http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-A-Power-Supply-For-Your-Guitar-Pedals/

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Build A Power Supply For Your Guitar Pedalsby mattthegamer463 on January 28, 2010

Table of Contents

Build A Power Supply For Your Guitar Pedals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro:   Build A Power Supply For Your Guitar Pedals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 1:   Planning and Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 2:   Parts and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Step 3:   Drilling and Cutting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Step 4:   Circuit Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Step 5:   Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Step 6:   Assembly Continued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Step 7:   Finished! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

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Intro:  Build A Power Supply For Your Guitar PedalsIf you're like me, you know how annoying it is to use up 9V batteries on your guitar effect pedals. Its wasteful, and brand name 9V's are almost $9 for a two-pack. If youforget to turn off your pedals you've thrown away big bucks. Its an extreme waste of money when you can build your own power supply for only about $25.

The power supply I designed and built delivers steady, regulated 12 volts, 9 volts and 5 volts all at the same time. Each voltage has two outlets, but they can be "daisychained" with a custom cable to connect many more pedals.

The styling is an homage to the old days of vacuum tubes, when components generated so much heat they needed to be on the outside of the casing instead of inside. Iused some gigantic capacitors that I thought would look cool, other than that they are major overkill.

In this Instructable I am going to assume that you know some basic electronic skills and know what I am talking about when I say capacitor, resistor, LED, transformer,AC and DC, etc. There are lots of introductory electronics Instructables and soldering Instructables you can check out if you'd like to gain a better understanding of basicelectronic principles and components.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Depending on what pedals you intend to use this for, you should take care to wire the DC connectors as pin-positive/ring-negative orpin-negative/ring-positive. The latter is the industry standard way of doing it, although it poses issues when building a pedal that has a metallic housing. Iprefer pin-positive/ring-negative because of that issue, and I wired this supply in this way. Please take care as to which way you wire the power supply toprevent damage to your pedals.

Step 1: Planning and SchematicThe first thing to do is design the circuit. Many guitar pedals and stompboxes have 9V DC power jacks on the back (if your's doesn't and you're feeling ambitious, you canadd your own) which we will use to power them instead of the 9V internal battery clip.

The schematic I designed can be modified for whatever voltages you would like. For example, if you don't have any 5V pedals, you can just swap the 5V power regulatorfor a 9V regulator, and now you'll have double the 9V power.

The schematic uses a simple power supply circuit converting AC to pulsating DC, smoothing it with capacitors and running it through voltage regulators for fixed DCoutputs.

Here is a higher resolution version of the schematic if you can't read the one below very easily:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/mattthegamer463/Schematic.png

Image Notes1. Further conceptualization in Google Sketchup

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-A-Power-Supply-For-Your-Guitar-Pedals/

Step 2: Parts and ToolsParts:

- 5" long by 2.5" wide by 1.75" tall project box- Segment of stripboard, veroboard (it's like perfboard but the copper is in strips, see pic)- 18V Transformer- IEC Power connector- Two 10000uF 50V capacitors (less overkill version: 100uF)- Three 10uF 63V capacitors- Toggle switch- Green LED- 5mm LED holder- 220 ohm resistor- Fuse holder- 100mA fuse- Six 2.1mm DC jacks- Six 2.1mm DC connectors- Adhesive rubber feet- WIre- Solder- Assorted nuts and bolts- Small segment of aluminum- Masking tape- Electrical tape

Tools:- Drill and bit set- 1 1/4" hole saw bit- Hot glue gun- Soldering Iron- X-acto knife- Wire strippers- Wire cutters- Square- Ruler- Flat file- Vernier- Multimeter

Image Notes1. I ended up not using this filtered IEC connector, it was too big to fit

Image Notes1. 10uF 63V capacitors

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Image Notes1. 2.1mm DC jacks2. The connector attached to the center is the Positive, all others are negatives.

Image Notes1. Bridge rectifier

Image Notes1. Regulators

Image Notes1. 2.1mm DC connectors

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Image Notes1. 5" long by 2.5" wide by 1.75" tall project box

Image Notes1. Stripboard

Step 3: Drilling and CuttingShort version:

Cover in masking tape, mark hole locations, drill pilot holes, drill appropriate sized holes using pilots as reference.

Long version:

I did the layout freehand, marking the middle of the box using the square, and just measuring and sizing up locations using the components. To make it easier to write onthe box, cover it in masking tape. Use a sharp pencil so that you can get accurate markings and can erase if you make a mistake. Take your time and get it right, theresno turning back once you start drilling.

