How should i install wall plugs in pedal board?

[journeyman77]

Hi all, i finally assembled my pedalboard and installed all my FX the way i needed to. However i encounter a rather silly "problem" which is i dont know how to arrange 2 power adapters that need to be powered by a power strip (a B1X four and my 2notes preamp). All other FX are into a powerplant but these 2 are separated.
For the record is a Harley Benton Spaceship 60 (see photo).
Does anyone faced such a puzzle before? If yes, please throw some photos of your board or any solution.

Thanks in advance (sorry bout my English)!

 

[turf3]

Sounds like what you need is a "surface mount box" with a dual receptacle. The box will screw down to the pedal board and provide you two AC receptacles. I don't know how you're going to feed it with AC. Have you ever done any electrical work?

 

[mrcbass]

If I'm understanding correctly, you need 3 AC plugs to power your board - one for the "powerplant" (assume this is an adaptor that powers multiple pedals) and then one each for B1X Four and 2 Notes.

There are a couple of ways I would go with this. Since English seems to not be your first language, I'm assuming you're in another country, which does make the question harder to answer because different countries use different style power connections. I can only give you my answer for a US solution.

If I wanted to have a power chord permanently attached to the rig, so I only had to plug into the wall, I'd use something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Maximm-Cable...et+extension+cord&qid=1707500284&sr=8-56&th=1

I'd plug all my stuff in and secure the chord to the underside of the board. One plugin and done at gigs.

Another option would be a temp mounted power strip. Something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/HOPOW-Extens...et+extension+cord&qid=1707500284&sr=8-32&th=1

If you have room on top of the board, you can velcro it there and even leave stuff plugged in. If no room on top, I'd set it up to velcro the backside of the board and then plug in all 3 plugs at the gig. You can just pull the strip off the board after the gig so the board will fit in it's bag. There's probably not room underneath for this type of solution.

 

[mapleglo]

On a large board I had for a while, I mounted a power strip to the top for adapters:

 

[journeyman77]

Sounds like what you need is a "surface mount box" with a dual receptacle. The box will screw down to the pedal board and provide you two AC receptacles. I don't know how you're going to feed it with AC. Have you ever done any electrical work?

Electrical work is not a problem. I may have to arrange things on top in order to fit this box.

 

[el murdoque]

First of all, in which country are you? For the US, there are very compact and elegant solutions because of the small 110V plugs they use, which would not work with most EU plugs.


A simple solution (not inexpensive though) is getting a Cioks DC-7.
This should be capable of delivering enough juice through 12V to power the Two Notes Le Bass and the B1X four runs off 9V anyway.

 

[SteveCS]

I installed a 6-slot distribution strip on the back of my home-brew board. Some of the pedals are quite sensitive to shared power and some don't seem to suffer, and some require a lot more juice than others so these are assigned accordingly. For live use I use the vacant outlet to supply my powered wedge.

Another upside, although I've not had to test the theory, is that there is no real single point of failure - if one PSU fails it is trivial and relatively inexpensive to drop in a replacement.

If I ever make another board I would bury the power strip a little deeper (everything is just a little exposed as it is) and maybe cover it, but so far it has worked fine.

 

[GotGroove]

Another option would be a temp mounted power strip. Something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/HOPOW-Extension-Protector-Outlets-Charging/dp/B0BNLNRBN1/ref=sr_1_32?hvadid=580555167243&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9032537&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=4840351578564098704&hvtargid=kwd-1728673291&hydadcr=6924_13209669&keywords=multi-outlet+extension+cord&qid=1707500284&sr=8-32&th=1

If you're going that way, there's probably an easier way to do it. Thomann sells powerbars for their Harley Benton boards. Since this The OP has the 60, you'd need this one:


https://www.thomann.de/intl/harley_benton_spaceship_powerbar_60.htm

Mount it on your pedal board and slap everything onto that, and you only need 1 power socket. You can probably drop the separate powerplant (it sounds like it's one of Thomann's rechargeable battery power supplies) and save that in case your bar runs out of power outlets. You can even power the battery pack from the bar if you need to. It has a USB port as well.

-edit- typos

 

[journeyman77]

First of all i am based in Greece (EU) so US "slim" power strips is out of the question unfortunately.
How did i miss this powerbar???? It is a brilliant solution (mind the cost). The only problem is that i already own a Harley Benton PowerPlant ISO-2 Pro which i may have to sell in order to get the powerbar. Alson not sure if the board and powerbar will fit the existing soft case.

 

[journeyman77]

First of all, in which country are you? For the US, there are very compact and elegant solutions because of the small 110V plugs they use, which would not work with most EU plugs.


