tedmanzie Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Sorry, this is one of those 'why don't polar bears get cold feet' type questions. Can someone please put me out of my misery? Q: Why do effects pedals drain the battery when bypassed? So to be clear, I have left my lead plugged overnight into the 'in' socket of a Maxon OD9 Pro+ (true bypass apparently), and even though the pedal is 'off' the battery is dead the following morning. I have killed loads of 9v batteries like this. One of these days I'll get one of those power brick things... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertbass Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Once you plug into the input the power is switched on and will stay on until you unplug it again. The input socket is also the on / off switch. The bypass switch only bypasses the signal, not the power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 (edited) [quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1412155770' post='2566127'] Once you plug into the input the power is switched on and will stay on until you unplug it again. The input socket is also the on / off switch. The bypass switch only bypasses the signal, not the power. [/quote] Yep, the pedal's busy distorting/delaying/chorusing even when the effects not engaged. The sound of flanged silence ! Edited October 1, 2014 by ahpook Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrBike Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Two bits of advice Firstly - unplug all leads after playing Secondly - Get a 9v power supply, you can get them off ebay for a few quid, probably not much more than the price of a PP3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Why not buy a daisy chain power adaptor then you can just switch off at the wall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfretrock Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 A decent pedal should have: 3 pole switch, 2 poles to give true bypass and 1 to kill the power when OFF. Stereo jack on the input so that the pedal is only powered when plugged in by connecting the ring to the sleeve. If there is a 9V power in socket. it should drop out the 9V battery (if fitted). Sockets usually have a switch contact for this. And possibly a LED to show it is on. I suspect item 1 is only a 2 pole switch and only provides bypass. 3 pole switches are more difficult to find, but are available. But not really necessary if there is no battery. Having said that, my home built Fuzz and Octavia both have a 2 pole switch and run from battery. Doh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elephantgrey Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 [quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1412158782' post='2566183'] A decent pedal should have: 3 pole switch, 2 poles to give true bypass and 1 to kill the power when OFF. [/quote] Alot of pedals use a 3 pole, 2 for bypass and 1 for LED. To use 1 to kill power you would usualy have to wither sacrifice an led or up the production costs quite a bit for batery life. bearing in mind most users will run off of a dedicated supply, id say this would be unnecessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Killing the power would also kill the LED though. Will simulatenously switching to the effect and powering up the circuit may introduce a slight delay until the sound comes through? Or introduce pops? That would explain why everyone chooses to have the effect running constantly and just switched in and out when needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 [quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1412158782' post='2566183'] my home built Fuzz and Octavia [/quote] You, sir, have my deepest respect. Dunno the Fuzz though. Is that a Skoda as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfretrock Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 [quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1412160033' post='2566209'] You, sir, have my deepest respect. Dunno the Fuzz though. Is that a Skoda as well? [/quote] No, the Fuzz is a cheap Golf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Ah! Well, I do hope it makes a lot more noise than these electric Up! ones that sneak up on you, the creepy besturds. Although something tells me it might. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedmanzie Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 [quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1412157465' post='2566158'] Yep, the pedal's busy distorting/delaying/chorusing even when the effects not engaged. The sound of flanged silence ! [/quote] I see, that makes sense. Thanks for all the replies I do actually have a decent 9v power supply that gets shared around, but I need to get a daisy chain thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mingsta Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 If you're going to get a power supply, I can recommend the Harley Benton Powerplant Junior from Thomann. Its ~£30 posted and gives you five isolated 9v power outputs. This is meant to be less susceptible to noise/hum than daisychaining a single power supply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tedmanzie Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 [quote name='mingsta' timestamp='1412174010' post='2566451'] If you're going to get a power supply, I can recommend the Harley Benton Powerplant Junior from Thomann. Its ~£30 posted and gives you five isolated 9v power outputs. This is meant to be less susceptible to noise/hum than daisychaining a single power supply. [/quote] good tip thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudpup Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Right, thats sorted then. Now, answer the polar bear question please........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 [quote name='Mudpup' timestamp='1412196722' post='2566758'] Right, thats sorted then. Now, answer the polar bear question please........... [/quote] easy, polar bears don't have feet to get cold, they have paws Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 You can run 10 pedals off one of these; [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000NVU9GG/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=479289247&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B007VC042O&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=01RNZRWFVPKDQVTK9BRY"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000NVU9GG/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=479289247&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B007VC042O&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=01RNZRWFVPKDQVTK9BRY[/url] But I suspect the logistics/relative sizes of pedals would probably limit that. I have one with a 5 way ouput I got from maplins years ago and then got separate cables to run from it to my pedals. Currently only use 3, only 1 of those is a genuine effect which I don't even use every gig. Other option is a decent battery charger and plenty of recharchable batteries so you always have spares ready to go, the 9v rechargables can get a bit pricey though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elephantgrey Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 [quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1412159816' post='2566205'] Killing the power would also kill the LED though. Will simulatenously switching to the effect and powering up the circuit may introduce a slight delay until the sound comes through? Or introduce pops? That would explain why everyone chooses to have the effect running constantly and just switched in and out when needed. [/quote] Any 'true' true bypass switch will produce pops i believe, to avoid them you have to have a relay IIRC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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