# Pedal Power Pains



## Moot (Feb 15, 2009)

I know, it's a nice problem to have, but I have too many pedals with too many weird power requirements, so I have to spend money on a big power supply. 
But because my Effectrode pedals need 1.2 Amps each, 12 Volts, centre _Positive_, it needs a special Atomic Power Supply Atomic Power Supply which just set me back $460! And it only powers four Effectrode pedals. I have five. (Not complaining about that; I'm bragging now.)
Maxon AD999Pro - 2 Amps! 
MXR 10 Band EQ - 18 Volts, 1 Amp.
Just traded off two Radial pedals, each needing 15 Volt, centre _Positive_.

I understand why each pedal needs what power it does, but it sure makes getting the power for a nice, clean pedalboard difficult. 

So far it looks like I'll have the Atomic, Profile Pii (15 Volt, centre _Positive,) _and a power bar.

Can someone with experience tell me just how far away from wall warts most pedals need to be? Should I make a separate board for just power?


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

I don't have the answers. But recently when I redid my board, it was the first time ever I actually listed them all out and detailed their mV requirements (all 9v so no worries about wierd 12v or 18v for now). I'd been having issues that I nailed down to insufficient power going to 1 or 2 affecting ALL of them, so I separated out the load to my 2 DC Bricks differently and have had no issues. Previously I'd always just plugged stuff in until I ran out of plugs  

I also have an IsoBrick on the way, which should more properly and fail-safely power what I have//want to incorporate.

I have a power bar velcro'd to the back end of my board, and have 3 wall warts going there (2 Bricks + a high current requirement preamp). The 2 Bricks are velcro'd under the board right next to the power bar. I have have had no issues with noise.


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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

No real answers here either, but when I ran out of outlets on my pedal power, I made a list of my pedals and took note of all their respective current requirements. What I ended up doing was daisy chaining a few pedals that had the lowest mA requirements. Although not ideal in terms of isolated outputs, the only issue I ever ran into was a hum from an EHX Freeze that was daisy chained. As soon as I plugged it into its own spot on my pedal power, the hum went away.

As for actual distance from wall warts; I can't say I've ever experienced anything out of the ordinary with a wall wart plugged in right beside a specific pedal.


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## Moot (Feb 15, 2009)

keto said:


> ... I have have had no issues with noise.





TWRC said:


> ... As for actual distance from wall warts; I can't say I've ever experienced anything out of the ordinary with a wall wart plugged in right beside a specific pedal.


This is heartening to hear. I'm trying to avoid doing this more than a couple of times to get right. All suggestions are appreciated!

For two decades I just futzed around around with two power bars, one plugged into the first, and hooked up whatever would fit with a thousand patch cables. Of course, this gave me the excuse each night of having to pack up for a long while, so I could say "Sure, I'll catch up with you guys later...!" but instead go to sleep. No longer playing out, so not a benefit.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Would any of these do the trick?

Yankee Power Supplies « Yankee – Professional power supplies for guitar effects


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## Chitmo (Sep 2, 2013)

Moot said:


> I know, it's a nice problem to have, but I have too many pedals with too many weird power requirements, so I have to spend money on a big power supply.
> But because my Effectrode pedals need 1.2 Amps each, 12 Volts, centre _Positive_, it needs a special Atomic Power Supply Atomic Power Supply which just set me back $460! And it only powers four Effectrode pedals. I have five. (Not complaining about that; I'm bragging now.)
> Maxon AD999Pro - 2 Amps!
> MXR 10 Band EQ - 18 Volts, 1 Amp.
> ...


I have a pretty beefy power supply, a Yankee HS-M12 that I got from Charles at electric mojo and I'm pretty sure I could only power 2 of those effectrode units. It will do

2 x 9/12AC/DC 1300ma each
2 x 9/12 volt 500 ma each
3 x 4-24 volt @ 800ma each 
and 1 x 4-24 volt @ 1100ma 

Those effectrode units are crazy power suckered.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

sulphur said:


> Would any of these do the trick?
> 
> Yankee Power Supplies « Yankee – Professional power supplies for guitar effects


I went with the Yankee power supply and it worked out great. It was the only box that could handle the Van Weelden power requirements of 18V 300mA. Also comes with a LED that is great for dark stages.

Perhaps adding a 1Spot with your existing power supply is another solution. I'm not sure you can get around a wall wart for your power guzzling units.


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## Moot (Feb 15, 2009)

sulphur said:


> Would any of these do the trick?
> 
> Yankee Power Supplies « Yankee – Professional power supplies for guitar effects


Very cool, but not quite. "All DC outputs are centre negative..." 
(Although it looks like it would power everything else very well!)


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Voodoo Labs have cables to change polarity.

Power Cables, Voodoo Lab


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

Moot said:


> Very cool, but not quite. "All DC outputs are centre negative..."
> (Although it looks like it would power everything else very well!)


thegigrig Generator might give you the flexibility as it comes with various adaptors. I have used one in the pass and it works great. The Atomic is 6A(!) which is quite impressive. The Generator i believe is 5A.


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## Moot (Feb 15, 2009)

sulphur said:


> Voodoo Labs have cables to change polarity.
> 
> Power Cables, Voodoo Lab


I was just about to post a "Duh, I can just make one...," but you beat me to it.

Looks like that big HS-M24 would power another 2 Effectrodes,... But $765 CDN, ouch!


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## Chitmo (Sep 2, 2013)

Moot said:


> I was just about to post a "Duh, I can just make one...," but you beat me to it.
> 
> Looks like that big HS-M24 would power another 2 Effectrodes,... But $765 CDN, ouch!


You could power 4 effectrodes and 72 other pedals though


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Ya, they're not giving them away.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Jeez, this is starting to make me wonder whether a UPS to power your PSUs might not be warranted!


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

Alex said:


> I went with the Yankee power supply and it worked out great. It was the only box that could handle the Van Weelden power requirements of 18V 300mA. Also comes with a LED that is great for dark stages.
> 
> Perhaps adding a 1Spot with your existing power supply is another solution. I'm not sure you can get around a wall wart for your power guzzling units.
> 
> View attachment 80193


I can also confirm that the 1 spot doesn't hum with the Effectrode pedals/wall warts and other power supplies. It is a very good solution. I had all kinds of trouble trying to power my Effectrode pedals, I tried using the Voodoo labs power supply with the 1.5A wall warts, they will hum no matter what you do. So i ended up using the Wall warts (or in your case the atomic would be amazing) and a 1 spot for the other pedals. This will only work with 9V centre neg conventional pedals, however.

The Voodoo and the Atomic may well work together I never tried that

The Yankee will not power the Effectrodes, I considered them as well, the largest (M24) has 3 1300 mA outputs, but two are AC only (some of the earlier versions said ac/dc, but I can confirm after looking at the tech specs that it is AC) the third is 9V only. It will power just about anything else....so if you wanted something to use with the Atomic this would likely work.


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## Moot (Feb 15, 2009)

Having looked at a lot of power supplies the last few days, it looks like the Atomic isn't so expensive after all for what kind of power it puts out. 
Just doing the math it's cheaper to get two Atomics and use my Profile Pii for everything else.

Anyone got a spare Atomic?


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## gtone (Nov 1, 2009)

Logsdon Audio - $89 got me a custom brick featuring 4 isolated 9VDC leads, single 18 and 24VDC leads. Nice size, super quiet and no hum. He can make anything you want or need for a great price.


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