can i underpower a digital pedlol by 3mA?
Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 1:47 pm
i have a 250mA spot on my psu that i want to use on a digital pedal that draws 253mA 
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Re: can i underpower a digital pedlol by 3mA?
Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 1:54 pm
It's safe.
Re: can i underpower a digital pedlol by 3mA?
Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 1:55 pm
tremolo3 wrote:It's safe.
thanks2nd power question: can i power a 12v pedal by attaching a voodooLab currentdoubler Y cable to both a 12v and a 12.3v psu slot? ugh
Re: can i underpower a digital pedlol by 3mA?
Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:44 pm
Not sure if I understand what you're trying to do, but current doubler Y cable will only sum both ports' current. ie: 2x 250mA = 1x 500mA.
If both ports are 12V, the voltage will remain 12V as the cable it's a current doubler, not a voltage doubler.
If you're worried about that .3 mismatch between a 12V and a 12.3V, I wouldn't be that worried to fry a pedal as long as those are unregulated outputs.
My advice is: contact your PSU's brand support
If both ports are 12V, the voltage will remain 12V as the cable it's a current doubler, not a voltage doubler.
If you're worried about that .3 mismatch between a 12V and a 12.3V, I wouldn't be that worried to fry a pedal as long as those are unregulated outputs.
My advice is: contact your PSU's brand support
Re: can i underpower a digital pedlol by 3mA?
Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 8:47 pm
Unless it's over-engineered, running your PSU at or above rated current will shorten its lifespan. 1% is not drastic, so in all probability it's okay - unless the ratings are from the marketing department..
I would not double up on power supplies feeding a circuit, especially if they are in any way dissimilar. You want one controller (I'm talking about the "brain" of the switchmode, or the reference path of the linear) "overseeing" all the work, once you put another one in there all hell can break loose. I would suspect that a "current doubling" cable is to sum from two legs of a single supply (I can think of a few topologies in which even this is ill-advised).
TL;DR, you're probably fine with what you've got. 253 mA is probably a maximum surge rating that will only be approached once in a very long while. If it's steady state pull (ie: analog equipment) I would recommend doubling the size (measured in current capability) of your PSU as soon as possible.
If your digital pedal does funky shit, it could mean it's starved for current.
I would not double up on power supplies feeding a circuit, especially if they are in any way dissimilar. You want one controller (I'm talking about the "brain" of the switchmode, or the reference path of the linear) "overseeing" all the work, once you put another one in there all hell can break loose. I would suspect that a "current doubling" cable is to sum from two legs of a single supply (I can think of a few topologies in which even this is ill-advised).
TL;DR, you're probably fine with what you've got. 253 mA is probably a maximum surge rating that will only be approached once in a very long while. If it's steady state pull (ie: analog equipment) I would recommend doubling the size (measured in current capability) of your PSU as soon as possible.
If your digital pedal does funky shit, it could mean it's starved for current.
Re: can i underpower a digital pedlol by 3mA?
Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2020 10:59 am
Look on Voolabs site too. I did stuff like that but I had to read up on it. Most of my shit was 18v though. Not sure about 12v. What pedal is that?
Re: can i underpower a digital pedlol by 3mA?
Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2020 3:44 pm
I wouldn't worry about 3mA difference, that's a pretty small amount. most likely you won't actually be under-powering your pedal, you'll just be making your power supply work a little harder.
I know for some power supplies, the labels are just recommendations, and in you'll be fine as long as your total current draw from all pedals isn't higher than the sum of all the outputs. the 1 spot pro power supplies are like this. there's a max of 1900mA, and you can plug a 400mA pedal into the 200mA outputs, so long as your other pedals don't draw more than 1500mA.
I don't know if the voodoo lab pp2+ shares current between outputs like the 1 spot pro, but I do run my 300mA strymon timeline with one of the two 250mA outputs on my pp2+. I haven't had any problems in the past couple years, but maybe I can't be trusted haha
I know for some power supplies, the labels are just recommendations, and in you'll be fine as long as your total current draw from all pedals isn't higher than the sum of all the outputs. the 1 spot pro power supplies are like this. there's a max of 1900mA, and you can plug a 400mA pedal into the 200mA outputs, so long as your other pedals don't draw more than 1500mA.
I don't know if the voodoo lab pp2+ shares current between outputs like the 1 spot pro, but I do run my 300mA strymon timeline with one of the two 250mA outputs on my pp2+. I haven't had any problems in the past couple years, but maybe I can't be trusted haha