9v to 18v adaptor

shuikit

Does anyone have any experience with the diago 9v to 18v adaptor?  Or is there a cheapskate version or method of doing the same thing?  Thinking about experimenting with 18v into my OCD.

http://www.diago.co.uk/adaptors/18v.html

monquixote

I used to have one. 

It worked OK as far as I could tell and made my GT500 sound quite different. 

It does however make pedals insanely loud. 

steamabacus

No experience of the diago, but if you've got a power supply with isolated outputs you can get 18v by running two 9v outputs in series. You can get cables to achieve this on ebay, or it's a fairly simple matter to make your own if you can solder.

Sporky

£12 doesn't seem that much to me.

You can make a DC converter yourself using something like a MAX1044 but by the time you've added the diodes and caps, some polarity protection and put it in a box you might as well just buy it pre-made.

Cirrus

You're looking for a cheapskate alternative!?!?!

Steal one I guess?

dindude

I haz one, it gets used, it does it's job well. Unless they are giving them away with cereal boxes then good value too.

shuikit

Don't have an isolated power supply, I use one of those Johnny Shredfreak ones that was supposedly a clone of a diago or a 1spot.

Hehe.. I'm always looking for a cheaper way of doing something, didn't know if a generic version was available or if it would be a lot cheaper to make something.

Sporky

Certainly not cheaper if you value your time, and to be honest with the postage on the parts and the cost of the parts themselves I don't think you'd save anything making one.

Flanging_Fred

I got the diago 9 to 18 volt converter for my 18v MXR chorus and it works fine. I also got their isolator to use with a loopstation. That died pretty quickly so a mixed bag with their adapters.

not_the_dj

Never heard of trying it with the MXR modulation pedals. I might try that. I've got a couple ordered to try with my Catalinbread drive pedals. Could the issue with the isolator have been the mA required for the looper? The isolator's got quite a low rating IIRC (I wanted one for my EHX Freeze).

Sporky

That could well be it - the charge pump chips that I suspect they're using have a very limited current handling capacity, and a looper is generally a pretty thirsty bit of kit.

dano

Sporky said:

That could well be it - the charge pump chips that I suspect they're using have a very limited current handling capacity, and a looper is generally a pretty thirsty bit of kit.

I see to recall with experiments ((both in work and diy electronics) that the MAX1044 can only deliver about 30mA before it saturates. There in a Linear part with a MAX1044 pinout but a much higher current rating, but for the life of me I can't recall its number.

Sporky

ICL7660? I think that's the one I used in the Valvesporker. 30mA sounds familiar; I think the ICL (though you have to get the high switching speed version or the pumping is audible) can do up to 100mA - not quite certain on that though.

Flanging_Fred

The loopstation (an RC2) is about 95mA IIRC and the isolator worked for the best part of a year before it gave up the ghost. I'll have to check the specs of the isolator to see if it was my fault for using it incorrectly. I certainly don't remember any stated restriction on the current it could take though...

not_the_dj

Flanging_Fred said:

The loopstation (an RC2) is about 95mA IIRC and the isolator worked for the best part of a year before it gave up the ghost. I'll have to check the specs of the isolator to see if it was my fault for using it incorrectly. I certainly don't remember any stated restriction on the current it could take though...

The specs say 110mA.

jpfamps

not_the_dj said:

Flanging_Fred said:

The loopstation (an RC2) is about 95mA IIRC and the isolator worked for the best part of a year before it gave up the ghost. I'll have to check the specs of the isolator to see if it was my fault for using it incorrectly. I certainly don't remember any stated restriction on the current it could take though...

The specs say 110mA.

Running a power supply at full spec is not recommended.

jpfamps

How much is an 18V supply?

Cirrus

about 18 volts I think.

monquixote

The isolators are very limited in current. 

Couldn't use them with a G3 as they don't output enough juice.