Rechargeable battery pack idea for FX pedals

[Steve A.]

Rechargeable battery pack idea for FX pedals...

Rechargeable battery packs for FX pedals are a great idea but the $100 price tag? Not so good. The 9VDC Pedaltrain Volto for $100 is rated at 5000mAh and can supply 2000mA. My idea is to connect two identical 5V 2600mAh USB power packs* in series for a 10VDC rechargeable power supply. (A diode wired in series could drop that down to 9.3VDC if desired.)

My question is how to wire up two USB cables in series to supply 10VDC to the pedal(s). (Recharging the battery packs is not an issue as they would be charged individually.)

Mr. Wizard, tell me what to do!

Thanks!

Steve A.

* On sale these power packs sell for as low as $5 each (the ones with 2.1A outputs may cost a little more.)

[J M Fahey]

You can kludge a proper cable out of 2 standard USB cables, connected in series to plug each in a +5V pack, and the free ends soldered to a suitable pedal power plug:

[g1]

If these are lithium, you will need to make sure the voltage is divided up perfectly. They don't like over-voltage and it is quite a safety hazard.

edit: never mind, I see you stated they will be recharged individually. I'll leave it here anyway, just as a caution.

[Enzo]

Um, unless your USBs are coming from differetn places, aren't all the USBs on any one computer using the same +5 supply? In which case there is no way to series them.

[J M Fahey]

Um, unless your USBs are coming from differetn places, aren't all the USBs on any one computer using the same +5 supply? In which case there is no way to series them.

Ah, but RG isn't talking 2 USB jacks from same computer but:

connect two identical 5V 2600mAh USB power packs* in series

which of course would be floating.

[Steve A.]

never mind, I see you stated they will be recharged individually. I'll leave it here anyway, just as a caution.

Yeah, I figured that charging them together would be strange.
Another question: are there 9VDC FX pedals that would freak out if supplied with 10VDC? I'd probably want to wire in a diode anyway so that would bring it closer to 9VDC.

Thanks!

Steve A.

[Steve A.]

You can kludge a proper cable out of 2 standard USB cables, connected in series to plug each in a +5V pack, and the free ends soldered to a suitable pedal power plug:

Just to make sure the figures on the left represent the cable ends and the ones on the right represent the jacks on the devices... right?

Steve A.

[Steve A.]

Totally unrelated to topic at hand, but can someone explain the pinouts, etc., for USB 3.0?

Thanks!

Steve

[Mark Hammer]

Are there 9VDC FX pedals that would freak out if supplied with 10VDC? I'd probably want to wire in a diode anyway so that would bring it closer to 9VDC.

Thanks!

Steve A.

Depends on the type of pedal. Anything that relies heavily on a specific bias voltage, like a FET-based phaser, or anything using a BBD, can sometimes need something as close to 9VDC as possible to avoid the need to tweak bias. But most pedals will be just fine with 10 instead of 9. Fact of the matter is that most fresh 9v batteries come in at around 9.6VDC anyway, so what's another 400mv between friends?

[Richard]

I got a 9.6v NiCd battery pack for a remote control car and just use a regular adapter to charge it. I have another battery that I need to install so I can charge one and power my board from the other. It still needs some refinement but it's much better than replacing the battery in my digital delay every 3 hours or so.

[Mark Hammer]

Consider getting yourself 4 of these: Panasonic CGR18650DA Lithium Ion 18650 battery 3.6V 2450mAh - dipmicro electronics

Unless I'm mistaken, they'll fit into the same size holder as an AA, and a 4-AA holder hardly takes up much room at all.

[Chuck H]

Li Ion batteries often (if not normally) have circuits built into the battery itself to police recharge circumstances. I'm not sure you can simply series them and charge or even use them out of their normal context without some risk of problems (I know the intent is to charge them individually. Just mentioning it again).

They make NiCd cells for rebuilding power tool power packs. Eminently more tolerant of less than ideal recharge conditions. And eminently heavier too But certainly reliable. And cheap too since they're available for DIY guys who rebuild their own battery packs.

16 SubC Sub C Tab 2500mAh NiCd Rechargeable Battery YW | eBay

These could make a 5000mAh 9.6V pack for $28 US. But...

Once you deal with packaging, connectors/jacks, possible LED circuit and a wall wart to charge it's plain to see why the ready made units are a hundred bucks.

[Paleo Pete]

Chuck H beat me to it, I was going to suggest the same thing. Those are very reliable, don't mind charging in bunches, and last all day in my 18V cordless drill. You can get them in sets for almost any voltage a cordless drill is made. Different sizes are available too. I looked around a while back, it's about $30 for a set for my 12V Hilti drill. Not bad considering it's not easy to find proper replacements less than $50 or so.

I just use a 1000mA wall wart and a parallel box I made up for my pedal board, one in from the wall wart, 4 out. Seems to work fine. I usually only have 2 pedals powered up at once, so it has power to spare, and the only thing I have to buy batteries for is my acoustic, and the Arion Analog Delay for some reason refuses to work except on battery...so about 4 batteries a year is not that bad, at least compared to enough to power 4 pedals, tuner and the guitar...I dropped the Qwik Tune a while back and use a Snark now. 2032 battery, same as a computer and it seems to last forever.

[Steve A.]

I've picked up a few $5 2400mAh portable USB power packs from Fry's and have epoxied them together to get 10 and 15vdc. They are quite small and take up hardly any room at all on a pedal board. I still need to wire up the harnesses. Rather than add an in-line switch I think it'd be simpler to just unplug one of the USB cables.

FWIW I have several bigger capacity USB power packs for recharging my tablets and bluetooth speakers, and they work great freeing me from AC outlets.

Steve A.