Huminator not huminating

[chromesphere]

Hi all,
I recently found the beavis audio 'huminator' and thought that i would be a great project to build as my pedal wallwart is rubbish and makes a lot of noise.  

Huminator: http://www.beavisaudio.com/Projects/Huminator/

I breadboarded it and i did notice a bit of an improvement, the noise seemed a bit quieter, still very much there though.  I also noticed that the noise frequency had dropped / sounded deeper.
 
I'm too cheap to spend 300 bucks on a voodoo labs pedal power, and i dont fancy tackling some of the power supply projects i've seen around and was wondering if there is something similar to the huminator but more effective, or if you would have any suggestions to improve the huminator's power line noise filter capabilities?

I appreciate any help as always!
Paul

[DavenPaget]

Hi all,
I recently found the beavis audio 'huminator' and thought that i would be a great project to build as my pedal wallwart is rubbish and makes a lot of noise.  

Huminator: http://www.beavisaudio.com/Projects/Huminator/

I breadboarded it and i did notice a bit of an improvement, the noise seemed a bit quieter, still very much there though.  I also noticed that the noise frequency had dropped / sounded deeper.
 
I'm too cheap to spend 300 bucks on a voodoo labs pedal power, and i dont fancy tackling some of the power supply projects i've seen around and was wondering if there is something similar to the huminator but more effective, or if you would have any suggestions to improve the huminator's power line noise filter capabilities?

I appreciate any help as always!
Paul

If there is too much noise for you to like , replace with a larger cap , like 1000uf or 470uf if you think that's over the line .

[chromesphere]

Hi Davenpaget,
Thanks for the suggestion.  I tried a 470uf which made a slight improvement over the 100uf.  I then tried 2 x 470uf's in parrellel which made a slight improvement over that.  Comparing the huminator against no huminator i would say the noise is reduced by about half.  The frequency of the noise / hum drops each time the capacitance is increased, probably a result of the top end of the noise being filtered out?  Maybe i try a battery of 100 x 470uf's in parrellel 
Paul

[arawn]

try the visual sound onespot, it's getting tons of great reviews and the price is fabulous

[DavenPaget]

Hi Davenpaget,
Thanks for the suggestion.  I tried a 470uf which made a slight improvement over the 100uf.  I then tried 2 x 470uf's in parrellel which made a slight improvement over that.  Comparing the huminator against no huminator i would say the noise is reduced by about half.  The frequency of the noise / hum drops each time the capacitance is increased, probably a result of the top end of the noise being filtered out?  Maybe i try a battery of 100 x 470uf's in parrellel 
Paul

Stop at 2 x 470uf's , get a better switchmode power supply .

[egasimus]

You can build a 9V regulator. It's so simple I'm gonna describe it right now - basically a 7809 IC + heatsink, two large electrolytic caps (100-1000uF), and two small ones (100nF). Looking at the front of the 7809, pin 1 (leftmost) is your output and pin 3 is your output. You wire a large and a small cap in parallel to each of those, and connect pin 2 to ground. You feed 12-15V into the input and get clean, filtered 9V on the output.

Also, try preventing ground loops.

[DavenPaget]

You can build a 9V regulator. It's so simple I'm gonna describe it right now - basically a 7809 IC + heatsink, two large electrolytic caps (100-1000uF), and two small ones (100nF). Looking at the front of the 7809, pin 1 (leftmost) is your output and pin 3 is your output. You wire a large and a small cap in parallel to each of those, and connect pin 2 to ground. You feed 12-15V into the input and get clean, filtered 9V on the output.

Also, try preventing ground loops.

He only has a 9V wallwart , this is not solving the point , it's calling for another wart .

[egasimus]

He never mentioned it being 9V, as far as I can see - maybe it's one of those where you can choose the output voltage But yeah, if buying another wallwart, better get a 1-Spot.

[DavenPaget]

He never mentioned it being 9V, as far as I can see - maybe it's one of those where you can choose the output voltage But yeah, if buying another wallwart, better get a 1-Spot.

