Pedal manufacturers and power supply

[newpedals]

My friend had been using an EHX Nano memory man for months. It suddenly stopped working. When he disclosed to EHX that he had not been using the power supply made by them to power it, they said it was the reason the pedal failed. It was an inexpensive power supply made overseas @ 9V, centre negative, 200 mAh. He powers his other pedals using rechargable batteries. It will cost him about 50$ to get the pedal repaired.

I recently discovered that the power supply @9V, 500 mAh which I had been using to power my Boss pedals is not in fact made by Boss. My signal chain is TU-3 > MD-2 > SD-1. I have daisy chained them using a cheap cable, and not had any issues so far. I don't plan on buying other pedals anytime soon.

Should I upgrade to a power supply made by Boss? I am concerned about the safety of my pedals.

 

[Aelred]

Fwiw, Boss recommend the PSA series, but do not come with a power supply. I'm not sure if the Nano pedals do, but the couple of EHX pedals I have came with a power supply - which I ignored because I need the power-points.

I tend to think of Boss pedals as indestructable unless you really try. I have a few on Ojai and Mooer supplies.

 

[Aleksi]

Total BS. The pedal doesn't know what's powering it, so it can't decide to fail because the cheap power supply wasn't a cheap power supply with an EHX sticker on it.

Of course the power supply could be defective, but so could an EHX power supply

 

[newpedals]

Total BS. The pedal doesn't know what's powering it, so it can't decide to fail because the cheap power supply wasn't a cheap power supply with an EHX sticker on it.

Of course the power supply could be defective, but so could an EHX power supply

They said that EHX tests their power supplies, so they are usually good.

The cheap power supply he had bought came in a box labeled "9 V pedal power supply", no other details mentioned.

I try to avoid using batteries in general, for hassle, cost and environmental reasons. I told him to take a look at 1 spot pro/ truetone/ cioks for powering all of his pedals.

 

[Aleksi]

I'm sure the factories making all the generic and branded power supplies do similar QA. The EHX power supplies are pretty cheap, 16€ for the 9v 200 ma supply. You won't be doing much extra testing on those while still making a profit.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I don't trust EHX pedals at all. Every one I've owned has had issues.

 

[dronerstone]

I don't trust EHX pedals at all. Everyone I've owned has had issues.

True, especially the cheaper ones sometimes get wacky pretty quickly.

My POG 2, on the other hand, is holding up just fine - no issues whatsoever, and it's seen a fair share of use over the last decade.

Usually, with EHX, it's the footswitches that give in first.

 

[JiveTurkey]

True, especially the cheaper ones sometimes get wacky pretty quickly.

My POG 2, on the other hand, is holding up just fine - no issues whatsoever, and it's seen a fair share of use over the last decade.

Usually, with EHX, it's the footswitches that give in first.

I had a couple of the 9 series and had all sorts of problems with them. I haven't went back since

 

[dronerstone]

I had a couple of the 9 series and had all sorts of problems with them. I haven't went back since

I always wanted to try the Mel9 and Synth9, but I guess I've been wary about EHX quality control.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Did he buy it new or used? If it's still under warranty he should go back to the place he bought it from and not EHX.

 

[JasonE]

My friend had been using an EHX Nano memory man for months. It suddenly stopped working. When he disclosed to EHX that he had not been using the power supply made by them to power it, they said it was the reason the pedal failed. It was an inexpensive power supply made overseas @ 9V, centre negative, 200 mAh. He powers his other pedals using rechargable batteries. It will cost him about 50$ to get the pedal repaired.

I recently discovered that the power supply @9V, 500 mAh which I had been using to power my Boss pedals is not in fact made by Boss. My signal chain is TU-3 > MD-2 > SD-1. I have daisy chained them using a cheap cable, and not had any issues so far. I don't plan on buying other pedals anytime soon.

Should I upgrade to a power supply made by Boss? I am concerned about the safety of my pedals.

This says more about EHX than it does about the issue with the pedal. The latched on to the first thing they heard that allowed them to say it was your friend's fault so they are not going to cover it. These power supplies are not difficult to understand. They will have power ratings on them. If it was putting out 9V and the pedal was working with it, it is good enough. Hopefully the pedal is designed with a protection diode in it. As long as you can find out what the value of that diode is, it can be replaced and the pedal will work again.