Use a 1/8" or 3/32" drill bit to drill pilot holes at each hole marking. For the IEC connector hole, drill in each corner of the rectangle.

After I drilled pilot holes in the corners I used a 1/4" bit to drill around the perimeter of the rectangle, being careful to not pass over the edges. Then, I used some pliers tosnap the remaining plastic out of the center, and used the flat file to file it into a rough rectangle. Keep filing and test fitting the connector until it fits snugly. Be careful withIEC connectors that have pop-out flanges to lock them in place, since those are most likely designed for metal enclosures and thick plastic may prevent them from lockingin place. I had to switch for a connector that had mounting screws because of this. Once the connector is in place, you can drill holes for screws or bolts/nuts with noproblems.

The rest of the holes will need to be drilled appropriate to the bolts you've selected for mounting your transformer and the diameter of your capacitors. My capacitors were30mm diameter, so a 1 1/4" drill (about 32.5mm) worked great. The diameter of most DC jacks is about 8mm, but check with a vernier before you drill.

The aluminum plate that goes over the DC jacks is 4" long by 1" wide. I used a 5/16" drill bit for the holes on it, spaced 5/8" apart. You can use the bastard file to removethe sharp corners, and some 120 grit sandpaper to smooth the edges and give it a brushed look. I used 4.40 threaded hex head screws to secure it in place.

Image Notes1. Masking tape makes it easier to mark things.

Image Notes1. All holes marked.

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Image Notes1. Pilot holes drilled.

Step 4: Circuit BuildingShort version:

Build the circuit, remember to cut the rails on your stripboard to separate segments.

Long version:

Now that the chassis is sorted out, the next phase is wiring up the circuit board. Measure the inside of the project box and determine how much room you can use for thecircuitry. I used a piece about 2" by 2.5" and it fit great and was still easy to populate with components.

If you don't get a pre-cut piece of that size, the easiest way to cut it without using power tools is to score the edge to break it at with the x-acto knife, then break it over theedge of a table, holding both sides of the break firmly. You may need to break off more than you want with the first break.

To cut the traces on a stripboard, you can use a drill bit held in your hand and just turned into one of the holes until the metal is scraped away and broken. A close-uppicture below shows the result.

I didn't have a plan going into this, but I basically just set up + and - rails and lined up the regulators on them. The regulators all use the input voltage from the transformer(18V AC ends up being around 28V DC) and common grounds, so they can be placed in a line, and then the output pin connections can be cut with the drill bit.

I wired the large capacitors off-board because I wanted them to protrude from the top of the chassis, and they just take up too much room on the PCB.

Solder the 220 ohm resistor to the LED. Then solder wires to the resistor and LED and connect the positive wire of the LED (the longer leg) to the output of the 5Vregulator and the negative wire to any negative point on the board.

Testing the circuit is difficult, so just triple-check that everything is correct. Before you turn it on use a multimeter to check for shorts between ground and the inputvoltage, and check each output voltage with the input voltage and ground to make sure nothing is shorted out and would cause damage.

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Image Notes1. Partially done PCB

Image Notes1. Negative from rectifier.2. Positive from Rectifier

Step 5: AssemblyShort version: Put it together.

Long version: The best components to start with are the DC jacks. I used hot glue to hold them in place because the threaded portions weren't long enough to reachthrough the plastic and the aluminum and still have room for a nut. Make sure that they are all aligned straight ( I messed this up) so that they will be easier to wire up.Use lots of hot glue to make sure they won't get pushed in when being plugged into.

Next, install the transformer, fuse holder and IEC receptacle. Use nuts and bolts for the IEC and the transformer, and use the nut supplied with the fuse holder to fasten itin place. Also put the toggle switch in place so that you can wire up the AC portion of the circuit before the big caps and board get in the way.

That being said, now is a good time to wire up some more of the circuit. Solder one wire from the primary (120V) side of the transformer to one of the locations on theback of the IEC receptacle. The two that are next to each other are the Live and Neutral, the other lower one is the Earth which we won't use since this is a plastichousing. Connect the other wire from the primary side of the transformer to the fuse holder, then solder a wire from the fuse holder to the toggle switch, and from thetoggle switch back to the remaining connection on the IEC receptacle. The chain should be:

IEC -> Transformer -> Fuse -> Toggle switch -> Back to IEC

Now that those are in place, put in the circuit board and caps. To affix the capacitors, I put a zip tie around each one, and then rested them inside on the zip tie, and gluedthem in place.

