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Posted by: Keilnoth Mar 8 2010, 11:58 AM

What do you use to power your floor board ?

I am starting to have a bunch of pedals and would like to know if there is any good trick to easily power all those pedals from one transformer ? Currently, I use one transformer for every pedal and it's getting tricky as I don't have an infinite number of electric socket in the wall.

I have mainly 9V and 12V pedals. I think it's the usual voltage.

Thanks for the hint

Posted by: Fran Mar 8 2010, 12:09 PM

I wrote a mini review of my pèdalboard, it has built in power adapter for six pedals (five 9v and oine 12V):
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/wiki/index.php/Warwick_Gigboard_RB_23100_Mini_Review


You could also get some good power source for 5 or 8 stomps too, that you can use with any pedalboard.

Posted by: Damir Puh Mar 8 2010, 12:10 PM

A guitar tech made me a custom power adapter that can power up six 9V pedals.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Mar 8 2010, 01:03 PM

Well you can use daisy chain power cables and only two strong adapters - one for 9V and other for 12V.

With cables like this you can then connect all the pedals:


Adapter with power rating of 1000 ampers will fit all your needs. I'm sure you already have good adapters and now just need these daisy chain cables...

Posted by: stratman79 Mar 8 2010, 02:35 PM

is it myth or don't you get better sound from using batteries? atleast you cut down the chance of mains hum or bad earth hum....

maybe you could get a rechargable pack of 9vs and a charger??

Posted by: mhskeide Mar 8 2010, 02:44 PM

Use of battieries would require new batteries for at least every third concert to be sure you wont run out of power in the middle of a song. That would both be expensive in the long run, as well as bad for the environment
....and I`m the right one to talk, since I as a matter of fact use batteries since I only use two pedals live currently. As soon as I have expanded my board though, I will buy a T-Rex or MXR powersupply

Posted by: Skewlbuzz Mar 8 2010, 07:57 PM

There's plenty of choices, I'd take a look at some of these:

Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus
T-Rex Fuel Tank
Dunlop DC-Brick Multi-Powersupply

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Mar 9 2010, 01:39 AM

If you have 9V and 12V stomps, it may be good to get two adapters with filtering. This will be the cheaper solution. More expensive one is to get custom power like Voodoo Lab or T-Rex one.
Another option is to use the rechargeable batteries. It can be annoying to recharge them all the time, but they sound the best no doubt and there are no power cables on the pedalboard.

Posted by: Trond Vold Mar 9 2010, 02:57 AM

I use a Godlyke powerall. It power up to 9 or 10 on a single adapter, and it's remarkably noiseless (and cheap).

Some seem to get noiseproblems with it though, but nothing here.

Posted by: ZakkWylde Mar 9 2010, 03:53 AM

Voodoo Lab Pedal Power II+ is my weapon of choice!
Indestructable, reliable and absolutely no noise coming from it - it is expensive though...



It's mounted under my Pedalboard

Posted by: Keilnoth Mar 20 2010, 05:09 PM

I've just bought a multi-plug and something odd happen. I have a 300 mA transformer so I tried to plug the transformer in the multi-plug and then in the pedals and nothing happen ?! Don't really understand why... The cable is brand new. Do you know if the multi-plug switch the polarity (+ / -) of the power cable ? And what could happen if I switch the polarity to test ? Will the pedal burn to the ground or explode ?

Thanks

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Mar 20 2010, 05:15 PM

Hmmm 300mA transformer is pretty weak. It should be able to power 2-3 pedals max....Try plugging only 1 pedal to the transformer (with multi plug connected) to see if multiplug works. Possibly it wired in opposite... I guess you could switch the polarity to test if it works then. Pedals should not expolode or burn but I can not guarantee that hehehe Use your least favorite pedal for that kind of test ehheheh

Posted by: Keilnoth Mar 20 2010, 05:54 PM

I don't have any pedal I don't like. Will wait 'til someone can explain me the trick.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Mar 20 2010, 06:21 PM

In the mean time you can test the multi plug by connecting only 1 pedal to it. Possibly 300mA wasn't enough to power all the pedals you had so that is why it didn't work.

Posted by: Keilnoth Mar 20 2010, 07:12 PM

I connected the multi-plug to only one pedal. My pedals need 200mA + 11mA + 55mA and perhaps 20mA so it should work. But the fact is the multi-plug just doesn't bring the power through.

Posted by: Keilnoth Mar 21 2010, 12:33 PM

I tested the multi-plug with my 16V transformer on another pedal and it just works fine.
Really odd...

Perhaps the tip of my 9V transformer doesn't fit in the multi-plug. I don't understand, really.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Mar 21 2010, 01:28 PM

I'm not sure what is going on. Those daisy chain power cables (multiplug) are very simple to use and they work just as an extension cord. Perhaps polarity gets reversed on the 9V adapter or it doesen't just fit in the extension plug on the multi plug.

Maybe you should test it with a different 9V adapter or get a different multiplug...

Gennerally 300mA is really tight for powering multiple pedals. Boss pedalboard comes with a 1000mA which is kind of standard that allows for multiple pedals to be powered.

Posted by: Keilnoth Mar 23 2010, 08:35 AM

Finally, it works ! I plugged another transformer and seems this one is OK.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Mar 23 2010, 05:20 PM

Glad it works now!
I recommend geting a good 1000mA power adapter for those 9V pedals. You can get a boss one (one they supply with the BCB-60 pedalboard) - its small and works well. (very little noise too).

Something like this:

http://www.giggear.co.uk/p/BOSS-PSC-230E-Power-Supply/

Posted by: Frederik Mar 23 2010, 05:21 PM

can it have to many ampere? fx im looking to buy a daisycahin system with 2000mA adaptor for 5 pedals?

Posted by: Keilnoth Mar 23 2010, 06:08 PM

Too much is not possible as far as Ampere are concerned. Regarding voltage, don't try with too much of it.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Mar 23 2010, 06:15 PM

It won't be a problem. Too little is a problem though.

Posted by: Adrian Figallo Mar 23 2010, 07:30 PM

nice u found ur solution bro!

Posted by: kaznie_NL Mar 23 2010, 09:28 PM

The Polytune pedal is a really cool tuning pedal, allowing you to tune multiple strings at the same time, AND it works as a power source to other pedals

Posted by: Keilnoth Mar 23 2010, 11:27 PM

I don't think so. The polytune serves as a daisy chain but it's not a power supply, just a relay.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Mar 25 2010, 01:27 AM

Just a relay as a Boss tuner pedal, yep.