 

[newpedals]

Did he buy it new or used? If it's still under warranty he should go back to the place he bought it from and not EHX.

He bought it used. It's not under warranty for sure.

 

[newpedals]

This says more about EHX than it does about the issue with the pedal. The latched on to the first thing they heard that allowed them to say it was your friend's fault so they are not going to cover it. These power supplies are not difficult to understand. They will have power ratings on them. If it was putting out 9V and the pedal was working with it, it is good enough. Hopefully the pedal is designed with a protection diode in it. As long as you can find out what the value of that diode is, it can be replaced and the pedal will work again.

He already has a carbon copy delay. He was using it as an "always on" and the nano memory man when he needed to add prominent delay.

I suggested handing the pedal over to a friend of a friend who knows about pedal electronics and may repair it without charging too much.

I will tell him about the "protection diode". Thank you.

 

[newpedals]

This says more about EHX than it does about the issue with the pedal. The latched on to the first thing they heard that allowed them to say it was your friend's fault so they are not going to cover it. These power supplies are not difficult to understand. They will have power ratings on them. If it was putting out 9V and the pedal was working with it, it is good enough. Hopefully the pedal is designed with a protection diode in it. As long as you can find out what the value of that diode is, it can be replaced and the pedal will work again.

I remember trying an EHX ocean's something reverb in a store a while ago. It sounded beautiful, and the reason I didn't buy it is because I don't use reverb while gigging. I also don't buy pedals which I can't use while gigging.

The funny thing was that some of its modes only worked when the pedal was powered by the power supply made by the manufacturer. If powered with another power supply, some of the algorithms didn't work.

The salesman said that it's because the power supply made by manufacturer was specifically designed to output the correct voltage the pedal needed, 9.2V I think.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

He already has a carbon copy delay. He was using it as an "always on" and the nano memory man when he needed to add prominent delay.

I suggested handing the pedal over to a friend of a friend who knows about pedal electronics and may repair it without charging too much.

I will tell him about the "protection diode". Thank you.

You'll need someone who can work with surface mount parts, there's no through hole components in there. That'll cut down the amount of people who will be able to work on it.

 

[newpedals]

You'll need someone who can work with surface mount parts, there's no through hole components in there. That'll cut down the amount of people who will be able to work on it.

View attachment 36447

I haven't looked properly inside one of my pedals, but this pic reminds me of the time when I had taken my android phone for repairing. I thought all electronic devices have such small parts inside them.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I haven't looked properly inside one of my pedals, but this pic reminds me of the time when I had taken my android phone for repairing. I thought all electronic devices have such small parts inside them.

Most mass produced pedals do use surface mount but Polarity protection diodes and some electrolytic caps are quite often still through hole components.

Through hole parts are a lot easier to Swop out for most people. There are plenty of places who can work with smd but it will stop most hobby builders from fixing it.

 

[JasonE]

I remember trying an EHX ocean's something reverb in a store a while ago. It sounded beautiful, and the reason I didn't buy it is because I don't use reverb while gigging. I also don't buy pedals which I can't use while gigging.

The funny thing was that some of its modes only worked when the pedal was powered by the power supply made by the manufacturer. If powered with another power supply, some of the algorithms didn't work.

The salesman said that it's because the power supply made by manufacturer was specifically designed to output the correct voltage the pedal needed, 9.2V I think.

That is possible. The pedal should have something on it that says exactly what it needs for power and mA. It is the milliamps that is usually the important one. As long as you have the 9.6V you need to ensure you are supplying enough mA to make it all work. That is probably what he was getting at and he may not have known exactly why.

 

[newpedals]

That is possible. The pedal should have something on it that says exactly what it needs for power and mA. It is the milliamps that is usually the important one. As long as you have the 9.6V you need to ensure you are supplying enough mA to make it all work. That is probably what he was getting at and he may not have known exactly why.

So few pedals need 9.6V whereas 9V is more common.

Suppose I accidentally run my boss pedals on more than 9V. They will be damaged then.

 

[JasonE]

So few pedals need 9.6V whereas 9V is more common.

Suppose I accidentally run my boss pedals on more than 9V. They will be damaged then.

You will be fine. The voltage on a new 9V battery is 9.6V. They are made to take that.