Battery power for pedalboard

[phcorrigan]

I use a battery to power my pedalboard for my Gretsch, just so I don't have another power cable to deal with. This weekend, I had a two-hour gig, with seven pedals active (not counting my tuner pedal). In two hours, I went from 100% charge to 78% charge, or less than 20% of the battery life.

With this approach, all pedals are connected to the same power source (no isolated outputs) so your pedals all have to play nice together.

If anyone is interested, here are the components I used:

Charmast 10000mAh battery
https://a.co/d/07YTTIwQ

USB C to DC 5.5mm x 2.1mm Power Cord, USB Type C Input to DC 9V Out Charging Cable (also known as a 9v trigger cord)
https://a.co/d/08bieEO0

5.5 x 2.1mm Jack Reverse Polarity Converter Cable
https://a.co/d/0bwipu1Y

I recharge the battery with a standard USB-C charger.

There are a lot of similar battery packs available, but be careful, since most will only give you 5 volts out via USB C.


Full disclosure: I borrowed this from a thread on the Acoustic Amplification forum about ToneDexter power.

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by phcorrigan

I use a battery to power my pedalboard for my Gretsch, just so I don't have another power cable to deal with. This weekend, I had a two-hour gig, with seven pedals active (not counting my tuner pedal). In two hours, I went from 100% charge to 78% charge, or less than 20% of the battery life.

With this approach, all pedals are connected to the same power source (no isolated outputs) so your pedals all have to play nice together.

If anyone is interested, here are the components I used:

Charmast 10000mAh battery
https://a.co/d/07YTTIwQ

USB C to DC 5.5mm x 2.1mm Power Cord, USB Type C Input to DC 9V Out Charging Cable (also known as a 9v trigger cord)
https://a.co/d/08bieEO0

5.5 x 2.1mm Jack Reverse Polarity Converter Cable
https://a.co/d/0bwipu1Y

I recharge the battery with a standard USB-C charger.

There are a lot of similar battery packs available, but be careful, since most will only give you 5 volts out via USB C.


Full disclosure: I borrowed this from a thread on the Acoustic Amplification forum about ToneDexter power.

I've been using a USB-C power bank intended to charge cell phones with a trigger cable for several years. The Charmast battery has a nicer charge meter than most and a manual start up power switch that is relatively harder to depress by accident. I've got three Charmasts in my collection. Ankor is a better-known brand in the lower cost segment and I've got a few of them that will even go to 15 volts for a Yamaha THR-5.

If you are handy with a soldering iron this solution can be quite compact:



The next problem to tackle is isolated power for pedals that require it. The issue is big digital pedals (300 mA to 2 amps of 9-volt power: ToneDexter2, all Universal Audio, HX Stomp, etc.) and their internal switching supplies impacting older 9 volt pedals on the daisy chain. These older pedals don't have good power supply isolation. Some examples are Tube Screamers (and the many clones), almost all Boss pedals with their roots in the previous century :~), etc. You can find plenty of modern implementations of these simpler pedals, such as most TC products, which are relatively immune to power supply noise.

The good news is most of these victim pedals draw only 5 mA (100 hours alkaline 9v battery) to 30 mA (16 hours). The latest USB rechargeable Lithium 9 volt batteries are easily up to this task. There are two types on the market right now. Those with a single Lithium NCM cell and a switching supply to bring that up to 9 volts, and those with two Lithium NCM cells in series. The switcher ones are rife with incorrect specs and problems with the switcher powering up when you need it. The series ones produce an analog voltage sufficiently like an Alkaline 9v that they are pretty bullet proof. Here is the Kratax I prefer. It has about 50% more capacity than an alkaline 9v battery. Its open circuit voltage is ~8.3 volts and its loaded voltage is ~7.3 volts. This is close enough to alkaline and better than a rechargeable NiMH.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C58SPJW8...roduct_details

Set up your daisy chain with all the pedals connected for power and signal. One-by-one unplug the power to each pedal and figure out which ones are picking up the power noise. Then Velcro (or 3M Command Strip adhesive which is my favorite), a Kratax to the side of the pedal (so that it can be easily recharged), and connect it to the victim pedal with one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YFGQ6ST...WxfdGhlbWF0aWM

You will need to connect and disconnect the 9 volt battery from the pedal(s) for each usage.

[phcorrigan]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

I've been using a USB-C power bank intended to charge cell phones with a trigger cable for several years. The Charmast battery has a nicer charge meter than most and a manual start up power switch that is relatively harder to depress by accident. I've got three Charmasts in my collection. Ankor is a better-known brand in the lower cost segment and I've got a few of them that will even go to 15 volts for a Yamaha THR-5.

If you are handy with a soldering iron this solution can be quite compact:



The next problem to tackle is isolated power for pedals that require it. The issue is big digital pedals (300 mA to 2 amps of 9-volt power: ToneDexter2, all Universal Audio, HX Stomp, etc.) and their internal switching supplies impacting older 9 volt pedals on the daisy chain. These older pedals don't have good power supply isolation. Some examples are Tube Screamers (and the many clones), almost all Boss pedals with their roots in the previous century :~), etc. You can find plenty of modern implementations of these simpler pedals, such as most TC products, which are relatively immune to power supply noise.

The good news is most of these victim pedals draw only 5 mA (100 hours alkaline 9v battery) to 30 mA (16 hours). The latest USB rechargeable Lithium 9 volt batteries are easily up to this task. There are two types on the market right now. Those with a single Lithium NCM cell and a switching supply to bring that up to 9 volts, and those with two Lithium NCM cells in series. The switcher ones are rife with incorrect specs and problems with the switcher powering up when you need it. The series ones produce an analog voltage sufficiently like an Alkaline 9v that they are pretty bullet proof. Here is the Kratax I prefer. It has about 50% more capacity than an alkaline 9v battery. Its open circuit voltage is ~8.3 volts and its loaded voltage is ~7.3 volts. This is close enough to alkaline and better than a rechargeable NiMH.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C58SPJW8...roduct_details

Set up your daisy chain with all the pedals connected for power and signal. One-by-one unplug the power to each pedal and figure out which ones are picking up the power noise. Then Velcro (or 3M Command Strip adhesive which is my favorite), a Kratax to the side of the pedal (so that it can be easily recharged), and connect it to the victim pedal with one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YFGQ6ST...WxfdGhlbWF0aWM

You will need to connect and disconnect the 9 volt battery from the pedal(s) for each usage.

I've been lucky in that all my pedals seem to tolerate a single power source.

[PointlessPicks]

For about a year and a half now I have been using my Cobalt Lithium tool battery to power both my acoustic & electric pedal boards.

To do this you will need a buck convertor (converts a DC voltage to another DC voltage) and plug receptacle for your battery of choice. The buck convertor has a trim screw to adjust the output voltage and setting it a bit over 9V should be perfect. The wiring is pretty simple.

Both items are available on Amazon for around $10each. I believe battery life with my electric pedal board (8 pedals) is about 3 1/2 weeks of continuous playing if I were superhuman and able to do that!

Cheers, Doug

[Lefty MacGuffin]

JBL makes a USB to 9v conversion cable. I have used it without issue to power pedals from a power bank.

[67goat]

Get some smaller ones like these and you could isolate a few pedals using the same method.

[Turp]

I’m using a Mission Engineering 529P https://missionengineering.com/shop/usb-battery/

Other than not being dependent on having an outlet available, it provides isolation of my rig from house electrical interference.

Also, using this with my BOSE S1Pro, I can perform in optimum location rather than power supply convenience or running extension cords..