A simple solution (not inexpensive though) is getting a Cioks DC-7.
This should be capable of delivering enough juice through 12V to power the Two Notes Le Bass and the B1X four runs off 9V anyway.

the Two Notes Le Bass and the B1X four both draws about 1000mA each. Wouldn't be a problem if the power plant cannot follow?

 

[GotGroove]

First of all i am based in Greece (EU) so US "slim" power strips is out of the question unfortunately.
How did i miss this powerbar???? It is a brilliant solution (mind the cost). The only problem is that i already own a Harley Benton PowerPlant ISO-2 Pro which i may have to sell in order to get the powerbar. Alson not sure if the board and powerbar will fit the existing soft case.

yea, buying that bar separately is way more expensive than buying the powered board, but it's probably the most elegant solution. If your unpowered board is still under the 30 day warranty, I'd try to exchange it for the powered board and save yourself some money. If not, the cheapest version would be following @mrcbass's solution and tape an power extension to your board. If you mount it on the inside or underneath the board, it will still fit your bag. Worst case you'll have to disconnect the power cables in the extension while travelling.

Adding the powerbar should still fit the bag, as it is mounted on the inside of the board. But if you want to be safe, drop an email to Thomann. They'll check it for you.

 

[el murdoque]

the Two Notes Le Bass and the B1X four both draws about 1000mA each. Wouldn't be a problem if the power plant cannot follow?

The original wallwart for the B1X four delivers 600mA, the Le Bass needs 12V 500mA.

 

[journeyman77]

my power plant has two 500mA outs. I think that le Bass will be ok but what about the B1X whih needs 600mA?

 

[el murdoque]

The Le Bass needs 12V, the Zoom 9V.
The Power Plant has no isolated outputs, so all 9V outputs combined can do 500mA in total.
There's always a bit of wiggle room, and sometimes you can get away with a power supply that does less than the pedal says it needs, but in this case I guess the pedals need more than the Power Plant can provide.

That's why I suggested the Cioks, if you're looking for a clean solution that takes up minimal room.

 

[GotGroove]

my power plant has two 500mA outs. I think that le Bass will be ok but what about the B1X whih needs 600mA?

The b1x runs fine on 500mA according to the zoom website.

The Le Bass needs 12V, the Zoom 9V.
The Power Plant has no isolated outputs, so all 9V outputs combined can do 500mA in total.
There's always a bit of wiggle room, and sometimes you can get away with a power supply that does less than the pedal says it needs, but in this case I guess the pedals need more than the Power Plant can provide.

That's why I suggested the Cioks, if you're looking for a clean solution that takes up minimal room.

The HB powerbar can do this as well (both have isolated outputs) and is quite a bit cheaper and takes up even less space. But I have to agree the Cioks is most likely of better quality and more reliable. I have no personal experience with either one, but people seem very happy with Cioks power supplies.

 

[el murdoque]

The HB powerbar can do this as well (both have isolated outputs) and is quite a bit cheaper and takes up even less space. But I have to agree the Cioks is most likely of better quality and more reliable. I have no personal experience with either one, but people seem very happy with Cioks power supplies.

The HB Powerbar is a bit obscure when it comes to the switchable outputs - but when you download the manual you see that the output is 500mA at 9V and 375mA at 12V. The Cioks has 500mA at 12V.
You could of course get a Y cable and run the Le Bass off two 12V outlets.

Anything Cioks is usually a buy once cry once scenario.
You make do with your first (probably cheap) PSU until you cross what it can do.
The DC-7 has seven high powered outputs that all can do 9-12-15-18V and usually power even tube loaded and/or digital pedals with high demands, without any issues.
Before I bought my first Cioks, I had a Powerplant Jr and ran 11 pedals off the 5 outlets, which took a lot of experimentation until I managed to daisy chain several clusters in a way that did not produce noise, but then I swapped one pedal for something else and it all fell apart.

 

[GotGroove]

I see your point. Admittedly, I didn't check the manual. When I see something with a 12V 500mA label, that's what I expect it to deliver. I didn't know or even expect it would deliver much less than that. Usually Thomann delivers as advertised, so I didn't look any further, and clearly I should have. Good call!

But then yes, I'd go for the Cioks as well, even if it is more expensive.

 

[journeyman77]

as i see now, swapping is not an option. My current plant has iso outputs so i am not that worried.

 

[journeyman77]

Additionally i am posting an image of the LeBass plug which clearly states 1A draw. Below are the current's plant specs:

• Output A (1): 9 / 12 / 18 V DC @ max. 500 mA
• Exit B (2): 9 / 12 / 18 V DC @ max. 500 mA
• Outputs 3-8: 9 V DC @ max. 300 mA (individually isolated)

Do you guys think that the LeBass could also be powered by it?