Battery PSU's

LuttiS

I don't use my pedalboard at home that much as it's too much of a faff to pull out the gear hiding chair, get everything out, plug it in the amp, connect in the psu, to plug that in too, turn everything on and look out the window to see wife and child getting home so have to pack everything up and resume normal duties. 

If i'm going to play with an amp i would usually just get out the HT1 from under the chair plug that in and go. But sometimes, it's just fun to use a few effects - also, last time i properly used board in jam situation i couldn't remember what half the settings did.. 



So i started looking at battery PSUs for pedalboard (and wireless guitar, but that's for another time) - I've only got a miniboard with not much power draw - biggest pedal is a Keeley Caverns which covers all delay/reverb only has a 75mA draw i think - rest of the pedals are mini drives and such ranging from 3mA Boost, 10 & 15mA drives, 15mA phaser and 22mA autowah - so as far as i know, it shouldn't be a massive drain on a battery. 

Looked at the Volto and usual contenders and decided that i can't justify the price. Then came across the Warwick Rockboard Power LT XL. Watched a Henning video and he seems to be driving quite a high consumption (and apparently a potentially noisy) board from it quite happily - doesn't say how long for though.

The UK price on these is £45ish new. Which enters the realms of possibility. Anyone have these or tried them? Any anecdotal evidence (the best kind ) or reasons for or against? Or better options?

PolarityMan

All 3 of the stringed isntrument players in my band have one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Donner-Guitar-Supply-Isolated-Output/dp/B0778GPWMR/ref=sr_1_3?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1538480125&sr=1-3&keywords=donner+pedal+board

So far no issues.

steamabacus

This one from Thomann looks ok and a good price with all the connectors, etc.

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_powerplant_powerbank.htm?ref=intl&shp=eyJjb3VudHJ5IjoiZ2IiLCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6IjIiLCJsYW5ndWFnZSI6ImVuIn0%3D 

I've no personal experience of them but I may well get one myself to try out.

If you're proficient with basic soldering, a cheaper option (and what I've used at recent gigs) is a home-built battery box like the one top right in this pic of my small board ...

The one shown is for 6 standard alkaline AA batteries for 9V (but a better current capacity than a single PP3). The left pedal is a TC delay at around 100mA draw, the others much less thirsty, and there is easily enough juice for a couple of gigs (probably more).

I have also made a battery box for use with rechargeable AA batteries - for this I used an 8xAA box as rechargeables have a nominal 1.2V output, so 8x1.2V = nominal 9.6V (actually a bit over 10 fully charged but still ok with 9V pedals). I haven't gigged the rechargeable version so can't give any indication of how long the rechargeables last compared to the alkalines.

The battery boxes cost around £3.00 each on eBay and I just had to solder on a cable and connector (which I had in the spares draw). The boxes even have an on/off switch so you can leave them plugged in if wanted.

MattBanshee

PolarityMan said:

All 3 of the stringed isntrument players in my band have one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Donner-Guitar-Supply-Isolated-Output/dp/B0778GPWMR/ref=sr_1_3?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1538480125&sr=1-3&keywords=donner+pedal+board

So far no issues.

Not rechargeable though?

MattBanshee

I use the Mooer Pedal Power (which I believe is very similar to the Rockboard one?) and it performs admirably on my bass board which currently has 4 pedals, tuner and DI.

LuttiS

I do have a regular power supply but i am thinking more of the wireless/rechargable kind.

MattBanshee said:

I use the Mooer Pedal Power (which I believe is very similar to the Rockboard one?) and it performs admirably on my bass board which currently has 4 pedals, tuner and DI.

How long does it last between charges?

MattBanshee

LuttiS said:

I do have a regular power supply but i am thinking more of the wireless/rechargable kind.

MattBanshee said:

I use the Mooer Pedal Power (which I believe is very similar to the Rockboard one?) and it performs admirably on my bass board which currently has 4 pedals, tuner and DI.

How long does it last between charges?

I think it ran out once after I didn't charge it for approx 4-5 four hour band practices.

MattBanshee

This: https://www.gak.co.uk/en/mooer-audio-mp-power-rechargable-peda-power-supply/98980?gclid=Cj0KCQjwrszdBRDWARIsAEEYhrd9zTCjHXW5aOlsLg4aQLJ47d1wxyyLLJ9VSHsn08uPGFZSFiTchRcaAmdQEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

PolarityMan

MattBanshee said:

PolarityMan said:

All 3 of the stringed isntrument players in my band have one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Donner-Guitar-Supply-Isolated-Output/dp/B0778GPWMR/ref=sr_1_3?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1538480125&sr=1-3&keywords=donner+pedal+board

So far no issues.

Not rechargeable though?

Had not clockked that was the requirement....d'oh

ecc83

I have mentioned the "AA battery box" at least twice here in the past. Glad to see it gaining some traction!

Maplin used to do the battery boxes  but I guess CPC et al will have them. The AA is the best option IMHO because you can buy them anywhere. In fact you can get a rake of Carbon Zinc cheapies from "rockbottom" type shops , do a weeks gigs for about a quid!

Dave.

LuttiS

I'm intrigued by the battery box idea because I'm nothing of not cheap... 
Soldering skills are at level where I know which is the hot end, and can do basic repairs and stuff.. 

What's needed for it? 

steamabacus

The battery boxes come with a couple of wires already attached - the twisted red and black wires in the pic. All you need to do is wire a longer bit of cable (the attached wires are about 6 inches or so - I felt a bit extra would help) onto them with a 2.1mm barrel plug on the end. A bit of tape or shrink wrap over the connection to finish it off.

One minor issue that cropped up (more with the batteries than the box) was that some Maplins own brand rechargeables didn't have a long enough positive 'tip' on the battery to connect properly through the casing to the connector on the very first battery slot (where it connects to the switch). This was only a problem with those specific batteries and only affected the first battery position in the box. Other brands and the Maplin alkalines all fitted perfectly ok.

ecc83

The battery boxes I got from Maps all had a PP3 type clip on them and so I bought PP3 clip leads to suit. Belts and braces because you can clip in a PP3 if you don't have AAs immediately to hand.

Dave.

Grumpyrocker

I've got one of those Rockboard XL battery packs powering my board. Works really well. So much quieter than using mains. As an added bonus it has a regular USB out too - which came in very handy for powering my phone in a recent power cut.

LuttiS

Grumpyrocker said:

I've got one of those Rockboard XL battery packs powering my board. Works really well. So much quieter than using mains. As an added bonus it has a regular USB out too - which came in very handy for powering my phone in a recent power cut.

Cool - what's on your board and how long does it last for you?

Grumpyrocker

LuttiS said:

Grumpyrocker said:

I've got one of those Rockboard XL battery packs powering my board. Works really well. So much quieter than using mains. As an added bonus it has a regular USB out too - which came in very handy for powering my phone in a recent power cut.

Cool - what's on your board and how long does it last for you?

My board currently consists of:

Digitech Hardwire SC-2 Distortion
Zoom MS70CDR
TC Flashback Delay (Mk 1)
TC Hall of Fame Reverb (Mk 1)
Boss RC-Looper

So not a huge board, but some rather power hungry pedals there. 

I have used it to run a much bigger run of pedals than that. It has two outputs, so you can run two daisy chains. 

Not gigging at the moment. But the battery pack last hours and hours. Certainly way beyond the length of a single gig. Would likely do two or more - though obviously you'd charge it before then.