FruitarGeek
I just got my pedal board assembled (pictures to follow soon, I promise).
Now I am concerned. What if something goes wrong prior to a show, or worse during the show? What can be done to quickly sort out this problem, and generally how does one troubleshoot pedal boards?
FruitarGeek
Arggg. Already a first issue that seems challenging, help would be much appreciated
My HOG that I got from America, obviously came with an American adaptor, I got a transformer, although it seems dodgy, I was in a hurry to buy it, and the place where the actual plug goes in is quite loose. Anyway, the HOG worked fine, until a moment ago. I was testing stuff, and all of a sudden the power was going on and off. When I managed to get it to stay on, I would have signal when the effect is off, but as soon as I turned it on it would stop. I crapped my pants as I am sure you can understand why. The HOG is fine tho, It worked again, but I suspect it may be the transformer. I plugged another one of the American pedals in and they worked fine?? The HOG works, but all it requires is something, ANYTHING, im not sure what the trigger is yet, and the unit will almost short circuit, and then turn back on. Could it be the transformer?
AlanRatcliffe
I was going to say "cross that bridge when you get to it" but it seems you're already there. ? Generally you sort out problems as they arise, methodically eliminating things as the possible cause and, when you have it narrowed down to one, you bypass the problem and carry on with the show.
Almost certainly your power supply. Try the HOG on another known good power supply or battery (if it'll run on a battery) to make sure.
Never, ever, under any circumstances use cheap power supplies - unless you regard your pedals as disposable. Make sure any replacement supply is the right voltage, polarity and at least the right amperage (or better) before you use it.
Jacquesg4j
Alan Ratcliffe wrote
I was going to say "cross that bridge when you get to it" but it seems you're already there. ? Generally you sort out problems as they arise, methodically eliminating things as the possible cause and, when you have it narrowed down to one, you bypass the problem and carry on with the show.
Almost certainly your power supply. Try the HOG on another known good power supply or battery (if it'll run on a battery) to make sure.
Never, ever, under any circumstances use cheap power supplies - unless you regard your pedals as disposable. Make sure any replacement supply is the right voltage, polarity and at least the right amperage (or better) before you use it.
Hey Alan! What do you mean by cheap power supply? I bought mine at the local music shop for like R250 odd... I remember once, about a year ago, the generator at a gig had some sort of surge and it then blew my power supply. Luckily the pedals were unharmed... I see these type of power supplies as the same kind laptops use or something like that?
AlanRatcliffe
More a general point than something specific to your case (although the loose plug sounds suspect). The other points re amperage etc. apply to any PSU.
FruitarGeek
Well the guy at the store insisted it was of good quality. Its made by an esteemed company, just can't think of the name right now. It was also R100. So I thought I was buying something of decent quality, but when I got it home, I saw how loose that connector thing was, which means the american adaptors have too much 'wiggle' room for my liking. What would you recommend I buy? And do they have to be so obnoxiously big?
FruitarGeek
Alan. Ive actually been thinking, could I not just make a power supply for the HOG? Marshal doesn't sell them separately, so there is a small chance of me getting my hands on a 240v power supply form them. What i was thinking, was getting one of the normal Boss adaptors i.e. the PSA-240S which is apparently center negative (dont know what that means, but its what the HOG wants). And then I reverse the polarity somehow (I read about that somewhere), and then because the HOG uses a specific power connector, I just cut off the one I have not, and solder it onto the new one. Its a bit of a mission, but I am getting scared of relying on bad electronics.
AlanRatcliffe
Boss supplies are all centre negative, so if your HOG also takes centre negative, the polarity will be OK. Yes, you can splice on the wire and plug from your US PSU if the DC power plug is a better fit than the Boss. I'd solder the wires to make sure the joins were solid and use heatshrink tubing to insulate them properly.
I miss the old PSUs with cases that screwed together - you could always solder in a complete length of cable direct to the PSU's board. They usually had fuses on them too.
FruitarGeek
Alan Ratcliffe wrote
Boss supplies are all centre negative, so if your HOG also takes centre negative, the polarity will be OK. Yes, you can splice on the wire and plug from your US PSU if the DC power plug is a better fit than the Boss. I'd solder the wires to make sure the joins were solid and use heatshrink tubing to insulate them properly.
I miss the old PSUs with cases that screwed together - you could always solder in a complete length of cable direct to the PSU's board. They usually had fuses on them too.
Oh fantastic. This is good news I guess. So you sure that I don't have to worry about any reverse polarity? The HOG's power plug/connector is smaller than the BOSS's one, so the normal boss wont fit in the unit.
AlanRatcliffe
Well, you're still going to have to make sure of the polarity as you are now going to be splicing the EHX cable on to the Boss one, and it's easy to reverse the polarity accidentally. Check the EXH cable with a multimeter (set to continuity) to see which wire goes to tip and which goes to ring. Then check the wires out of the boss with your multimeter set to DC voltmeter to see which wire is positive and which negative.
Otherwise, as mentioned earlier, make sure that the voltage and amperage of the Boss are right for the POG.
FruitarGeek
Alan Ratcliffe wrote
Well, you're still going to have to make sure of the polarity as you are now going to be splicing the EHX cable on to the Boss one, and it's easy to reverse the polarity accidentally. Check the EXH cable with a multimeter (set to continuity) to see which wire goes to tip and which goes to ring. Then check the wires out of the boss with your multimeter set to DC voltmeter to see which wire is positive and which negative.
Otherwise, as mentioned earlier, make sure that the voltage and amperage of the Boss are right for the POG.
What would happen if I did solder it back the wrong way round? I dont quite have this much expertise with a multimeter (nor do I own one) so I'm hoping the guys at Yebo electronics can do this
AlanRatcliffe
If you solder it the wrong way round it would reverse the polarity and the pedal would not work. Damage is unlikely (but not impossible) - any semi-decent pedal builder takes steps to protect against incorrect polarity. If you are really unsure about doing it yourself, get a tech savvy friend to help.
