Pedal board power supplies

[PunchySunshine]

This runs these pedals for close to 100 hours. I change the batteries about once a month 'cuz it's healthier for the battery. The sleds are a buck each at Tayda, the batteries are about 1.50 each, the two MP1584EN chips are about $1.50 each. And I can't remember what I paid for the barrels....

The batteries are 18650 - 18mm x 65mm, and are used in all power tool battery packs as well as the Tesla vehicles. I'm telling ya, for a couple hours you can DIY the ultimate cord free pedal power......

The chips will support 1.8 amps continuous and operate in the mhz range and are DEAD QUIET, since it's DC to DC not AC to DC.

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It looks like you're running those 18650's in 1s16p config. Am I correct with that assumption? I'm about to build one of these for my friend.

 

[RetiredUnit1]

It looks like you're running those 18650's in 1s16p config. Am I correct with that assumption? I'm about to build one of these for my friend.

The batteries in the sleds are all parallel, the DC jacks that the sleds plug into are wired in series.

So if you were to test one sled it would be about 4v at full charge, but when all four sleds are connected it is about 16v. Since the individual batteries are 5.5ah, this gives a total 22ah at 16v.

The chips need at least 3v of difference between target voltage and battery voltage to operate properly. So for 9v they need 12v, 16v gives the batteries plenty of discharge before they hit a collective of below 12v.

Note that some batteries are only 2.2ah. Some are 4ah. The prices of the batteries vary according to the Ah capacity.

Another note, be sure to get a charger that has the ability to test the batteries internal resistance after it has been charged. Good new batteries will be between 75 and 100 megaohms. As they approach 250 megaohms it's time to recycle! I had some that were about 12 years old that I had to dump last week.....

 

[RetiredUnit1]

It looks like you're running those 18650's in 1s16p config. Am I correct with that assumption? I'm about to build one of these for my friend.

 

[PunchySunshine]

The batteries in the sleds are all parallel, the DC jacks that the sleds plug into are wired in series.

So if you were to test one sled it would be about 4v at full charge, but when all four sleds are connected it is about 16v. Since the individual batteries are 5.5ah, this gives a total 22ah at 16v.

The chips need at least 3v of difference between target voltage and battery voltage to operate properly. So for 9v they need 12v, 16v gives the batteries plenty of discharge before they hit a collective of below 12v.

Note that some batteries are only 2.2ah. Some are 4ah. The prices of the batteries vary according to the Ah capacity.

Another note, be sure to get a charger that has the ability to test the batteries internal resistance after it has been charged. Good new batteries will be between 75 and 100 megaohms. As they approach 250 megaohms it's time to recycle! I had some that were about 12 years old that I had to dump last week.....

Beautiful! 16v nominal makes a lot more sense. Thank you!

I have this nitecore charger. It's been working great for me for the past six years although I don't charge 18650s individually much (mostly AA for the candles). Back in 2017 I built a few 10 ah 4s4p V-mount batteries for my camera and light rigs and while they look like bombs....they've been rock solid. I also built a 30 ah brick for my portable solar generator so I can charge said batteries in the field. Unlimited runtime so far. I sourced from AliExpress the BMS, chargers and Panasonic 20r cells. I even got the battery spot welder!

Thanks again!

 

[HamishR]

I bought my One Spot CS6 on a bit of a whim - I just saw it at the local store when looking for something that might have fitted under my little Pedaltrains. And it does, and works beautifully. With my previous power supplies the pedal which sits directly above the power supply sometimes hums until I move it away (kinda defeats the purpose of putting a supply under the board) but with the One Spot it seems really quiet.

I only ever use tiny pedal boards so the CS6 works just fine. My previous Pedaltrain (a Nano) I used a Voodoo Labs PS and put bigger feet on the board to allow the VL to fit.

I'm currently making a board which will have a Strymon Flint, a TC Mini-Flashback, a combo OD with boost pedal (homebrew) and a small tuner. It all fits onto a Pedaltrain Nano with a CS6 underneath, and it fits into my op-shop Gladstone bag gigbag.