Adaptor Gives 12V instead of 9V

Frequently asked questions regarding powering your pedal.
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Vendt
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Post by Vendt »

Some time (about a year) ago I bought some regulated 9V adaptors for a very reasonable price. Ideal for stompboxes...I never checked them until I tried to fix a problem with one of my effects while being plugged in to one of those (normally I use a battery when testing) and I got more than 12V from it.

Now I have been using them sometime and none of my pedals seem to be broken or affected by it....but...

What do you think? Can it cause harm using them?

And maybe it's wise to check voltages on an adapter!

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madbean
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Post by madbean »

9v is the minimum it will supply under load. These things always read higher. 12v is pretty normal. You most likely will not cause any damage....but there's always a possibility depending on what you are plugging it into.

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Vendt
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Post by Vendt »

Ah thanx,

Just got scared a bit...so you think there is no need to worry? Others give just a bit over 9V.

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Hides-His-Eyes
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Post by Hides-His-Eyes »

Any pedal that can't take 12V has been badly designed considering how often unregulated supplies get used.
Testing, testing, won too fwee

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sowhat
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Post by sowhat »

I have built lots of equipment over the years and although many stomps state 9v, they usually run just fine on 12V. Many of them have 9 volt linear regulators built in which brings any supply up to about 35 volts down to 9 volts. Now, some older ones don't have any regulation built in but 12 volts should still be fine, you're just biasing transistors or op amps which most always have plenty of overhead in their specifications. I would not push this much beyond 12 volts however because you never really know how well built the effects box is. If it's a digital effect, these more modern circuits have plenty of over voltage protection built in to the chips themselves. I run all my stomps and processors on 12 volts regardless of their ratings and have never had a blow out.

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