My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

Matt42

Matt42

New member
I have one of those cheap Joyo power supplies that claims to be isolated, but isn't. The unit itself is fine, but the wall wort started shorting when not held at a specific angle right before our show. Fortunately, I always have backups with me, so I had a 1 Spot chain and was setup and ready to rock with less than 5 minutes of delay.

Sadly, I think this is it for my power supply. I paid $50 or so bucks for it three years ago and this is the first trouble it's ever given me, so I'm not too upset. It gives me a reason to allow a GAS attack on a Truetone CS12.
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

My pedal board has a lot of loops, but one main loop basically removes the entire board. It's like the "power failure". It lets the signal pass if there's no board power.

But you're right I cart way too much gear around but in a pinch, I've always got a solution.
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

I was hired for a label showcase gig last year for a Nashville modern country artist here at a place called Stubbs. A one time 45 min show - Tour board was seriously too large. Brought a portable Pedaltrain board, an 8 pedal jobber powered by a DC brick. Same issue Matt, the ridiculously fragile wall wart power supply that feeds the unit was shorting. An inexperienced / non working musician design decision for such an important function. I got through the gig with 4 batteries. Grateful it was only under those conditions. Even my small boards today have CIOKS or VL supplies with a proper power cable. Big board has backup power in place and my FFT looper which can help 'flow through' signal on power failure. I mention this about gear reliability often when folks 'recommend' cheap PS, cables, pedals etc. If you actually gig, they will fail you. At some point, they will leave you in a bind. The DC Brick for instance is a versatile clean sounding power supply and the unit itself is solid. If you play at home you'll likely not run into any issues...but in constant real-life gigging you will eventually be left stranded by the power cable. Despite any Brick users who will suggest otherwise, I personally practically gave that BRICK away here on the Trading Post with that reliability warning. RG
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

I've been using the T-rex fuel tank junior for 5+ years now but I'm so paranoid about stuff breaking at gigs I have a second one in my bag just in case. Nice to know I have a spare just in case anything happens!
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

I always have backups for everything. I carry 2 9v with me for the two pedals i need: tubescreamer and tuner. Everything else isn't essential.
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

Unfortunately, one of my essentials (tremolo) doesn't use a battery, so that's not an option.

Fortunately, none of my pedals have noise issues, so the 1spot works out as a really nice backup.
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

Rodney Gene said:
I was hired for a label showcase gig last year for a Nashville modern country artist here at a place called Stubbs. A one time 45 min show - Tour board was seriously too large. Brought a portable Pedaltrain board, an 8 pedal jobber powered by a DC brick. Same issue Matt, the ridiculously fragile wall wart power supply that feeds the unit was shorting. An inexperienced / non working musician design decision for such an important function. I got through the gig with 4 batteries. Grateful it was only under those conditions. Even my small boards today have CIOKS or VL supplies with a proper power cable. Big board has backup power in place and my FFT looper which can help 'flow through' signal on power failure. I mention this about gear reliability often when folks 'recommend' cheap PS, cables, pedals etc. If you actually gig, they will fail you. At some point, they will leave you in a bind. The DC Brick for instance is a versatile clean sounding power supply and the unit itself is solid. If you play at home you'll likely not run into any issues...but in constant real-life gigging you will eventually be left stranded by the power cable. Despite any Brick users who will suggest otherwise, I personally practically gave that BRICK away here on the Trading Post with that reliability warning. RG
Click to expand...

Don't own the Brick so I'm not defending it. But, seems to me that a back up wall wart could solve the problem quickly if the Brick itself is a solid piece of gear.
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

I use a similar power supply to the brick, and my 1 Spot and daisy chain is a good backup.
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

I've always been a follower of the Boy Scout motto ("Always Be Prepared"). I've humped around a lot of extra year over the past three decades just for piece/peace of mind. But I generally don't haul an extra power supply around. I do always try to have a couple of 9-volt batteries in the kit. But I could (and have) just do with plugging straight into the amp in a pinch. One of the best gigs I ever had was with my FX chain being dead, just playing straight into a dry amp (with no reverb). I thought it was going to be a nightmare and a very long night. But I focused strictly on playing and just played the hell out of my rig. Was very liberating in the end.
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

It should be easy to replace the adapter with an aftermarket one with same ratings and polarity(or resolder the end with opposite polarity). Actually i built a psu which is basically filter-regulator-filter networks powered by either a adapter or a battery pack. I just carry two adaptors & two 9V batteries incase something goes down & i can still get by with two pedals-amp sim & od/boost.

