is explained here:

Invalid Link Removed

It needs 12V to run isolated because of the way the newer boss pedals are designed the BF-2 or any older ACA powered pedals will run on 9V when daisy chained with them. It's explained better than I can in the stinkfoot link.

Edit: You probably didn't hurt anything, just try running it at 12V and see if it works.

 

[Systolic]

Isn't the BF-2 one of those pedals that runs on the old 12V boss power supply? Yep it is. The reason it worked with your one spot is explained here:

Invalid Link Removed

It needs 12V to run isolated because of the way the newer boss pedals are designed the BF-2 or any older ACA powered pedals will run on 9V when daisy chained with them. It's explained better than I can in the stinkfoot link.

Edit: You probably didn't hurt anything, just try running it at 12V and see if it works.

That's some high quality info right there, i'll give her a go after work!

 

[CHILDISHGAMBINO]

That's some high quality info right there, i'll give her a go after work!

Let us know how it works out.

 

[holy ghost]

I thought I fried my old HM-2 doing the same thing - with the PP2 you need to flip down the dip switch on the bottom to get it running properly. Same with my CS-2.

However, I did the same thing and tried to daisy chain it, the light was half dimmed but when I ran it properly with the PP2 it went back to working no problem.

Apparently there's an easy mod for this but I'm not technically skilled enough to do it myself and don't really need to pay someone as long as I use the PP2.

 

[Systolic]

Let us know how it works out.

Works like a charm. Plugged it in to the variable voltage port (goes from 6V to 15V,) set it in the 15-13 range. Bingo. Fires up no problem. Thanks again.

 

[CHILDISHGAMBINO]

Awesome, no problem.

 

[CHILDISHGAMBINO]

I thought I fried my old HM-2 doing the same thing - with the PP2 you need to flip down the dip switch on the bottom to get it running properly. Same with my CS-2.

However, I did the same thing and tried to daisy chain it, the light was half dimmed but when I ran it properly with the PP2 it went back to working no problem.

Apparently there's an easy mod for this but I'm not technically skilled enough to do it myself and don't really need to pay someone as long as I use the PP2.

Check the link I posted earlier. If you are daisy chaining an old ACA pedal with a PSA you don't need to do any mods at all.

 

[gregmon79]

Isn't the BF-2 one of those pedals that runs on the old 12V boss power supply? Yep it is. The reason it worked with your one spot is explained here:

Invalid Link Removed

It needs 12V to run isolated because of the way the newer boss pedals are designed the BF-2 or any older ACA powered pedals will run on 9V when daisy chained with them. It's explained better than I can in the stinkfoot link.

Edit: You probably didn't hurt anything, just try running it at 12V and see if it works.

That's some high quality info right there, i'll give her a go after work!

Works like a charm. Plugged it in to the variable voltage port (goes from 6V to 15V,) set it in the 15-13 range. Bingo. Fires up no problem. Thanks again.

Awesome, no problem.

This is why I love bass forums! Nice one @CHILDISHGAMBINO

 

[MojoAmpGuy]

I’ve just repaired one. Same issue. LED used to light up, now DIM or not visible (effects still present).

Fact. This pedal was originally expecting a ACA supply = 12v DC unregulated supply. Most people are unaware and plug 9v Power supply. This WILL work, but there is a diode and resistor in circuit which drops this done to approximately 7v. Most of the circuit will still work but not optimally with diminished head room, clarity.

To improve matters. Simple mod. Solder a link between connection points 4 & 5 (see photo). This removes the diode and resistor and circuit will operate well at 9v on battery or 9v PSU.

BUT, if your pedal Check LED was previously working, but no longer does? Replace 11v Zener D1. I did this and the modification discussed above in and alls great. LED bright, clarity improved.

Hope this helps.