The thing is , he doesn't really want to spend on another adaptor ... And he wants his huminator to huminate .

[chromesphere]

My power supply is a 9v diasy chain type.  DavenPaget is correct.  The question is, can you filter out the noise from a noisey powersupply, more successfully then the huminator?  I'm suprised no-one has made a project on this, something that can filter out ALL noise (or 99% of it, you know).  i see people complaining about noise all the time.  I'm no electronic engineer, maybe yuo cant?
Thanks for the suggestion arawn.  if / when i give up on filtering out the noise from my current power supply ill look into that one.
Paul

[DavenPaget]

My power supply is a 9v diasy chain type.  DavenPaget is correct.  The question is, can you filter out the noise from a noisey powersupply, more successfully then the huminator?  I'm suprised no-one has made a project on this, something that can filter out ALL noise (or 99% of it, you know).  i see people complaining about noise all the time.  I'm no electronic engineer, maybe yuo cant?
Thanks for the suggestion arawn.  if / when i give up on filtering out the noise from my current power supply ill look into that one.
Paul

I went to see the step up converters for you ... nothing is useful there , ( i was thinking of a 7809 follower )
Well you might as well buy a one-spot and continue using your huminator 

[chromesphere]

what can i say, im persistant 

Found this on AMZFX.  He recommends using a inductor.  I cant work out if he means to install it inside the powerpack (which i probably wouldnt attempt -> mains power) or....between the powerpack and the daisy chain?  Would it help fix the hum?

http://www.muzique.com/lab/filter.htm

Paul

[DavenPaget]

what can i say, im persistant 

Found this on AMZFX.  He recommends using a inductor.  I cant work out if he means to install it inside the powerpack (which i probably wouldnt attempt -> mains power) or....between the powerpack and the daisy chain?  Would it help fix the hum?

http://www.muzique.com/lab/filter.htm

Paul

In the huminator

[chromesphere]

Sorry i worded that badly, but yes!  That answers the question.  Now for the next question.  which inductor should i use? It's a painful process Davenpaget, but we'll get there.

Something like this? 

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=LF1306&keywords=inductor&form=KEYWORD

[DavenPaget]

Sorry i worded that badly, but yes!  That answers the question.  Now for the next question.  which inductor should i use? It's a painful process Davenpaget, but we'll get there.

Something like this? 

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=LF1306&keywords=inductor&form=KEYWORD

You live in australia , mate ? 
I'm just 4 hours away(plane) from you in that case !
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=LF1310&keywords=inductor&form=KEYWORD
yep , this will do fine .
Note: i think it would do much better using the 0.22mH model

[chromesphere]

Awesome, i'm going to pick one of those up and give it a spin this weekend.  I'll leave some feedback on this thread of how i go incase anyone needs it in the future.  I might do a bit of reading about these mysterious devices.  Havent looked at them since tafe days (all those years ago).
Thanks for your help Dave!!   I mean...mate
Paul

[DavenPaget]

Awesome, i'm going to pick one of those up and give it a spin this weekend.  I'll leave some feedback on this thread of how i go incase anyone needs it in the future.  I might do a bit of reading about these mysterious devices.  Havent looked at them since tafe days (all those years ago).
Thanks for your help Dave!!   I mean...mate
Paul

Since the local scene here is so fantastically bad when it comes to electronics , i can't find a single choke ( of Ratshack's type ) i'll have someone help me buy them and mail them here .
Damn , this is annoying .

[chromesphere]

When i was sniffing around for answers i noticed a inductor calculator webpage...which made me think...make my own?

http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/Calculator/Inductor/

[DavenPaget]

When i was sniffing around for answers i noticed a inductor calculator webpage...which made me think...make my own?

http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/Calculator/Inductor/

I am very confused by it , i advise you to buy that choke i posted anyway , cheaper 
Magnet wire ain't cheap , mate .

[chromesphere]

Oh right, i though you could use any wire...no problem will do