9v Guitar pedal power supply

[Spencerleehorton]

My diy building  is starting to slow down now and one of the first things I wanted to do was to build my own 9v power supply for my guitar pedals.
I've read a bit about floating earth? And I'm none the wiser about what this is other than trying to replicate how a battery works.
Pedal wise I have a tuner, vox wah wah, whammy pedal, line 6 MM4 pedal, giga delay.
I'm replacing the line 6 modulation pedal for 3 pedals I've made, Univibe, MXR flanger and Phase 90.
I may add a chorus pedal at some point as well. So I would need at least 8 x 9v.

The line 6 is 1200ma, korg DT-10 is 43ma,  Vox wah wah 54ma, DD-20 = 200ma, whammy pedal = 750ma, univibe = 100ma or 200ma, MXR flanger = 200ma, phase 90 = 5ma

I'm happy to wind my own transformer as from what I've read it's best to have several secondaries.

So it looks like I would have to have 6 at 200ma and two at 1200ma or 1500ma just to be safe.

Could anyone pitch in to this please as I would like to know the best way around this.
Good clean 9v Dc please.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

My diy building  is starting to slow down now and one of the first things I wanted to do was to build my own 9v power supply for my guitar pedals.
I've read a bit about floating earth? And I'm none the wiser about what this is other than trying to replicate how a battery works.

It means using separate secondaries and regulators, that heve no connection to each other or to a common node, otherwise known as floating.  Indeed, they become interconnected when they are connected to the pedals, but the ground circulation is optimum.
To be honest, I have never seen that to be better than a common-reference PSU, when the pedals and the rest of the pedal board are decently designed. However, I have had problems with some digital pedals and wireless receivers that would create so much EMI/RFI that powering them from a separate PSU was the only cure.

Pedal wise I have a tuner, vox wah wah, whammy pedal, line 6 MM4 pedal, giga delay.
I'm replacing the line 6 modulation pedal for 3 pedals I've made, Univibe, MXR flanger and Phase 90.
I may add a chorus pedal at some point as well. So I would need at least 8 x 9v.

The line 6 is 1200ma, korg DT-10 is 43ma,  Vox wah wah 54ma, DD-20 = 200ma, whammy pedal = 750ma, univibe = 100ma or 200ma, MXR flanger = 200ma, phase 90 = 5ma

IINM, the MM4 uses an AC PSU...?

Good clean 9v Dc please.

You should make sure your secondaries deliver at least 11Vac with low mains voltage at nominal load. Then use 1000uF for every 100mA. Then an LM317 in TO220 without heatsink for I<100mA, a small heatsink for the 100/200mA rails, and for the high-current rails, you definitely need a large heatsink and proper cooling. You may want an LM350 for the high-current rails. The chip is more rugged, but still needs the same heatsink and cooling.

 

[Spencerleehorton]

thats excellent thank you, i'll make a start

 

[PRR]

You know you can buy excellent pedal supplies smaller cleaner safer and about as cheap as you can DIY?

 

[Spencerleehorton]

Yeah but then I don't learn anything!

 

[JohnRoberts]

Yeah but then I don't learn anything!

But we often learn we should have bought the commercial solution.

JR

PS: In several cases after I spent time and treasure to design unique microprocessor controlled "stuff" , I ended up buying a commercial product that generally works better. In one case when I designed something that wasn't commercially available, I found out why (it just doesn't work as predicted due to practical technology limitations).

PPS: The trick for a pedal power supply, especially if you want to power multiple pedals from a single supply is to float or introduce enough impedance between grounds. Back in the early '90s I had a custom transformer wound with 8 separate floating secondaries, so I could eliminate a rack full of 16VAC wall warts.. It was really nice but too expensive for Peavey/AMR customers.

 

[Spencerleehorton]

All valid stuff but it seems the cheapest solution is around the £35-40 mark, I have transformers can wind here along with LM 350, 7809 loads of capacitors and resistors and copper board.
i would much rather spend a bit more and have something that I know I can repair and works great design wise.
I will workout how many secondaries I can get on this transformer first.

 

[pachi2007]

https://www.tedweber.com/wpdlxfmr-1

 

[Whoops]

The line 6 is 1200ma

IINM, the MM4 uses an AC PSU...?

The Line 6 MM4 will work with either 9 volts AC or 9-12 volts DC. If you want to run it on DC power, you need to make sure to get the plug polarity right - it's center positive, 2.5mm barrel plug.

Also the power consumption of the Line 6 Modeler pedals it's not 1200mA,  it's between 140mA to 250mA.

The 1200mA figure comes from the Power Adapter Line 6 sells, they sell the same adapter for a lot of different products, so from a manufacturing point of view it makes sense to just have one model for all the product range, even if it's  way over-rated for some of the products.
Thats why the adapter has an AC  output and 1.2Amps, with DC rectification inside the pedals and ample power supply  it's easy to use the same adapter for most of the products.