The truetone cs units would be a worthwhile investment though & the joyo/1spot could be served as backups.
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

Darg1911 said:
Don't own the Brick so I'm not defending it. But, seems to me that a back up wall wart could solve the problem quickly if the Brick itself is a solid piece of gear.
Click to expand...

Well brother the 'fix' is easy, and cheap. It's not a matter of cost or time, it's a matter of real-life function at a gig. The most important aspect of any power supply is it's ability to provide power. When the foundation of your entire pedal board function is relying on a slinky thin wire, you are risking imminent failure. It's irresponsible. Prior to that gig it showed no signs of shorting or I wouldn't have used it. But that is the nature of cheaply made items, they often fail without notice. When I bought the DC Brick, there were few power supplies on the market offering 2 or more 18 volt outlets. Like I said, it was not a well thought-out design. RG
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

Rodney Gene said:
Well brother the 'fix' is easy, and cheap. It's not a matter of cost or time, it's a matter of real-life function at a gig. The most important aspect of any power supply is it's ability to provide power. When the foundation of your entire pedal board function is relying on a slinky thin wire, you are risking imminent failure. It's irresponsible. Prior to that gig it showed no signs of shorting or I wouldn't have used it. But that is the nature of cheaply made items, they often fail without notice. When I bought the DC Brick, there were few power supplies on the market offering 2 or more 18 volt outlets. Like I said, it was not a well thought-out design. RG
Click to expand...

There are ways around the cheap wall wart, like building a better, more reliable power source. But by that time, you'd be better, at least money wise, with a different supply. So yeah, I understand where you're coming from. Just saying that if one already owns one and gigs with one, a back up wall wart would seem like a smart idea and the quickest, on the fly fix.
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

Two is one, one is none.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

If I was using all pedals, I would battery load them all for shows as a backup to a power supply failure. Or just have another one on hand ready for a fast swap out.
Anything can go wrong at any time.
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

Hank- said:
It should be easy to replace the adapter with an aftermarket one with same ratings and polarity(or resolder the end with opposite polarity). Actually i built a psu which is basically filter-regulator-filter networks powered by either a adapter or a battery pack. I just carry two adaptors & two 9V batteries incase something goes down & i can still get by with two pedals-amp sim & od/boost.

The truetone cs units would be a worthwhile investment though & the joyo/1spot could be served as backups.
Click to expand...

I've actually looked for a replacement cord before. Sadly it was like $25 or $30 and were the same length. Since the length is one of my biggest issues with it, I figure it's not worth the money to get a replacement.

The Truetone is going to be where I go with the 1Spot as a backup.
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

If I gigged regularly, I would carry a spare PP2+. On my board, it would be easier to swap it out that replace it with my One Spot and a daisy chain. Since I DON'T gig more than once a year, I just take my chances (extremely low) that the PP2+ will fail.

I also have a toggle switch between the input and out jacks on the side of my board. In an emergency I can flip the switch and hardwire-bypass the entire board.


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Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

Is the T-Rex Fuel Tank series any good? I want the tiny 5 output one with 120 mA to each output.
More than enough for me daisy chaining a bit.
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

Diego said:
Is the T-Rex Fuel Tank series any good? I want the tiny 5 output one with 120 mA to each output.
More than enough for me daisy chaining a bit.
Click to expand...

The Fuel Tank Jr doesn't have an external wall wart, so at least you wouldn't have to worry about this particular problem. Otherwise I've heard they're decent, but never used one. I have a PP2+ on my board.
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

I'm avoiding any power supply with a wall wart from now on.
 
Re: My power supply died at my gig last week... The importance of backups.

Diego said:
Is the T-Rex Fuel Tank series any good? I want the tiny 5 output one with 120 mA to each output.
More than enough for me daisy chaining a bit.
Click to expand...

That's the jr. Isolated supply and about 100 bucks. Good supplies.
 
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