Boss RC-20XL Operating Voltage

Started by beary, March 15, 2017, 03:28:29 PM

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beary

Hey guys, just wondering if someone is aware of what the actual operating voltage of the Boss RC-20XL is? I received one that wasn't powering up, and it turns out the small transformer inside was bad. I temporarily wired in a 5v supply bypassing the transformer, and the unit fired up, and seems to be working well and sounds fine. Since the pedal is digital, I didn't want to feed it more than 5v, as that's a pretty typical operating voltage for digital devices, and supplying more can fry some IC's. Can anyone verify that it actually runs off 5v internally? The planned fix is to put a 7805 regulator inside where the transformer used to be to, however if it normally runs off a higher voltage, I'll obviously need a different regulator. Any help is appreciated. The picture below shows the transformer that went bad in my unit, outlined in red.

http://pasteboard.co/JP2oz5HMI.jpg

potul

Are you sure this is a transformer? I wouldn't expect a transformer to work on DC....

cloudscapes

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{www.dronecloud.org}

beary

The pedal is closed up at the moment, so I'll have to verify it again later, but I'm pretty sure the symbol for a transformer was underneath the part itself. I've been wrong before, thought! It has 4 terminals and looks like a tiny transformer. I took it out and tossed a 7805 in there and it seems to be working well. I'm just not sure if it's supposed to be operating at a higher voltage. Being a digital pedal, would it operate at more than 5 volts?

cloudscapes

Depends. Some of the analog buffering/mixing could be more than 5. The digital stuff definitely not though.

It could still be a transformer, but it just seems weird to me in a digital pedal. A regulator is usually enough.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{DIY blog}
{www.dronecloud.org}