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Image Notes1. Positives connected and negatives daisy-chained together.

Image Notes1. This wire is connecting 9V from one jack to the other.2. This wire is chaining the common negative for all the jacks.

Step 6: Assembly ContinuedSolder the wires from the secondary side of the transformer to the AC input pins of the rectifier on the circuit board.

To hook up the DC jacks, cut nine pieces of wire about 1" long. Solder wires from the center pin of Jack 1 to the center of Jack 2, Jack 3 to Jack 4, and Jack 5 to Jack 6.With the remaining 1" segments, daisy chain wire to a remaining pin on each jack. This will link all the negatives together.

Cut four 3" segments of wire. Solder one end of each to the 12V regulator output, 9V regulator output, 5V regulator output, and a common negative point, respectfully.Then solder the other ends to a center pin of a 12V jack, a 9V jack, a 5V jack, and the daisy-chained jack negatives, respectfully.

Put the LED holder in place, and snap the LED in.

With the board up away from the jacks, make sure there are no short circuits, especially on the AC side of the circuit, and then carefully plug in the power supply and seeif it works. Use a multimeter to check that there is 12V at the 12V jacks, 9V at the 9V, etc. The LED should light up.

BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL AS YOU HAVE LIVE EXPOSED 120V WIRES THAT COULD ELECTROCUTE YOU VERY EASILY.

Next, put some electrical tape across the DC jacks so that nothing on the circuit board can touch them and short out. The metal plates on the regulators are connected toground and will short out anything they touch. Also tape the pins of the capacitors and around the 120VAC connections for safety.

If everything works great, bend the circuit board back into the case. A nice touch would be to put some two sided tape on the back of it and stick it to the inside of thecover plate. Screw the box shut.

Image Notes1. This wire is connecting 9V from one jack to the other.2. This wire is chaining the common negative for all the jacks.

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Image Notes1. 2.1mm DC jacks2. The connector attached to the center is the Positive, all others are negatives.

Step 7: Finished!You now have your very own guitar pedal power supply! Use it to run your pedals without having to waste batteries and streamline your pedal board or setup withoutneeding several DC wall adaptors.

The beauty of this design is it is very customizable and expandable. If you include a center-tapped transformer you can add negative voltages to power some elaboratehomebrew pedals or amplifiers. The possibilities are endless and this is a great starting point.

I hope you liked my Instructions. They're a little long in the tooth but I wanted to make sure that the maximum amount of information was available with minimalmisinterpretation. Please leave a comment if you have any questions or thoughts.

Thanks for reading!

Matt

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Comments

50 comments Add Comment view all 131 comments

 liquidribs says:  May 13, 2012. 1:19 AM  REPLYBy any chance are you able to build one and sell it to me?

 NADYSTudiOs says:  Feb 26, 2012. 10:31 AM  REPLYI'm making my own power supply, and we found that, if you are using BOSS brand pedals, the center core of the dc power jack is NEGATIVE and theoutside is POSITIVE. I made the same mistake as you but luckily the pedals seem to have protection from that.

 mattthegamer463 says:  Feb 26, 2012. 12:31 PM  REPLYYes you are correct,but in my case, not a mistake. Pedals which use the pin-negative wiring make it difficult to build a pedal in a metal housing, since theinput and output jacks have metal exteriors that are grounded, and typical DC jacks are also metal exteriors, if you connect that metal exterior to yourvoltage supply then you will short your voltage to ground. Thus I make my homemade pedals with pin-positive setups to avoid this hassle. I will add awarning in the article.

 yoyology says:  Apr 26, 2012. 1:35 PM  REPLYIf you have pin-negative pedals to deal with, do you create crossover cables to use with this power supply? Do you crack open the pedal and rewirethe power jack the "right" way?

It's interesting when you have a near-standard like this, deciding what to do with the outliers.

Nicely made instructable, by the way. I love the look of the giant caps busting out of the enclosure, and how neatly you fit everything together inside.

 mattthegamer463 says:  Apr 26, 2012. 2:16 PM  REPLYThanks for the comments.

I made a couple crossover cables for store-bought pedals, and an extra-long shaft for my Crybaby. all the pedals I make myself are pin-positive,simply because metallic enclosures mean that I have to do a lot of work to isolate the barrel jack from the enclosure. It just seems silly.

Rewiring pedals is difficult since most use board-mounted DC jacks, not much you can do without making a mess and compromising your pedal'sprofessional build quality.

