Question about supplying pedals with power from a pedal??

[delbowski]

hi...

i'm not sure how to word the title of this topic, but here's what i am asking:

does anyone know if it is possible, and if so, where i could get a schematic for wiring up a pedal to supply others with power?  i'm looking to do the same thing that a boss tu-2 does where you can use a daisy chain to power additional pedals.  has anyone done this?  i haven't seen any threads about this exact thing when i searched.  i'm making a true-bypass strip for myself and wanted to use the power for that as a supply.  any help would be greatly appreciated!  thanks in advance...

del

[calpolyengineer]

I would suggest this http://generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_reg_power_supply.pdf. Just note that you have to watch out for the power rating of the transformer.

-Joe

[jxoco]

I have an electro harmonix memory man that plugs into the wall.
I put a voltage regulator circuit into it and a 9v power socket and run two negative ground effects off of it.
has worked for more than 10 years.

The voltage regulator protects itself from short circuits, which is what happens if by mistake you plug a positive ground pedal into it.
you unplug it pretty quick.

So it can be done,within reason but you have to know what you are doing or pay the price.

I don't think that the boss tu-2 supplies power to the next devices as much as it just provides a second female jack that is connected to the first one so that you don't need a Y cable. It uses the normal Boss adaptor doesn't it?

[delbowski]

I don't think that the boss tu-2 supplies power to the next devices as much as it just provides a second female jack that is connected to the first one so that you don't need a Y cable. It uses the normal Boss adaptor doesn't it?

yes it does use a regular boss adapter.  i'm not sure if it is technically supplying power to other pedals, but i do know that the other jack functions as a relay of some sort, allowing me to daisy chain off of the tu-2 eliminating the need for wall warts for each successive pedal.  that's what i'm going for.  i'm just not sure how to go about it and how involved something like this would be.  thanks a lot for the replies guys... any other input?  thanks again.

del

[RaceDriver205]

You should have pedals with an "+V IN" and a "+V OUT" (2 power sockets each), and wire the +V OUT to the +V IN along the line.
In each pedal the +V IN and +V OUT would be connected to each other, and one pedal would have a +9V power pack ("wall wart"?) connected to its +V IN.
Does this answer your question?

[Mark Hammer]

I encourage people to consider making a "power distribution box" for themselves.

What I mean by this is a separate box, perhaps using one of those little black plastic 1590B-sized boxes you can get at Radio Shack and elsewhere, that houses jacks for running relatively isolated power sources to multiple locations.  The same box can have an input jack for the wallwart of your choice, plus a power indicator LED and on/off switch.

Why do I suggest this?

1) Both AC and minimally regulated DC adaptors can be found cheap all over the place.  You see them sitting in bins at pawn shops or in 2nd hand computer places.  These are the adaptors that came with external modems, game systems, desktop speakers, an all sorts of other things where a half an amp may have been needed at something like 15v or less.  Just because the adaptor isn't regulated, does not mean that regulation CAN'T be added in compact form to take advantage of a nice big cheap power source.

2) Daisy chaining power cords can be risky sometimes, not to mention a nuisance.  You don't want your friend unwittingly sticking an outside-pos plug into a pedal that needs outside-neg and either frying the pedal, shorting out the supply for eveything else, or both. You probably would also like to be able to stick your wah (the bane of our existence) somewhere else in the pedal chain without having to figure out how you would use your daisy chain cord.  Running a separate power connection withut having to use a separate wallwart is VERY convenient under such circumstances.

3) Sometimes we like to run things at different voltages or with different polariies.  A distribution box allows you to do this by isolating output jacks and letting you run separate power cords to each subset of pedals that needs something a little different.

4) The Small Bear "Small Wart" box is smart, reliable, safe, and reasonably priced, but not necessarily suitabe for all situations.  Some folks have higher current requirements or needs which are more diverse or finicky.  A distribution box lets you dissociate your choice of "starting" voltage and current from whatever the most convenient size of distribution box is.  Happily, regulators and power caps don't take up THAT much room.

5) It is convenient to be able to have a pedal board that is wired up and self contained, and al you need to do is plug the wallwart cord into the distriobution box, and plug the wallwart into the power strip somewhere.  When you're done, the wallwart just gets packed up separately and the pedalboard has no cords hanging off of it.

[delbowski]

wow! 

thanks a lot mark for taking the time to help me out with this... you go above and beyond expectations every time!  the thing i like about your posts is not just the information and answers, but also the logic that is apparent in it.  i really appreciate all you do for this forum.  i'm gonna look into your suggestion.  you make a good case for doing it this way, and it is something that i think could be more effective than the daisy chain idea i began with.  thanks a lot, i really appreciate it 

del

[jxoco]

And if I had three or four Boss pedals that all used the same power supply unit I'd just put Y adaptors on the power supply cable and power them all.

But, let the other brands of pedals fend for themselves with their own power supplies....

( as a group all of the boss pedals are happy together, as are all of the ibanez and all of the DOD, the companies made pedal boards for their own stuff and ran them off of one power supply. )