9v adapters are crap!

[lowell]

Sheesh all 9v adapters I've ever owned break at some point.  They all have that chinsy assed cable.  Frankly I'm sick of it.  I'm considering making my own supply.  But before I do that I thought I'd ask if anyone knows of a good brand.  I want the cable from the transformer casing to be SOLID... STRONG cable... Kinda like George L.  Ya know how that cable is really tough?  That's how it should be.  FYI if someone has a suggestion on a brand I want your run of the mill boss style... And 1000ma.  Someone's gotta make a reliable one...and if not...there's definitely a demand for it.

[Ronan]

Usually they break at (or close to) the 9V plug. Could you buy a new 9V plug and fit that to the cable, and get through another few months or so? 1Spot adaptors seem popular, 1700mA, cheap, reasonably heavy output cable, work well.

[CynicalMan]

1Spots have nice thick cables.

You can always add some sort of strain relief on the cable.

[Mark Hammer]

Strain relief is the way to go.  Cut the plug off the end.  Slip some heat shrink tubing over that stretch from the black cube over the  portion that is usually corrugated and over the first inch or so after that point.  If you want insurance, you can do 2 layers of different diameter heat shrink.  Note that it is quite possible to take what seems like too narrow a gauge and stretch it a bit to size by slipping some needle-nose inside it and pushing it out a bit.  It will shrink to its appropriate size when heat is applied.  Slip some appropriate sized pieces over the wire, solder your 2.1mm plug on the end, and slip the heat shrink over the wire end of plug and apply heat.  You'll have a cable from black cube to plug that is much hardier.

Of course, the trick is to do it before the wire fractures.

[Ice-9]

I recommend the 1Spot, 1700ma, nice thick cable and no noise.

[amptramp]

Our local Sayal used to stock (among their Hammond boxes) a plastic box with a plug built in, just like a wall wart except you could stuff it yourself.  I built a B+/C- supply for battery tube radios into one and used a DIN socket on the box and a cable with a matching DIN plug.  They don't carry them anymore, but you could build something like that with a wall plug that attaches to a box or one with a plug-in computer cord.

[petey twofinger]

 a while backi did a how to video on repairing bad adapters , i will admit its kinda hack-ie , but , i have brought a good amount back from the dead w/ this method ;

http://youtu.be/j88kx0h-xjI

additional strain relief as Mr. Hammer suggested is a fantastic idea .



i posted this DIY pedal power "brick" vid recently , it may give you a few ideas , specifically what NOT to do ...

http://youtu.be/MtiZRGfSGBI

[Vince_b]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but I have a question about a Boss 9v adaptor that is not working quite right. It's only pulling out 8,15v instead of the the rated 9,6v. Anyone got a clue what it could be?

[lowell]

It may have a shorted winding/s.  Is it putting out 8.2 or whatever under load?  Check it with a load on it.  I've had them show somewhat normal w/o load, then down to like 1 or 2 volts w load.

I HAVE a 1 spot.  Honestly It's cable is crap.. not heavy duty enough.  Don't mean to offend anyone.

I think I'll build one.  IEC from wall to adapter.  Speaker wire to the DC plug.  I'll find a way to get the large gauge soldered on.  I'll report back w pix.

[Ark Angel HFB]

OH @#$% YEAH HE USED THE WORD CHINSY!!!!

Love that word and no one freaking uses it anymore. +1 to you if there was a +1 button. XD

[lowell]

Oh shit... Why is it deemed a racial slur or something?  If so wasn't aware.

[Earthscum]

Love that word and no one freaking uses it anymore. +1 to you if there was a +1 button. XD

Lol... where the heck is the rock  you live under? I'm just joking, but I have noticed that nobody really uses that word because they don't know how to type it. In everyday speak, I'll hear the word used at least twice a day (I do work in a Trophy shop, though... it is part of the Trophy "Plastic Dreams" Dictionary).

OP - As far as cheap, flimsy, chinsy 1-Spots, that's a first for me... what the heck are ya doing to the thing? I have had friends having small issues here and there with certain pedals, but I have never known anyone to rip up the cables. There is some braided cable wrap you should probably look into, heatshrink, or maybe just figure out some way to use the adapter as intended? I mean, if you're just kicking everything around on a floor, you're gonna ruin stuff... I do it. I need a pedalboard, myself. AC cable is much stronger to run to a board on the floor than ANY 9V adapter. Honest question: what cables have you decided are "crap" through this abuse?

[CynicalMan]

Oh sh*t... Why is it deemed a racial slur or something?  If so wasn't aware.