If there weren't any issues I would go with pin-negative just to make life easier.

 theviper21 says:  Apr 6, 2012. 10:28 AM  REPLYReally enjoyed this one and am planning on building it next week or so!

Had a quick question - my transformer has two black wires and one green. I assume the green goes to ground on my IEC, but how does the wiring work forthe two black ones? I am guessing one goes to neutral and the other one goes to live, but for the live one do I put the switch and fuse in between the IECand the transformer so it goes like: IEC (Live) > Switch > Fuse > Transformer || IEC (neutral) > Transformer ? With a lighted switch, do I connect the groundto the earth ground on the IEC?

Thanks!!

 mattthegamer463 says:  Apr 6, 2012. 8:22 PM  REPLYYour wiring sounds good, but the ground from your IEC should go to your enclosure, if it is made of metal, for safety.

 mattthegamer463 says:  Apr 6, 2012. 8:14 PM  REPLYYour transformer should have 2-3 wires on one side and 2-3 wires on the other. The two black and green are likely the secondary (output) winding, thetwo blacks being the AC output, and the green being the center tap. Read up on transformers before using and be careful, AC power is alwaysdangerous.

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 jdorne says:  Mar 4, 2012. 9:00 PM  REPLYHello, just a question: will using 1 7809 regulator for 10 outputs work? Just have all the outputs in parallel?

I see that the regulators are 1A max and I jumped to the conclusion that 1A will be enough for 10 9V outputs as the BOSS DC Brick power supply uses an18V 1A input and has 3 18V outputs and 7 9V outputs.

 mattthegamer463 says:  Mar 5, 2012. 8:55 AM  REPLYTheoretically it would work but you will definitely need a decent sized heatsink for the regulator. The unit can handle 1A of current through, but that isbased on how much wattage it has to dissipate. If it is being fed a 20V supply and regulating down to 9V at 1A, thats 11W of heat it has to lose. It can'tdo that no matter how big a heatsink you have attached. Try to keep this in mind. I would recommend three or four regulators for 10 outputs.

Running off a 12V battery you can cut the front of the circuit off at C1, but I would include a 1-2A fuse because 12V SLA batteries can deliver a lot ofcurrent, it is possible to start a fire with one so for safety it is best to include a fuse, in series, with the battery and the rest of the circuit.

 jdorne says:  Mar 4, 2012. 9:02 PM  REPLYAlso, I am running this off a 12V SLA battery, so will I just use the part of the circuit to the right of C1-3 ? (not having 12V outputs, just 9V)

 AIRVace says:  Jan 27, 2012. 2:37 PM  REPLYi make it but it makes a lot of noise.do you think that if i put larger capacitors it will be less noise ?

 mattthegamer463 says:  Jan 27, 2012. 3:08 PM  REPLYWhat values are you currently using?

 AIRVace says:  Jan 29, 2012. 2:58 PM  REPLYThree 10uF 63V and one 1000uF 50V on the regulator

 mattthegamer463 says:  Jan 29, 2012. 3:26 PM  REPLYSeems strange, I don't think your issue is related to capacitor values. Perhaps placement, or one is shorted out.

Do you hear the noise out of your amplifier or is the noise from the power supply itself?

 AIRVace says:  Jan 30, 2012. 10:58 AM  REPLYthe noise comes from the amplifier the power supply is fine

 mattthegamer463 says:  Jan 30, 2012. 12:17 PM  REPLYAre you sure its the supply introducing the noise? Either way I am out of ideas about what it could be without perhaps seeing somepictures of your build.

 MusicManDR3W says:  May 5, 2011. 5:43 PM  REPLYwhat output are your 9v supplys? Im trying to find a build for something to power my 200+mA pedals

 mattthegamer463 says:  May 6, 2011. 12:39 PM  REPLYThe 7809 regulator comes in a TO-220 package which can deliver 1A. If your transformer can deliver 1A at its rated voltage per regulator, you're all set.

 monchis30 says:  Sep 6, 2011. 12:38 AM  REPLYThis is my first proyect,, and I have to say thanks, what a great experience, I started Saturday morning without knowing absolutely nothing about electronicsand ended today with a great power supply.

My design its simpler ,I did it for only 9v,. It took me a long time to understand the diagram and I more than triple check everything and did everything verycarefully

One question..How many pedals can I daisy chain from a single line(or whatever its called)? , for what is worth I used the smaller  100uF capacitors andcurrently Im daisy chainning 2 overdrives and a wah without any problems, but I may add another one or two pedals more in the short future.