"Q: I have a Line 6 DL4 pedal, which runs on either “C” cell batteries or an AC wall wart power supply. I want to put it on my pedalboard, but I don’t want to have another power supply. Could I run it off of something like my 1 Spot?

A: Yes, the DL4 (and the other Line 6 large modeler pedals, such as the MM4, FM4, and DM4) will operate off of a Visual Sound 1 Spot or other 9-volt DC power source. There is a voltage converter inside the unit that will convert the incoming power to the necessary type. "

 

[Whoops]

Here you can find lists of guitar pedal's power consumption, be aware some the values stated by the manufacturers are not always correct:

http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/guitar/acapella-29/1687263-

http://www.diago.co.uk/powerstation_compatibility.html

 

[Whoops]

whammy pedal = 750ma

What Whammy pedal version do you have?

Most of the versions use an 9VAC (2.5mm plug) power adapter, the newer ones use 9VDC and the consumption is between 200 to 300mA on the newer units.

If you have a 9VAC Whammy version, I advise you to measure the power consumption with your multimeter,  It's hard for me to believe it draws 750mA, I would measure it to be sure.

I actually have 3 whammy pedals ,  two original WH1 units and one XP-100 whammy wha (considered Whammy III).
I never measured mine since I always used a separate power supply for them but I will take them to the shop and measure the how much they draw.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

The Line 6 MM4 will work with either 9 volts AC or 9-12 volts DC.

Interesting info; I looked everywhere on the Line6 site and couldn't find it.

If you want to run it on DC power, you need to make sure to get the plug polarity right - it's center positive, 2.5mm barrel plug.

...the DL4 (and the other Line 6 large modeler pedals, such as the MM4, FM4, and DM4) will operate off of a Visual Sound 1 Spot or other 9-volt DC power source.  "

Isnt'it somewhat contradictory? Most 9V PSU's, including the One Spot are wired center-negative. You would need a polarity changer...

[rant] It seems to me Line6 always left something to be desired in their pedals. I had a DL4 that I ditched immediately because of this embarassing PSU issue and also because it did not include a dotted-note option for tap tempo. I also had an Echo Park, which was supposed to work off a standard 9V distribution, but in fact required a separate PSU, because it wouldn't coexist with other pedals, producing all sorts of squeals and cracks.
I still have a Roto Machine (Leslie simulator) that I would gladly replace if I could find one that fit in the same footprint; it's a single-width pedal, which manages to offer Fast, Slow and Bypass with a single switch - depending on how hard you press. It also sounds very good, but it's heavy and the pots are so loose I have to reset them after each transportation.
The only piece from Line6 that works flawlessly is the wireless G30. [/rant]

 

[Whoops]

Interesting info; I looked everywhere on the Line6 site and couldn't find it.

Off course not, they want you to buy their AC Adaptor.

Most 9V PSU's, including the One Spot are wired center-negative. You would need a polarity changer...

Yes you need an adapter to use it with 1spot PSU, not only polarity changer but also to change from 2.1mm to 2.5mm plug.
1 Spot and Diago sell those adapters,  I make my own. You can use 1 spot or any other Boss style center negative 9v with 2.1mm plug, 1 spot was just and example.


I love the DL4 pedal, have 2 of those and I don't see any PSU issue for me it's just a plus that I can use it with 9VDC or 9VAC PSU's.

http://www.diago.co.uk/adaptors/plug-adaptors.html

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I love the DL4 pedal, have 2 of those and I don't see any PSU issue for me it's just a plus that I can use it with 9VDC or 9VAC PSU's.

I don't know, they may have changed something between the time had one and now; for some reason I was convinced a 9V PSU was not an option, whether AC or DC. I guess if this adapter had existed at the time, I would have got one.

 

[Whoops]

I don't know, they may have changed something between the time had one and now; for some reason I was convinced a 9V PSU was not an option, whether AC or DC. I guess if this adapter had existed at the time, I would have got one.

I have the first DL4 model and one of the later units , I can confirm that the power supply needs never changed, it was always 9V DC or AC. The DC never stated by Line 6 as we discussed.

As I bought my units in the US I actually have 2 original Line 6 adaptors for this pedals that I don't use, they're 120V input, I will gladly give those to you or any other Groupdiy member for the shipping cost, in case you need them.
Just need to check where I put them.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I have the first DL4 model and one of the later units , I can confirm that the power supply needs never changed, it was always 9V DC or AC. The DC never stated by Line 6 as we discussed.

As I bought my units in the US I actually have 2 original Line 6 adaptors for this pedals that I don't use, they're 120V input, I will gladly give those to you or any other Groupdiy member for the shipping cost, in case you need them.
Just need to check where I put them.

Thanks for the offer. I have sold the DL4 years ago, but I have  friend whom it could help, let me see...