Nope, it's referring to this stuff:


@lowell
It looks older 1Spots have thinner cables:


But the ones that they're selling now have cables that are plenty thick:

[greaser_au]

When we were playing a lot at the top of the 90's, I bought a 16VAC 1A adapter. When I took it out of the packet it's wire was nice & supple & I put a small box inline with a resistor, diode bridge,  caps & regulator to make a daisychain adapter to power about  4 or 5 pedals.  Within a couple of years we had all got day jobs & had kids, & my adapter got put away. Years passed, I pulled it out because #1 son had taken up guitar, & all of the nice supple PVC insulation has stuck to itself & gone hard... Similar vintage twisted-pair pink equipment wire I acquired from scraps at work (the electronics factory) that I was using for my amp speaker cables is still nice & soft... bizarre...

I'd say get an adapter with nice thick cables. Maybe silicone. I imagine (barring the snake oil) that you do get what you pay for,

david

[R.G.]

OH @#$% YEAH HE USED THE WORD CHINSY!!!!
Love that word and no one freaking uses it anymore. +1 to you if there was a +1 button. XD

Oh sh*t... Why is it deemed a racial slur or something?  If so wasn't aware.

As CM noted, it's actually spelled "chintz-y" referring to the fabric "chintz", which was an inexpensive fabric often used for curtains. The hoi polloi believed that chintz was a poor-taste attempt to tart up a place, and implied that the person doing so was uninformed, tasteless, and probably poor, as chintz was (is) inexpensive. The fabric name came to be an adjective, indicating cheap (as low cost), cheap (as in a person who is either poor or stingy), or low quality and likely to break.

Also as CM notes, the original 1Spots had thinner cable. We changed that when we noticed that sometimes with severe road use, the cables would break. So we changed to as heavy a wire as we could reasonably get to fit in the case. We also make the cables long; if you have trouble with too much wire, I apologize, but I hate adapter cables that are too short just to save the few cents on wire cost.

@OP: If you're using a Visual Sound 1Spot and still tearing up the wires, I'd like to talk to you. I try to gather real-world experiences with the stuff and figure out whether we can fix it to be better. It's one way we improve.

[joegagan]

i have an 09 onespot with the larger cable and at 52, i believe it would last 2 or three of my lifetimes, even on the road.

earbuds? that is another story. the thin cables are essential to light weight; keeping them from falling out of the ear due to cable weight, but i have made huge strides in durability by careful handling and judicious use of shrinkwrap to 'alter' the area of stress at earpiece and jack points.

[R.G.]

earbuds? that is another story. the thin cables are essential to light weight; keeping them from falling out of the ear due to cable weight, but i have made huge strides in durability by careful handling and judicious use of shrinkwrap to 'alter' the area of stress at earpiece and jack points.

Don't forget how useful superglue can be. One drop in each ear, insert the earbud, and you're good for a week.

[Earthscum]

Any more, the ruggedness is what you are paying for in earbuds, except for a couple special cases (then you are paying for name, ruggedness, and excessive bass).

Superglue: I have memories (and my family has jokes about it) of superglue and coffee cup handles. Part of the joke has to do with a 3 month rule... anyways, I've watched my grandma, my mom, AND my aunt all end up sitting there staring at just a handle in their hand (until the coffee hit their laps) on separate occasions.   

[lowell]

@ Earthscum.  I treat my gear w/ the utmost care and respect.  It's the packing and unpacking, wrapping and unwrapping of the cable that it eventually breaks.  I'm very gentle even when I do this.

@RG.  I've read many of your posts on ampage, here and geofex.  I have much respect and believe that you are very very knowledgeable about these things.  That being said here's my 2 cents. I think that the cable for these things should be more IEC'esque.  Maybe not THAT big, but along those lines.  I understand it's tough to fit such things in small packages though.  That being said I'd be happy with a slightly larger unit and more reliability.  And this is my 2 cents as a consumer and someone that gigs weekly on a regular basis.  I also think that the daisy chain cord is even "chintzier" than the 1 spot cable.  It's quite thin.  I'm gentle with my gear, but I know that many many musicians are not.  Musicians are known for beating up and neglecting their gear.  I repair amps and pedals for a living and see it all the time.  I can't imagine I'm the only one that feels this way about 9v adapters.  Not sure if my opinion is of much help RG.  But there it is!

[Earthscum]

@ Earthscum.  I treat my gear w/ the utmost care and respect.  It's the packing and unpacking, wrapping and unwrapping of the cable that it eventually breaks.  I'm very gentle even when I do this.

Ahh... gotcha. Hope I didn't appear to be mean in any way. I was just making suggestions for if you're ripping them up from kicking them around on stage. Most of my buddies that use pedalboards have a 4 way power bar mounted to their boards and don't have to move their 1-Spots at all... just unplug from the wall, wrap your power cord up and put the lid on it.

I run about 6 pedals and pack them all in a tool bag.  I'm definitely not nice to my gear, per se.