intermittent power jack problem,

[formerMember1]

HI,
I never had trouble with my Rangemaster, but the other day,(maybe two days ago) the LED got less and less bright and the guitar volume got less and less until the LED and the sound was gone, i bumped the pedal with my hand and it went back on.  It is definitely not my solder joints, or anything touching the metal enlcosure, i traced it down to the dc power jack, i am using a plastic  power jack from mouser,(similar to smallbear's) I noticed if i wiggle the adaptor plug, it loses connection, and the same intermittent power as described above happens, but as soon as i let go of the adaptor plug, it makes connection again, How i noticed it was sometimes if i walk away too far from the pedal, my cord will pull the pedal across the floor,(not in pedalboard for the time being) and the power supply is to heavy to move, so what happens is the adaptor cord, bends a little bit, the same thing that happend if i wiggle it to either direction with my hand as i described above.  I don't have another power jack to swap in to try.

Could i of heated the jack up too much when soldering and maybe caused one of the connectors inside to not be positioned correctly?  I doubt that i did that though, i am a quick solderist<<(if there is such a word). 

Anybody else's pedals intermittent power when moving the adaptor plug cord to either side in the adaptor jack?

Thanks, 

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

An interesting problem with power plugs, is that some have an inside diameter of 2.1mm, and some are 2.5. So   if you get the wrong combo of plug and socket, either it won't go in, or it goes in but the connection is vrey very dodgy. Not sayig that is your problem, but it is a problem I've seen.

[niftydog]

Using the wrong sized plug for the socket could be to blame. A 2.5mm plug will work on a 2.1mm socket, but the connection won't be as trustworthy as if you used a 2.1mm plug.

Otherwise, these things are just notoriously crap, IMO. If you can, replace both plug and socket with new ones just to be sure. The ultimate fix is to find something else that doesn't suffer from the fundamental design problems those things have.

[formerMember1]

An interesting problem with power plugs, is that some have an inside diameter of 2.1mm, and some are 2.5.

I thought that too, but i checked, both the plug and adaptor is 2.1mm.

My two pedals each have a power jack, one is from SB and the other is from Mouser.  It seems the Smallbear one fits better with my plugs.  BUt still loose.  I'll try and replace them on my next order to Smallbear.   

thanks for the tips,