Thanks

Heres a couple of pics

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-A-Power-Supply-For-Your-Guitar-Pedals/

 mattthegamer463 says:  Sep 6, 2011. 5:20 AM  REPLYNice job. Those regulators should deliver 1A at maximum load, and each of those pedals probably doesn't ever draw more than 100mA, so you couldprobably daisy chain 5 or 6 or so without issue. Worst case scenario is that the chip will overheat and shut off, but no damage done.

 amarafioti says:  Nov 12, 2011. 6:27 AM  REPLYhey man, great tutorial! I'm a noobie in electronics, I've builted power supplies before but your design really caught me. Great building! and it seams reallysolid. Just, why didn't you used any dissipators or heat sink? and, how can i know how much current is being drained away through the led?Txs for the tutorial man, it's great

 mattthegamer463 says:  Nov 12, 2011. 8:27 PM  REPLYThe regulators can run up to 1A without heatsinks, and I won't ever need that much power, that is a lot of power. The small transformer I used can't evendeliver that much if it wanted to, its only rated for 300mA.

To find the current through the LED take the supply voltage minus the LED voltage (5V - 2.1V = 2.9V) and divide it by the resistance in series with theLED (220 ohm) and you get 13mA. A little lower than the maximum for the LED which is 20mA so it will work fine and not be too bright.

 Electronics Blurred says:  Nov 22, 2011. 11:24 PM  REPLYWell not really , i did 800mA through a 7812 ( i forgot my heatsink ! ) , it overheated instantly and shutdown was engaged .

 mattthegamer463 says:  Nov 23, 2011. 5:03 AM  REPLYAh. Perhaps the engineers fudged some numbers on the datasheet. I bet if your input voltage was only 1V above the output voltage it could do1A, that would only be 1W of heat, really not that much.

 Thereyouhaveit says:  Nov 23, 2011. 1:07 PM  REPLYIT was worse , man , mine overheated w/o the input v over the output , because i was a fool at the time , because somebody recommendedme a 7812 , even with a 12v input , i wasn't a electronics engineer at that time ... so it was only doing dropout voltage yet 1.7W+/- overheatedit ...

 mattthegamer463 says:  Nov 23, 2011. 3:32 PM  REPLYThat's only about 150mA output current then... very strange. Maybe the junction was mis-attached to the tab, resulting in a junction-to-ambient temperature coefficient far worse than the specific rating. Only explanation I can think of unless the regulator wasn't meant to runat near-dropout. Some are low-dropout and some are not, I think. Some require 1V+ above output to function effectively.

 Thereyouhaveit says:  Nov 23, 2011. 8:57 PM  REPLYProbably yes :\

 AIRVace says:  Dec 3, 2011. 8:34 AM  REPLYi want to make power supply for 3 effect pedals.every pedal need 9V DC and 300mA what kind of transformer should i put? and have i need 3 sameregulators for 9V on output or i just have to put one ? tnx

 mattthegamer463 says:  Dec 3, 2011. 10:15 AM  REPLYFind a 9V 1A or 9VA output transformer, use 3 regulators as shown or one with a large heatsink, your choice.

 mcano2 says:  Nov 2, 2011. 5:13 PM  REPLYHello! I noticed in the diagram that there are some diodes, but I can't see where you used them, does it make any difference if you use them? I can't tell ifyou connected everything as is shown in the diagram, so the short version of this question would be, will it work the same if I build it exactly as in thediagram? Thanks in advance :)

 mattthegamer463 says:  Nov 3, 2011. 6:47 AM  REPLYHey, the diodes are arranged to form what is called a "bridge rectifier" and they actually sell integrated diode packages which have these diodes inside inthis configuration without having to deal with wiring each diode individually. On the PCB there is a black rectangular block, that is the bridge rectifier chip.The schematic representation is what is actually inside the chip. You can use either to achieve the same effect.

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 mcano2 says:  Nov 3, 2011. 2:41 PM  REPLYI see, is there any specific name for that component? So I can buy specifically the one I need.

Thank you very much for the prompt reply.

 mattthegamer463 says:  Nov 3, 2011. 3:42 PM  REPLYYes, they are known as "bridge rectifiers" and are a 4 pin device. Just make sure it is rated for a high enough current for the application. In thiscase not very high current is required, so almost any should work.

 mcano2 says:  Nov 3, 2011. 5:49 PM  REPLYGreat, thank you very much! I really appreciate your help.

 mattthegamer463 says:  Nov 3, 2011. 6:57 PM  REPLYNo problem. Glad to help.

