Regulated/Unregulated Power supply

[andy]

This is carrying on from my chorus hunt (steady on...) but on a slightly different tack, so I thought a new thread was in order.

It turns out that earlier Boss pedals, such as the CE-2 I'm looking at, run on a 12v unregulated power supply, opposed to 9v regulated like newer ones. Apparently the power is stepped down inside the pedal, and can be modded to 9v easily. I don't really want to chop about with an old pedal just after I had bought it, and have a power supply with 12v outs on it in the mail anyway. So the question is, how much difference will regulated or unregulated power really make? I have no idea whether my present power supply is reg or unreg, or what the new one is either, but is a pedal likely to care? The CE-2 apparently fluctuates between 8 and 8.8 ma draw in use, if that makes a difference.

To be clear, I don't have any trouble with powering my pedals for the moment, I'm just wondering if a CE-2 will be a pain to run alongside my other ones.

[ashcatlt]

I didn't want to just give a knee-jerk reaction, so I did a quick search and found a [url=http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Difference_between_regulated_and_n
on-regulated_power_supply]link[/url] that agrees with me.

I think the CE-2 has built in power regulation, meaning it cleans up the power nicely, so long as it gets something close to the 12v it expects. Feeding it a nice clean regulated voltage is certainly not going to hurt anything, can only make things better.

I'm not sure that any of the adapters I've ever used for my pedals have been particularly well regulated, and I've never had serious problems. I'm sure I could get rid of some noise if I worked in that direction, but I've never caused any damage.

Please any time you're looking to match a PSU to a device, check to make sure about 2 important factors which you haven't mentioned:

1) AC or DC?
2) (if DC) Polarity!

[andy]

Thanks Ash, I couldn't see it being a big problem, but you've put my mind at rest. I'm pretty sure the pedal is DC, but the new power supply has both AC and DC outs, so I'm covered on that front. Polarity, however, is one I must look into!

[ashcatlt]

Most modern pedals have a diode across the DC input which is meant to only conduct if the voltage polarity is reversed. It's meant to keep other things down the line from being damaged, but I think it can only work until it explodes!

[andy]

Yikes!

I'll check and double check!

[andy]

Now, when it comes to checking, even for the first time round, can anyone tell me how to find the polarity of an adaptor output plug with my multimeter?? Many thanks, my pedals life might depend on it!

[ChrisK]

Using Digital Multi-Meters



Or, you look on the adapter. Most of them have it marked.

[andy]

Nov 15, 2008 21:20:38 GMT -5 ChrisK said:

Or, you look on the adapter. Most of them have it marked.

Yeah, yeah, OK! ;D

I was actually asking as I have a power supply with an invertable, push-fit tip, to change polarity- however, once I looked close enough (don't quite need the reading glasses yet) the textured grippy bits to help with removing the tip are in fact tiny polarity indicators with a little arrow so you know which one you have. I had to look close, and my leathery guitar-playing fingertips would never have felt it!

I picked up a Boss CE-2 for a good price on Ebay actually, so my new pedal board is pretty much set now, I'm just waiting for the right power supply to arrive in the mail (it's on back order 'til mid-December). Then, if I can find my camera, I'll post some pics of the whole thing.

[limbe]

Yes,most pedals have polarity protection so they won´t be harmed if you plug a positive adapter into one which needs a negative adapter and vice versa,BUT very very few pedals that needs DC power have any protection if you plug in an AC adapter.