Mains power supply for pedalboard

[Peteyboy]

It has 3 stages it displays: green, yellow, then blinking red. My rehearsals go 3 hours and I've never even gotten it to the yellow warning phase. I'm powering a Diamond Jr compressor and an always-on Broughton HPF, among the other things I switch on and off one at a time generally. It's honestly one of the best gear purchases I've ever made.

 

[Wasnex]

Why I say this is that I run a single socket mains cable specifically for my pedalboard, however we have a powered PA column and a small stage light at the front and near to where I stand and our vocalist keeps on commandeering my power supply by daisy chaining another mains extension into it. I no longer use an amp on stage so this is the only power supply I need but I don’t think I should have to provide this the means of power supply for the PA and lighting.

On the face, this sounds rather petty. However, extension cords do have limited current carrying ability. It's an actual problem if the combined load exceeds the rating of the extension cord.

Figure out the total current draw and compare to the rating of the extension cord. The current rating is based on the wire gauge and length. If a second extension is plugged into the first, the length increases and the current rating is decreased.

If the combined loud is under the rating of the extension and no ground loops (noise) result, IMHO stop worrying about it. If the combined load is to high or ground loops are formed, you have a reasonable justification the insist they run separate extension.

Rather than do this does anyone have their mains at the rear of the stage and run a long DC cable up to their board?

IMHO this sounds like a ridiculous idea for multiple reasons. Ideally you should use a power supply with isolated outputs for each pedal. You would have to run a separate DC cable for each pedal. I doubt anybody makes such a cable, so you would need to buy jacks and wire, and fabricate your own...or pay someone else to do it.

Also pedals use rather low voltage, which is traded for more current. In other words, to provide a given amount of power, as voltage goes down, current goes up. If you use one wire to carry the power to several pedals, the total current will be significant. Pedals typically use pretty small wire to carry the power. Wire has a small amount of internal resistance, and the smaller the wire, the higher the resistance per unit distance.

Before going down this road I suggest doing the math...maybe the voltage drop will be within an acceptable range? FYI the formula for voltage drop is V = I x R; where I = current and R = resistance. If the wire is longer, the total resistance increases and more voltage is dropped. You might start with 9V at the power supply and end up with 6.3V at the pedals (30% voltage drop). You could mitigate the problem by using heavier wire.

Not certain, but I would think long, low-voltage DC power wires would be susceptible to picking up hum.

If your pedal power supply has an IEC inlet, perhaps you could buy a long extension terminated with an IEC C13 plug or convert a regular extension. AFAIK this rewireable C13 is rated for 15A at 120V.

If you take this route, I think you should prepare for a confrontation. Better to work it out before-hand IMHO

 

[Wasnex]

The band have power cables, boards etc but the singer and sound guy prefer to just utilise my pedalboard mains supply instead of setting these up and this is my debacle with them.

How about this: Run one of the band's extension cords instead of using yours.

 

[turf3]

On the face, this sounds rather petty. However, extension cords do have limited current carrying ability. It's an actual problem if the combined load exceeds the rating of the extension cord.
....
If you take this route, I think you should prepare for a confrontation. Better to work it out before-hand IMHO

Well, if you have an extension cord that is rated for 15A or more, and you plug it into a 15A circuit, you can plug 87 different things into the cord and all that will happen is you'll trip the breaker.

So, OP, go buy yourself a big honkin' extension cord with a triple outlet.

 

[Wasnex]

Well, if you have an extension cord that is rated for 15A or more, and you plug it into a 15A circuit, you can plug 87 different things into the cord and all that will happen is you'll trip the breaker.

So, OP, go buy yourself a big honkin' extension cord with a triple outlet.

AFAIK commercial bldgs commonly use 20A circuits. Guess what could happen if you plug that 15A chord into a 20A circuit and then plug in 88 different things?

 

[Baker69]

This is one option I’m thinking of regarding fixing an IEC connector to the side of the base of my pedalboard. As the inside of the socket would be visible this type of connector is fully enclosed. I can cut off the other end and fit a single mains socket. The other option is to buy the Joyo rechargeable power supply as suggested by #Peteyboy.

 

[MCS4]

Why can't you put something like this at the end of the extension cable? You plug into in, same for PA and small stage lights.
View attachment 7123571

This is what my main band has always done. If there isn't power at the front of the stage already, we run an extension cable from the back and connect to a surge protector/power strip we keep with us.

 

[lermgalieu]

Sounds to me like you are changing your setup to avoid talking to your guitarist. Do I have that right?

