Anyone familiar with guitar pedals and its power sources?!
Question: I recently purchased a boss DS-1 (kicks major ****)
i noted that they recommended i used their adapter (ploy, i guess)
but, i had my own adapter laying around
i think it was used on my old telephone
i read in the instructions that my adapter shouldnt exceed an output of 200 mA
my adapters output is 300 mA
should i stop using it?
or does it not matter?
Answers: I recently purchased a boss DS-1 (kicks major ****)
i noted that they recommended i used their adapter (ploy, i guess)
but, i had my own adapter laying around
i think it was used on my old telephone
i read in the instructions that my adapter shouldnt exceed an output of 200 mA
my adapters output is 300 mA
should i stop using it?
or does it not matter?
Wow, these people don't know their electronics. A power source will supply *up to* x number of amps, but it won't force the appliance to consume them all!
What I'm trying to say is that you should think of a power source as a reservoir, not a waterfall. A reservoir can be tapped into, at least until it's dry. A lot of people think of a power source as a waterfall, where this or that *must* take all of the amps that an adapter can provide.
Use some common sense. You can plug a toaster into the wall, and it doesn't use as much energy as a refrigerator, right? So why doesn't it blow up when you plug it in? After all, the wall can supply something like 20 *Amps* (depending on the circuit), and a toaster certainly isn't using them all!
The common sense answer is that it's only using as much as it needs. Electricity follows the path of least resistance, and once a power demand (your pedal) is saturated, it's much easier for electricity to just keep flowing down the wire on to the next power demand (your toaster, maybe). So your adapter will let your pedal or whatever use up to 300 ma of power. Excellent. You're in the clear. Now keep reading!
There are four things to ask yourself about an adapter. One - will the tip fit? Two - will it supply enough amperage (ie, does it give you enough or more than enough)? Three - is the power being supplied at the right voltage? Four - is the polarity correct? Okay, I better explain that...
Power can be supplied one of two different ways... either tip positive or tip negative. You should see a little diagram somewhere showing a plus sign and a negative sign. Whichever one is pointing towards the center is the "tip" polarity. The important thing is that you don't want to put the wrong polarity in. That's a good way to damage something. So check your polarity!
Oh yeah, and voltage is very very important too. You *will* damage your pedal if your pedal is asking for 9V and you give it 12V. I promise. If you give it too little voltage it will either not work or sound weird or get damaged.
Most pedals are 9V, tip negative (i think!), need between 200 and 300 ma, and take one of about three different tips.
I wish you best of luck on your DS-1!
PS An adapter is an adapter is an adapter... as long as it's not noisy, matches voltage, matches polarity, has the right tip, and supplies enough power. Boss's power adapter is pretty good though, I've used it. It has a daisy chain attachment you can get so you can power up to like 7 more Boss or Boss-tip-voltage-etc-compatible pedals.
PPS The reason why power cords aren't universal is that you'd have to build transformers into everything that's designed for DC rather than AC (which is most things, actually). Transformers are noisy and expensive. Sometimes it's better to have them at a distance from your electronic equipment.
Saul
I would not use it. All these manufacturers play the game where you either have to buy their adaptor or spend a small fortune in batteries every year. I personally think the power cord should be universal (like a desktop computer).
yes it matterrs. too much or not enough ampieres can destroy it. get the adapter that is made for it or use batteries until you can.if you buy a tuner in the future, get the boss one and it will power your pedals also. i think it is the TU2
then all you need is a daisy chain and it will power ALL your boss pedals.
Buy a cheap universal adaptor - I did and it worked fine. Or use rechargeable batteries and have a spare set so you can always have some ready. I did that too.
You can go to Radioshack and get a cheaper version of the adapter they sell. I have the Boss NS-2 Noise Gate. It seems to work fine. Too many milliAmps (mA) will harm the circuitry inside the pedal.
If you have several effects pedals, I would suggest looking into linking them all up together. Boss makes a few different solutions to this as well.
i think i would use the one that is made for that pedal.. to insure the right wattage is put into it