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Anybody tried these power supplies for pedals?


mcnach
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They are ideal for a small pedalboard with no particularly hungry pedals. Small footprint, cables exiting vertically helping organising the space in a small board... hmmm.


[url="https://www.tomtop.com/parts-accessories-491/p-i2209.html?currency=GBP&aid=gdymkh&gclid=CLuI6f-L8tQCFRM8Gwodl0UHAQ"]https://www.tomtop.com/parts-accessories-491/p-i2209.html?currency=GBP&aid=gdymkh&gclid=CLuI6f-L8tQCFRM8Gwodl0UHAQ[/url]

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I haven't used one, but I checked out the website information - the input is 15 volts at up to 1 Amp, and the outputs are almost all 9 V up to a total load of 1 Amp.

When it is lightly loaded I would expect it to work well, but if you take it up to the current limit, the electronics inside will have to dissipate (15-9)V * 1Amp, which is 6 Watts. To do that you would need to leave space around it for air circulation, so its footprint would be considerably bigger.

David

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[quote name='Mottlefeeder' timestamp='1499258302' post='3330317']
I haven't used one, but I checked out the website information - the input is 15 volts at up to 1 Amp, and the outputs are almost all 9 V up to a total load of 1 Amp.

When it is lightly loaded I would expect it to work well, but if you take it up to the current limit, the electronics inside will have to dissipate (15-9)V * 1Amp, which is 6 Watts. To do that you would need to leave space around it for air circulation, so its footprint would be considerably bigger.

David
[/quote]


I guess you could just cool it regularly with cold beer...

:ph34r:

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[quote name='Mottlefeeder' timestamp='1499258302' post='3330317']...the electronics inside will have to dissipate (15-9)V * 1Amp...
[/quote]

Maybe, but not necessarily, if it's switching. Our RC 'plane motor controllers supply the Rx and servos using this technology, so it's very common, very miniature and very inexpensive these days to do things that way, and the output voltage is then independent of the load. A more passive system wouldn't be able to assure that.

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By the time you've taken the wall-wart transformer into account it's not really that small and compact.

Also check that said wall wart comes with a UK plug on it rather than the one pictured, as you'll be messing around with adaptors and that won't make for a very reliable PSU.

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[quote name='Mottlefeeder' timestamp='1499258302' post='3330317']
I haven't used one, but I checked out the website information - the input is 15 volts at up to 1 Amp, and the outputs are almost all 9 V up to a total load of 1 Amp.

When it is lightly loaded I would expect it to work well, but if you take it up to the current limit, the electronics inside will have to dissipate (15-9)V * 1Amp, which is 6 Watts. To do that you would need to leave space around it for air circulation, so its footprint would be considerably bigger.

David
[/quote]


I think I'm going to give it a try. I just worked out that the pedals I'd use with it would barely reach 100mA together, and the size/shape is just perfect. Let's see. It's cheap enough to worth a try.

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[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1499259880' post='3330344']
By the time you've taken the wall-wart transformer into account it's not really that small and compact.

Also check that said wall wart comes with a UK plug on it rather than the one pictured, as you'll be messing around with adaptors and that won't make for a very reliable PSU.
[/quote]

The separate power supply did put me off some other more upmarket units a while ago... but in this case it works well, I like that it's separate. The 'distributor' part is tiny and makes the pedalboard itself very compact, no cables dangling anywhere. The power supply fits in a pocket of the board's soft case. Take out, plug at one end, plug at the other... away you go. It looks like similar supplies are common (1-1.2A, 15V DC), and I found one with detachable cables which I like... barely £10, in stock in a UK shop.

I have a T-Rex "Fuel tank" that I was going to use, but it's about 2cm x 2cm too big to allow me to fit it nicely, and its cable is very rigid and it sticks out... great supply, it's worked beautifully in a bigger board including some hungrier digital pedals... but it was shattering my wish for a compact 4-pedal board. We'll see how this thing works.

I saw another one for around £50 that was also flat with the connectors on top that looked decent. It was larger, at around 14cm x 5cm or so, and included a couple of adjustable voltage sockets (for those who like the sound of some pedals when the batteries are running low)... If a supply doesn't fit under the board, I like having the sockets on the top, vertically.

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[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1499259568' post='3330341']
Maybe, but not necessarily, if it's switching. Our RC 'plane motor controllers supply the Rx and servos using this technology, so it's very common, very miniature and very inexpensive these days to do things that way, and the output voltage is then independent of the load. A more passive system wouldn't be able to assure that.
[/quote]
I'm working on the basis that if it takes 1Amp at 15 volts (15 watts), and is a switching regulator, it will deliver 90% of 15 watts to the output. So if the output voltage is lower, the output currrent available should be higher - but it isn't. Another clue is in the ventilation slots of the casing - a switched mode power supply would not need those.

David

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