 

[Jeff Hughes]

How long does the charge last? It would need to power my Zoom B6 (500mA) and a Boss BC-1X Compressor (90mA).

I could get through a gig with mine no problem. I also added the power charger so I could still run it plug in if needed. The Joyo has LED lights that indicate the charge level Green to red.

 

[turf3]

AFAIK commercial bldgs commonly use 20A circuits. Guess what could happen if you plug that 15A chord into a 20A circuit and then plug in 88 different things?

It's easy to tell the difference between a 15A circuit and a 20A circuit by the shape of the outlet.

So get an extension cord that's rated for full 20A.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

I made an umbilical between my board and amp. It has signal send and return, footswitch, power, and a currently unused MIDI cable. I wrapped it up with this stuff and a wrap of black electrical tape every foot or so.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FW5ZTVH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

The entire thing unpacks and packs in seconds, as one unit, and the power comes from the same source as the amp head.

 

[Mojo34]

We've got cables all over the place. Pretty much everyone has stuff to plug in. We now have several splitters towards the back of the stage, and most of the musicians and singers have their own straight extension cable to that. The lines are cleaner and the load is distributed decently, but we still have power cables at our feet. Kind of sucks, but I don't see any way around it.

 

[s0c9]

Maybe the OP should not bring his power cable to his pedal board next gig and see what transpires?
Human nature is to take the path of least resistance, in this case using an existing supply.
See what happens when it’s not there. Tell them you forgot it (even if it’s in your vehicle).
Sometimes, one needs to be cruel to be kind.. even with band mates who take advantage of you!

 

[turf3]

OP, if you feel you need to get involved in the band's power requirements, you can always build up a couple power boxes - use a good SJT cable, rated 20A, put two or three dual receptacles in a box at the end of each one.

 

[Engle]

I think if I could fit an IEC socket to my pedalboard it might resolve the issue as I would just run a plug in kettle type lead back to the rear of the stage. My pedalboard is just a Goriila case with a lid so the socket would need to me ‘enclosed’ with no visible connectors.

I was just going to suggest this. That's what I did.

 

[Hoochie Coochie Man]

When providing sound for bands we usually run multi-tap cords (like what s0c9 posted above) across the front and the back for some of our equipment, and make sure there are open outlets available for pedal boards, fans, etc.

If someone bringing their own power cord objected to their fellow band members using it, they could make their own ac power cord set utilizing connectors that may baffle most guitarists.

Hard wire a short Neutrik NAC3FX-W-TOP Locking Power-In cable connector power inlet pigtail to the pedal board, and make up a long cord terminated on one end by the mating Neutrik NAC3MX-W-TOP Locking Power-Out cable connector, and a standard NEMA 5-15P plug on the other end.

This would be way more effort than merely bringing enough cords to get the job done.

(Edited to add: I am not seriously recommending doing this. Just merely pointing out that if a band can collaborate musically, surely they can work together on something as simple as extension cords).

 

[s0c9]

When providing sound for bands we usually run multi-tap cords (like what s0c9 posted above) across the front and the back for some of our equipment, and make sure there are open outlets available for pedal boards, fans, etc.

If someone bringing their own power cord objected to their fellow band members using it, they could make their own ac power cord set utilizing connectors that may baffle most guitarists.

Hard wire a short Neutrik NAC3FX-W-TOP Locking Power-In cable connector power inlet pigtail to the pedal board, and make up a long cord terminated on one end by the mating Neutrik NAC3MX-W-TOP Locking Power-Out cable connector, and a standard NEMA 5-15P plug on the other end.

This would be way more effort than merely bringing enough cords to get the job done.

(Edited to add, I am not seriously recommending doing this. Just merely pointing out that if a band can collaborate musically, surely they can work together on something as simple as extension cords).

Put a powercon adapter on the pedalboard and have powercon extension with standard IEC 3-pin plug on other end. That will confuse many!
I know.. it’s evil, but would solve the “connection theft” issue for good!

 

[turf3]

Twist-Lock will baffle sufficiently. But honestly the whole thing sounds like a tempest in a teaspoon.

 

[Peteyboy]

Twist-Lock will baffle sufficiently. But honestly the whole thing sounds like a tempest in a teaspoon.

That is awesome.

 

[Wasnex]

It's easy to tell the difference between a 15A circuit and a 20A circuit by the shape of the outlet.

So get an extension cord that's rated for full 20A.

15A receptacle on left and 20A on right. AFAIK, this tells you how much the outlet can carry, rather than the circuit rating.

A 15A plug fits 20A outlets, but obviously not the other way around. AFAIK you might see over 10 outlets on one 40A circuit.