Help! Crazy issue with Zoom B3 power cycling

[chowderhead1962]

Hi,

I have a pedal board that includes a Zoom B3 on it as well as a host of other effects and a Keith McMillen 12 Step. The B3 as well as all of my other bass effects and tuner are powered by a Trutone One Spot CS7 and there is plenty of power to spare. The 12step and a blue tooth transmitter are powered by a rechargeable battery and have no shared connection at all with the pedals. What I'm finding is that when I press on any keys with the 12 step, my Zoom B3 power will cycle as if it's being turned off and then back on. It tends to happen more on uneven surfaces (ie grass) but not completely. All of the wired underneath are tucked and not hitting the floor. I've checked the power jack on the Zoom and it seems fine. I'm running out of a 500mA jack from the CS7 which fits the B3 power needs. I'm now about to test running the 2 500mA jacks out into a single barrel to run to the B3. But honestly I'm at a total loss as to what could be causing this to happen. Any ideas?

 

[cheapbasslovin]

My best guess is a damaged power cable getting moved so it shorts or opens, but only when the board flexes.

Can you pull the 12 step off and just press the board and see if that does the same thing? Can you loosen the wiring or power supply and see if you get the same results under those circumstances?

If you can rule out a bad power cable, have you tried a different output on the one spot?

Edit: I appreciate the thorough list of stuff you've checked. So often people say, "my stuff's broke and I tried EVERYTHING" without listing a single thing they actually tried or their method of trying.

 

[chowderhead1962]

My best guess is a damaged power cable getting moved so it shorts or opens, but only when the board flexes.

Can you pull the 12 step off and just press the board and see if that does the same thing? Can you loosen the wiring or power supply and see if you get the same results under those circumstances?

If you can rule out a bad power cable, have you tried a different output on the one spot?

Edit: I appreciate the thorough list of stuff you've checked. So often people say, "my stuff's broke and I tried EVERYTHING" without listing a single thing they actually tried or their method of trying.

Thanks very much for the response. Yeah one of the first things I had checked was the power cable, and it seems ok. Again it tends to do this more on an uneven surface then when on the floor. I was thinking it may have some thing to do with cords underneath at first, but they're all pretty secure up under the pedal board. In trying to fix this, yesterday I used a power cable splitter to run two separate 500mA feeds into a single cable. If one of those outlets is bad, the other one should still provide plenty of power. I'm planning to test it that way, and try it out on uneven surfaces. I just find it bizarre that it only does it when I step on the 12 step. Almost like something is being torked on the board when I do so, but I can't see that at all. Thanks for the input!

 

[cheapbasslovin]

Thanks very much for the response. Yeah one of the first things I had checked was the power cable, and it seems ok. Again it tends to do this more on an uneven surface then when on the floor. I was thinking it may have some thing to do with cords underneath at first, but they're all pretty secure up under the pedal board. In trying to fix this, yesterday I used a power cable splitter to run two separate 500mA feeds into a single cable. If one of those outlets is bad, the other one should still provide plenty of power. I'm planning to test it that way, and try it out on uneven surfaces. I just find it bizarre that it only does it when I step on the 12 step. Almost like something is being torked on the board when I do so, but I can't see that at all. Thanks for the input!

Have you tried removing the 12 step and poking around the board in the area where it normally sits? Recreate the problem without the 12 step and maybe try to determine if theres a specific spot where pressure on the board triggers the issue?

Edit: i have a fair amount of experience troubleshooting cables and they don't always exhibit visual signs of damage, especially the intermittent ones. If the power supply opens then having the second outlet will allow it to keep running, but if it shorts it'll just cause both outlets to go into safety.