Members Potts Posted November 17, 2012 Members Share Posted November 17, 2012 So 2 gigs ago I plugged in my pedal board to find out my Digitech Vocalist 2 was dead. Of course I panicked for a minute until I realized that it was probably just the power adapter. I played the gig- no big deal. I went to Radio Shack on Wednesday and picked up a new one- same specs. I got to last night's gig and it powered up the lights but the pedal didn't work. I'm now starting to panic. It's not that I need it , but I love the pedal and the way that my 58' sounds through it even without the harmony function engaged. I went back to Radio Shack this morning and exchanged the adapter for a different one and it still didn't work. The dude there was very helpful and knowledgeable but he figured the pedal was dead. I wasn't about to give up because I simply cant afford to go out and get another one-- I'm broke. I went to Guitar Center- the dude pulled a box out with a more durable looking adapter and BAM! It worked. I'm soooo fricken happy right now! I have a gig tonight and everything is back to normal. The moral of the story- don't but power adapters from Radio Shack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted November 17, 2012 Moderators Share Posted November 17, 2012 ah, yes, the voltage may match (lamps light up), but if the amperage is too low it will not drive the circuit. Glad you got the right power supply! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Voltan Posted November 18, 2012 Members Share Posted November 18, 2012 POWER TO THE PEDAL!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MusicalSchizo Posted November 18, 2012 Members Share Posted November 18, 2012 So the Radio Shack adapter was exactly the same specs? I know that the adapter for my VL4 is AC-AC not AC-DC like most other pieces of musical gear. Makes me wonder...and also makes me think if it was wrong that you're lucky it didn't fry your Vocalist 2. Glad to hear it's back in service! Brian V. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Potts Posted November 18, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 18, 2012 I bet what you're inferring is correct. There's no way that they could have been the EXACT same specs huh? I don't know much about these things so I'm a little in the dark. I used it last night and it was fine so I'm really happy! So the Radio Shack adapter was exactly the same specs? I know that the adapter for my VL4 is AC-AC not AC-DC like most other pieces of musical gear. Makes me wonder...and also makes me think if it was wrong that you're lucky it didn't fry your Vocalist 2. Glad to hear it's back in service! Brian V. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted November 18, 2012 Members Share Posted November 18, 2012 It's probably worth entioning again that it's important to have all your gear's adaptor specs before you go shopping for an after market one. Bring your old adaptor and pedal if you can. As mentioned you need to pay very close attention to the polarity of the adaptor (that funny looking diagram near the female adaptor in) and whether it's an AC or DC adaptor - big difference. You should also know the exact milliamps (abbreviated as mA) to run your gear. Generally IME (but buyer beware) you can be a little over the required milliamps and your gear will just draw what it needs, but you don't want to be under. And when checking out the adaptor make sure it has been certified by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) or a similar organization (Canadian Standars... CSA). Of course some people will fake this sometimes - welcome to the bottom line. I don't use Radio shack for my adaptors but go to a "real" electronics shop such as this one http://www.rpelectronics.com/ I'm sure there are many others South of my border. And finally, yes indeed you can fry a pedal... by using the wrong adaptor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted November 18, 2012 Members Share Posted November 18, 2012 If your pedal calls for AC then the supply must be AC and likewise DC = DC. Voltage should be "close" +20%/-10% will probably be fine in a pinch. Current must be equal or greater. It doesn't matter how much greater (as in X100 greater wouldn't make any difference except you'd probably trip over it Generally speaking, digital units freak out when the supply voltage is on the low side and if the current is even a little low they may startup and then just quit. Analog units are much more forgiving. The best bet of course is to replace with the factory supplied unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted November 19, 2012 Members Share Posted November 19, 2012 If your pedal calls for AC then the supply must be AC and likewise DC = DC. Voltage should be "close" +20%/-10% will probably be fine in a pinch. Current must be equal or greater. It doesn't matter how much greater (as in X100 greater wouldn't make any difference except you'd probably trip over it Generally speaking, digital units freak out when the supply voltage is on the low side and if the current is even a little low they may startup and then just quit. Analog units are much more forgiving. The best bet of course is to replace with the factory supplied unit. Not being of your stature, I was hesitant to say that you can be way over your current, but that has been my understanding and experience. I was also hesitant to say that you can fudge the volts by a little but it's a valid point - although I didn't just say that Thanks for chiming in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted November 19, 2012 Members Share Posted November 19, 2012 You can sometimes get away with putting a slightly higher DC voltage into a unit that calls for AC power, but you would have to know some details of the circuit in order to ensure that was safe, and to calculate how much "slightly" is, and to figure out if the polarity would matter. The back panel on the "Digitech Vocalist Live 2", if that's what Potts has (Digitech Vocalist 2 appears to be a 1U rack unit) specifically calls for 9VAC at 1.3A. Potts, any idea how the original died? Unless it was badly overheated or short-circuited, it is probably a bad cord. There's almost certainly nothing inside the box except a transformer and maybe a fuse. I have no problem buying power supplies from Radio Shack (except for the price); what I have a problem with is the employees Radio Shack hires. It's been a long time since you could bring in an amp and have the guy in the back fix it. Now they don't even know the difference between AC and DC. Sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted November 19, 2012 Members Share Posted November 19, 2012 Potts, any idea how the original died? How old was it? The laws changed in California (and then about everywhere else in the world) about 5 years ago. Power supplies now need to be of the "green" variety meaning they draw almost no current when the device they are powering is not active. Older "non-green" power supplies typically did draw current and therefore were always "on" so they had a tendency to burnout over a much shorter period of time comparatively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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