pedal board

[patman]

Alright, I finally bought a pedalboard for all of the stompboxes (2 eq's, buffer preamp for electric upright, and envelope filter)

Worked great Friday night...Saturday night I kept losing power from the power source....it was outdoors, hot and 100% humidity...when I touched the power plug into the stompbox, then the sound would snap on again

Is there a way to make these more reliable, especially the DC plug that goes into the stompbox? (after Saturday, I will put new 9 volts in everything for backup)

Pat

[Pilgrim]

It would help to know how you're configured.  Are you using Boss pedals and daisy-chaining from the first pedal to the rest?  Are you using a board that distributes power through individual connectors? Are you using a Godlyke or Dunlop brick? 

If the adapter or socket are damaged or bent, one option may simply be to replace them.  It's not hard to put a new connector on the end of a 9V source, and it's usually manageable to replace a socket where the 9V plugs in.

[patman]

pedals are all different-Boss Ibanez Fishman Digitech

not sure what the power supply is...I daisy chain Fishman buffer preamp to Ibanez eq for the upright bass/I do Boss eq to Digitech envelope filter for bass guitar--both instruments then go to a Boss a/b switch, and then into the amp---it's the Boss type connectors on the Digitech pedal and the Boss eq that were causing the problem Saturday

[Pilgrim]

One thing to check is polarity on the pedals.  I'm not sure that boss and Digitech are the same inner/outer polarity, although if they're working at all you're probably OK.

If you're using a single power supply, add up the individual current requirements of the individual pedals and check that number against the max output of the power supply.  If you are trying to draw more current than the max available, you will have failures.  

Voltage is one thing - mostly 9V for pedals, but some differ.  However, the current demand (usually listed in Milliamps) of each pedal varies.  Power=voltage times current, and if you try to draw more power than is available, you have problems.

BUT - that doesn't sound like your problem.  Yours sounds like a broken wire.  If the power supply capacity number checks, maybe you just have a bad wire or connector.  To troubleshoot wires, I usually lay things out, connect them and turn them on, and start twisting the wire in my fingers a few inches at a time, starting at the power supply.  Most breaks are at one end or the other from flexing the wire too much.  

It's always easy to cut a couple of inches off the end of the power supply cable and replace the connector at the pedal end - not as easy to replace the whole wire from the supply to the pedal.

[patman]

Will check the current draw of the pedals--I suspect the digitech pedal is a hog in this department--a new 9 volt will only last about 2 hours in that particular pedal---kind of limits it's usefulness

[Pilgrim]

Will check the current draw of the pedals--I suspect the digitech pedal is a hog in this department--a new 9 volt will only last about 2 hours in that particular pedal---kind of limits it's usefulness

I understand - but having used batteries in a wide range of professional and non-pro applications, I avoid them when possible.  I figure I need AC to drive my amp, so adding an AC adapter for the pedals is no sweat and increases the system's reliability.  I have about five pedals and no desire to start checking batteries before a gig.

[Highlander]

I go with Al on the problem with the source... some multi-purpose PSU's I saw in the past came with a bunch of leads to plug into individual units... an option would be to "hard wire" to the effect's PCB (which overcomes polarity issues), then that minimises the connection issues... batteries are a last resort in effects, unless you work for Duracell... 

oh yeah, and always work from the source, outwards through the system...

I only use one effect... the on/off switch...  works for me...