Strange Voltage Issue with Hilton Pedal

Chris Schlotzhauer · Post by **Chris Schlotzhauer** » 1 Oct 2018 8:27 am

Got to the gig Saturday and setup, plugged in. Turned on power and no sound. So I checked all cables, routing, pedalboard, etc. Looked down and noticed the red LED on my Hilton pedal was off. So apparently, the 9V power supply was dead (this is the Hilton that the power supply plugs in).
The 9V power supply plug and cable are nearly brand new. Worked fine the night before. It's just a standard supply that I bought since I left the one that came with the Hilton somewhere.
So, our road mgr said he had one. Great. Confirmed it was 9V and plugged it in. Turned on my amp and a loud, pulsing popping sound was coming out of the amp. Tried swapping amps, same problem. Looked at the Hilton and the red LED was pulsing red to white. The guitar player had an extra 9V plug/cable that I plugged in and it worked fine.

The power supply I bought was a generic, cheap 9V so it is not a huge surprise that it went out in short order.
But can anyone help explain why the second adapter I tried made the pedal go crazy? Should I be using a special power supply?

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 1 Oct 2018 9:04 am

The one that caused the "pulsating" was probably a 9 volt AC rather than 9 volt DC.

gary pierce · Post by **gary pierce** » 1 Oct 2018 9:39 am

I think my Hilton pedal is 24 volts.

Chris Schlotzhauer · Post by **Chris Schlotzhauer** » 1 Oct 2018 10:35 am

Jack Stoner wrote:The one that caused the "pulsating" was probably a 9 volt AC rather than 9 volt DC.

hmmm...didn't think of that.
You would thing the plug-in would be a different configuration

Ian Rae · Post by **Ian Rae** » 1 Oct 2018 10:43 am

You need 24V

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 1 Oct 2018 11:46 am

Definitely 24vdc.

Keith Hilton · Post by **Keith Hilton** » 1 Oct 2018 4:56 pm

Maybe I can help. I make 3 different pedals. My Standard pedal, and my low profile pedals require 24 volts DC regulated. To tell if you have one of these pedals, the off point adjustment is on the bottom.
I also make a Pro Guitar pedal, which requires 9 volts DC regulated. To tell if you have one of these pedals, the off point adjustment is on the side of the pedal.
Jack Stoner is correct, the power supply that went crazy may have been an AC power supply and not the DC type. AC means alternating current, and the DC means direct current.
There is another problem. Not all power supplies are regulated. The old transformer type power supplies were unregulated. Meaning a 9 volt DC unregulated power supply will put out between 18 to 19 volts. Why---because those type power supplies are used with voltage regulators. All of my pedal require DC regulated power supplies. Hope this information helps.

Chris Schlotzhauer · Post by **Chris Schlotzhauer** » 22 May 2019 1:42 pm

Bumping this to ask Keith how do I know if a power supply is 9VDC "regulated"

My Pro Guitar pedal is distorting with this power supply I bought

Thanks

Keith Hilton · Post by **Keith Hilton** » 22 May 2019 2:14 pm

Good to hear from you Chris. The best way to tell if a power supply is regulated is to read the print on the back of the power supply. The regulated power supply will say this:
"Input 100 to 240 volts AC". The un-regulated powers supplies will just say "Input 120 volts AC".
Those old un-regulated power supplies can have huge power spikes. I build a lot of protection into the circuit board and this probably saved you from frying the circuit.
Anyway, my wife Joy is from Haltom City. She has relatives that still live there. Maybe some day I can come down and hear you play. Hope this information helps. Keith

Chris Schlotzhauer · Post by **Chris Schlotzhauer** » 24 May 2019 8:10 am

Thanks Keith....mine reads "Input 100 to 240v AC"

So I may have to send it in

Peter Harris · Post by **Peter Harris** » 25 May 2019 4:37 am

There are (after-market) "regulated power supplies" that also fail the sniff test..
...I have thrown out a few over the years that failed straight out of the box...

Borrow another one from someone and see if the problem persists...

HTH
Peter

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 25 May 2019 5:48 am

The 100 to 240 V AC may be the standard on Keith's power supplies and on many new/newer "switching" power supplies but I have some regulated power supplies that are not universal AC input voltage.