Is 11,5 v too much for breadboard prototyping ?

[JFX09]

Hello to you, distinguished members of the board

So, I bought  a breadboard in order to try out effects before actually building them and was looking for a source of power. I have a few psu, the wallwart type, lying around doing nothing. I figured I could chop off the plug solder some banana jacks ( I have some from making circuit bending probes) shrink wrap et voila !

But this psu , wich is labeled 9v actually outputs 11,5v. Would this be too much ? Can I still use it ?

thanks alot,
JF

[axg20202]

It outputs a little high to allow for voltage drop when under load. If you connect it to a pedal it may well show closer to 9V. Even so, 11v is fine as long as all the components you are using are rated well above this. If you caps etc are rated for 16v or more it should be fine.

EDIT: for circuit testing on the bench, I would use a 9V battery instead.

[petemoore]

  No.
  If you apply >10v to a cap rated @10v, expect some possible 'residue' and a burnt cap.
  11.5v is an OK starting point, putting a 317 regulator on it drops 2v or so, then you can adjust to lower voltage from there.

[dpresley58]

I did something similar, but used a RatShack project box to house a jack, LED and pushbutton switch with leads to connect to the breadboard. The psu is plugged into the jack and the switch will allow me to quickly cut juice to the breadboard project.

I know, I know.. probably a little bit of overkill, but it kept my Boss power supply intact and I'm less prone to zapping components with the indicator LED. Also, some power filtering could be added to the project box if you wanted to use an unregulated wart.

[JFX09]

Thanks all for this great info.

For the moment, I think i"ll go with a 9v battery clip soldered  to banana jacks. Will get a voltage regulators (LM317 of which I'm reading the spec sheet now) on my next trip to the shop.

Thanks again


JF

[Processaurus]

Yes, it would be better to have a steady 9v, if only because some circuits will sound different running on higher voltage, or behave differently, so for consistency it's best to design using the voltage the finished circuit will be able to get.

[JFX09]

Well, the banana jacks soldered to the 9V batt. clip route is not working. any idea why ? Are the binding posts on a breadboard only for using an actual power supply ?

thanks,

jf