Boss PSM-5 power supply questions

[KORGULL]

A friend has an old one of these - just the pedal no power supply or daisy chain of plugs...

1) If a generic, unregulated walwart is used to power it, can the PSM-5 regulate and filter the hum and noise
or is it advisable/neccessary to power it with a good Boss or similar type regulated supply.

2) Does anyone know the current output of the original power supply that comes with these. Just curious.

[cd]

AFAIK you had  to use a regular PSA-120 with it, which was rated for 200mA.  Otherwise, no filtering or anything, not even a splitter! 

[KORGULL]

 Right now my friend is using a video game power supply that puts out 1A to (noisily) power his pedals.
He couldn't seem to figure out how to hook up and use the PSM-5, so I got him the power plug chain that fits it and I'm hoping when I get over there we can just plug that video game supply into the PSM-5 and it will take care of the noise/hum. Could there be any problems with using a 1A supply to power it? 

[stinkfoot]

The pedals will only draw as much current as they need. So if your pedals draw 150mA in total, it really doesn't matter if the supply has 200mA or 1000mA on tap.

But what will matter is if the power supply is well enough filtered and regulated. The power the PSM-5 receives needs to be clean and stable, as it will not do anything to the power besides pass it on through the power out jack (the same way as the TU-2/LS-2/NS-2 etc does). In other words, don't count on it fixing any problem caused by the adapter. As cd said, the PSM-5 has no filtering/regulation built in - it's just a daisy chain connection, basically.

The fact that the power supply your friend is using is causing noise tells me that it isn't optimal for the job at hand. I'd urge him to get a properly filtered and regulated adapter before adding anything else to the rig.

/Andreas

[cd]

Also, a 1A UNregulated (noisy) 9V supply will put out FAR more voltage if you don't load it down completely.  i.e. if your pedals are only drawing 100mA (0.1A) expect 10-13V output, not 9V.

If you're going to go through all the trouble of hooking up the PSM-5, getting the daisy chain setup, etc. I'd spend the $20 for a BOSS PSA-120.

[KORGULL]

Thanks guys, that clears everything up.
I never used the Boss PSA-120 adapter and I was not quite understanding if cd's first comment:

Otherwise, no filtering or anything, not even a splitter!

Was referring to the PSM-5 or PSA-120 not providing filtering. I know now that the PSA-120 is a filtered supply (should've known they wouldn't sell an unfiltered one for their pedals  )

Also, a 1A UNregulated (noisy) 9V supply will put out FAR more voltage if you don't load it down completely.  i.e. if your pedals are only drawing 100mA (0.1A) expect 10-13V output, not 9V.

That's the sort of thing I was worried about in my second post.
I'm actually going to see this guy in a few minutes. I found a $1.00 9V 500mA wall wart at the thrift store for him. It is a little better than the huge, hot, humming piece of crap with bare spliced wires that he's using now for a PS I think. I'll hook up what I have for him and tell him about the PSA-120, he's on his own from there.
Thanks again.

[cd]

The PSA-120 itself is filtered, the PSM-5 does not do any filtering.  So if you plug say, an ACA-120 adapter into the PSM-5, you get unregulated, potentially noisy power.

[Paul Marossy]

I have a  PSA-120, it's a nice and quiet wall wart. 

[KORGULL]

So my friend wasn't home and I still have the stuff I got for him.
I am wondering if it would be worth it to modify the wall wart using this method:
Paul Marossy wrote (in a different thread):

A cheap, noisy wall wart can be made quiet by putting a 100 ohm resistor in series with the positive leg of the supply and a 1000uF cap across the power supply.

1) I know there is still not a regulator involved, but if it tames some noise, it seems like a worthwhile procedure. I've been meaning to try this out for a while just to see how well it works. Anyone else try this? Did it work well?

2) If I do this modification, I was thinking of just cutting the wires and splicing in the resistor and cap, then use heat-shrink over the splice/parts - as opposed to actually cracking open the wall wart's case and putting the parts inside. How is it typically done?

3) If I have a wall wart with a tip=pos / sleeve=neg setup, can I just switch the wires around during my cut & splice routine to make it tip=neg / sleeve=pos?

4) Sorry for the silly questions that have probably been covered already. Seems like what I want to do will work O.K., but having never done it before, and not having alot of extra time to spend messing around/experimenting right now, it is a big help if someone lets me know I'm on the right track before I pull out the wire cutters.

5)I know it would be easier and better to just buy the right power supply, but my buddy is having some hard times right now and I know he won't get one.
Thanks.

[Paul Marossy]

I know there is still not a regulator involved, but if it tames some noise, it seems like a worthwhile procedure. I've been meaning to try this out for a while just to see how well it works. Anyone else try this? Did it work well?

It's in Anderton's "Projects For Guitarists". That's where I got the idea from. It works, too!

If I do this modification, I was thinking of just cutting the wires and splicing in the resistor and cap, then use heat-shrink over the splice/parts - as opposed to actually cracking open the wall wart's case and putting the parts inside. How is it typically done?

That's basically what I have done.

If I have a wall wart with a tip=pos / sleeve=neg setup, can I just switch the wires around during my cut & splice routine to make it tip=neg / sleeve=pos?

Yep. Been there, done that. While you're at it, you could also change the style of plug, too. I get wall warts all the time from the thrift store for like $1 and just change the plug and then it becomes something usable.

[KORGULL]

Thank you very much Paul.
I have that Craig Anderton book sitting one foot behind me too. 
I've been trying to learn so much stuff lately I think my brain/memory is on overload. I forgot that was in there.
I'm gonna give it a shot tomorrow.