 AIRVace says:  Oct 31, 2011. 2:09 PM  REPLYhey dude nice work! i want to ask does it work on 220V AC power and do I have to changed other components if i put a different transformator.thanks you inadnvace if you can help me because i am just a beginner.

 mattthegamer463 says:  Oct 31, 2011. 3:14 PM  REPLYYou just need to change the transformer to one that gives 9V when 220V is put in.

 Ultrakd says:  Oct 19, 2011. 9:47 AM  REPLYSo how many pedals could this have the ability to power?

 mattthegamer463 says:  Oct 19, 2011. 3:00 PM  REPLYAbout six. However if the transformer is upgraded to a larger, higher power one it could support up to 30.

 Ultrakd says:  Oct 19, 2011. 3:08 PM  REPLYWhat would I upgrade it to to be able to support more pedals?

 mattthegamer463 says:  Oct 19, 2011. 4:11 PM  REPLYCalculate power required for each pedal, typically 100mA, multiply by number of pedals, multiply by the highest voltage, say 9V.

If you have 30 pedals, 100mA each, thats 3A @ 9V you need, which is 27 watts.

So find a 9V 3A transformer, build a bridge rectifier circuit, add capacitors, put some large heatsinks on three 1A 7809 regulators, add outputcapacitors, and wire the output of each regulator to 10 output connectors.

It is very easy to scale the design almost indefinitely. You may want to consider a switch mode power supply to produce less heat and havehigher efficiency.

 Ultrakd says:  Oct 19, 2011. 5:34 PM  REPLYSo if I found a bigger transformer could I use everything else the same in the build? I would like to have on that could power about 10 pedals.

 mattthegamer463 says:  Oct 19, 2011. 8:39 PM  REPLYYes. Get a 9V transformer that can do 1A.

 mitiliray says:  Oct 16, 2011. 12:42 PM  REPLYHello!I have a EHX Germanium OD witch is a little sensitive to power supplies.It hums like crazy with "one spots" and daisy chains.It likes only batteries but i don't,for obvious reasons!Do you suggest i build this?Thanks!

 mattthegamer463 says:  Oct 16, 2011. 2:07 PM  REPLYPoorly designed pedals can put signal backwash into daisy chains, and unregulated wall supplies are only the right voltage at the rated current draw, sothey are often a few volts more. Not good.

A regulated supply made with a 7809, they are accurate to a few mV, more accurate than a battery, and with one small cap and several large caps onthe output they are extremely stable output, virtually no ripple.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-A-Power-Supply-For-Your-Guitar-Pedals/

In short, yes I think it will work for you.

 VAustin89 says:  Oct 6, 2011. 1:46 AM  REPLYNice project, I like it since it is that small and can easily be transported.. anyway I have a couple question,

-how do I add a negative voltage in it?-it has 6 outputs right? so does each output have one regulator? if it only uses one regulator for the nine volts, how many outputs could I create?-what is the use of the switch for?-and would it be possible to run both 9v and 12v together?

 mattthegamer463 says:  Oct 7, 2011. 5:32 PM  REPLYNegative voltage supplies use a center-tapped transformer. Google "Bi-polar power supply circuit" for examples and info.

This has six outputs, each regulator has 2 output connectors. Depending on your current demands for each pedal, you can calculate how many pedalsyou can connect to each regulator. Each regulator can deliver 1A, the average pedal will not exceed 100mA, you can probably put up to 10 pedals on asingle regulator. If you exceed the available current, the regulator will automatically shut down if it exceeds its maximum temperature.

The switch is to turn it on and off...

I'm not sure what you mean about 9V and 12V together, but you can put different voltage regulators in place anywhere you want. You can have any kindof voltage that the 78xx series regulators offer. Just don't connect different voltage regulator's output pins together or they'll be damaged. For example,plugging a cable from one output directly into another output. Bad.

 VAustin89 says:  Oct 7, 2011. 10:25 PM  REPLYthanks for the reply this instructable is great since I have plenty of pedals to build..

what I meant about using 9v and 12v together is, is it possible to have two voltage outputs, both 9 and 12 in one circuit?

 mattthegamer463 says:  Oct 31, 2008. 9:06 AM  REPLYYes. I did this. Different number regulators regulate to different voltages. I used 7809 and 7812 regulators to get 9V and 12V outputs.

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