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Question for pedal modders - Carl Martin power issue

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MattPMattP Frets: 252
in FX

I have an old Carl Martin HDnB Mk 2 which I love, but it’s getting less and less use because of the annoying requirement it has for power. Instead of using a battery or plugging in from a power bank, the unit has – hardwired from it – a lead which, at the end, has the male pins for a standard ‘kettle’ lead. That means to power the thing, I always needs a spare kettle lead (which to be honest isn’t really a problem), but it does always need it’s own plug socket, which is more of an annoyance.

Are there any mods or adapters or anything that could help solve this by allowing it to be attached to a power bank? I don’t want to spend the earth as I have other distortion boxes I can use, but I really like this pedal and it seems a shame to confine it to a drawer if there’s an easy fix I’m not aware of.

Over to TFBs collective wisdom....

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Comments

  • Matt_McGMatt_McG Frets: 323
    According to the website, the internal PSU produces +/- 12V. Presumably for high headroom. No idea how it does it, though, but you might be able to tap in somewhere and run it off 12V or 9V, using a charge-pump to produce the required 24v of headroom.

    There are charge pumps that'll produce +/- 15V off a 5v input. Might be possible to knock up a circuit to produce +/- 12V.

    Or it might already incorporate the relevant charge pump type circuitry, and you just need to tap in at the point where the internal PSU produced DC. 

    You'd need someone with expertise to look at it, I suspect that unless they charge zero for their time, it'll not be economic.
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  • MattPMattP Frets: 252
    Matt_McG said:
    According to the website, the internal PSU produces +/- 12V. Presumably for high headroom. No idea how it does it, though, but you might be able to tap in somewhere and run it off 12V or 9V, using a charge-pump to produce the required 24v of headroom.

    There are charge pumps that'll produce +/- 15V off a 5v input. Might be possible to knock up a circuit to produce +/- 12V.

    Or it might already incorporate the relevant charge pump type circuitry, and you just need to tap in at the point where the internal PSU produced DC. 

    You'd need someone with expertise to look at it, I suspect that unless they charge zero for their time, it'll not be economic.
    Matt 

    thanks for your response - I won’t pretend to understand it completely but the end result, that it’s likely not economically viable to mod it in such a way, seems clear. Appreciate you taking the time to respond mate  :)
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  • DrJazzTapDrJazzTap Frets: 2168
    I have a Carl Martin two faze. I took the plug off wired on a iec socket and power it off the courtesy outlet on a voodoo labs pedal power plus 2. 
    I would love to change my username, but I fully understand the T&C's (it was an old band nickname). So please feel free to call me Dave.
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  • MattPMattP Frets: 252
    DrJazzTap said:
    I have a Carl Martin two faze. I took the plug off wired on a iec socket and power it off the courtesy outlet on a voodoo labs pedal power plus 2. 
    @DrJazzTap - thanks, that's really interesting. 

    I don't have a pp2+ and there's no courtesy outlet on my ancient power source. I didn't even know this was an option on modern supplies. This might be a solution. Perhaps time to go shopping!
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