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It'd be easier to just chain 2 pedals to one outlet. You could easily power your whole dirt section (assuming its analog) off of one outlet. Or you could do 2 pedals to one outlet, which would have the same hum canceling as 2 9v 150ma sharing a common ground.

Exactly.  In fact, dirt pedals draw so little current you can probably power 50 or 60 off of each tap. 

- I left my iron on AGAIN all night last night.  I haven't done that for months and now I've done it twice in a row

- I don't know the true lyrics to almost any of the music I listen to.  Not because they're hard to hear, I just don't ever pay attention

- On the lyrics thing, songs that I've thought I knew the lyrics to, I was way wrong.

Pink Floyd is a great example.

the real lyrics:

We don't need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.

OK, here's what I thought they were when I was a kid:

We don't need no education
We dont need no school's control
The doctor has 'em in the classroom  (alternatively:  The Dukes of Hazzard in the classroom)
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
Oh ya know it's just another brick in the wall.
Oh ya know you're just another brick in the wall.

What enclosure did you do use and how did you suspend the board?

It's this one:

http://www.frys.com/product/2090830?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

I got it at Fry's in Wilsonville, OR

Here is a chart that shows the dimensions of their cases.  It's part #4012.

The case has slots for PCB mounting.  It will perfectly fit a 4" wide board.  The board I used was shy of that so I suspended one edge in the slot and used screws and nylon standoffs for the opposite edge.  These enclosures are really nice to work with and I plan to use one for a pedal build.  They have them in a shallower depth.

Oops, didn't post the second link. Sorry!

http://contextengineering.com/split_body_enclosures.html

What enclosure did you do use and how did you suspend the board?

It's this one:

http://www.frys.com/product/2090830?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

I got it at Fry's in Wilsonville, OR

Here is a chart that shows the dimensions of their cases.  It's part #4012.

The case has slots for PCB mounting.  It will perfectly fit a 4" wide board.  The board I used was shy of that so I suspended one edge in the slot and used screws and nylon standoffs for the opposite edge.  These enclosures are really nice to work with and I plan to use one for a pedal build.  They have them in a shallower depth.

I worked at the local competitor chain (Daddy's Junky Music) in NH. There are 3 Guitar Centers within 30 min of my house and still refuse to go there. A while ago (last year) I went to GC to trade in some Cymbal stands and they offered me $10 a piece for my like new $150 Tama Road pro stands. I laughed in the kid's face and told him to get bent. 2 weeks later the manager emailed me and offered me $50 each store credit and i turned it down and told him i would never shop there again. I still have not set foot in there. That place is a joke, It's the K-Mart of Music stores. +1 for the "mom and pops' places!

I understand your position.  I can clarify that I dislike the chain (in general I don't like what large chains have done to local business people), but happen to like the manager and some of the employees of the closest GC to me (Danvers, MA).  They all seem to be local musicians trying to cover expenses with a day job.

My late son got the drum kit of his dreams for his Make-A-Wish - a very high-end DW kit with a ton of Zildjian cymbals and hard storage/transport cases.  I'm not sure I ever discussed Steve on this forum, he died of cancer at the age of 15 - his 10th anniversary is this Friday, the 14th.

About 15 months ago I finally decided to do something with the kit.  At first I couldn't decide whether to donate it to a school or charity, or sell it and donate the cash.  One of my investigative stops was to the drum department of GC to see if they could help me figure out what it was worth.  I was VERY clear that I was leaning towards donating it rather than selling it, but knowing the value would help me decide.  An employee there spent about 2 hours researching every component of the set, found the wholesale & current retail values, and gave me a detailed list with both.  During this process he got the drum department manager and the store manager involved.  Both made it clear that there were no strings attached to the time they put into this, and that they would buy any or all components at the wholesale price they provided.  I was really moved by their help.  They even suggested a charity that might be interested in taking the set.  So clearly I have mixed feelings.

I'm saddened to hear about what you went through with your son. I can't imagine what it would be like to go through that. How cool that good help can even be found in as unlikely a place as GC. Good people show up everywhere. Blessings as you relive tough memories this week.

Yeah are the switches for the 'dying battery' mod that RG wrote about? I've been looking up all the info for this and it seems doable. Definitely high on my list. What enclosure did you do use and how did you suspend the board?

The switches allow me to take the last two pairs of jacks and switch them into series to give me two 18v jacks instead of four 9v.  I can then switch either of those 18v down to 12v using additional regulators.

3) I'm too colorblind to read resistor color codes
4) Fart humor will always be funny. I'm old enough to know that will never change

Well I would think that it would get rid of it because it's not an actual ground loop. They are grounded commonly through the pedals, but to complete the loop you would need to ground the two dc jacks together? So I think you have ground 'U's maybe which seem perfectly fine and how all isolate powers work. Also awesome job, I really need to make something like this, although it seems a little intimidating.

That's exactly what's happening. If you think about it, it will dawn on you that when you connect the signal sleeves of two effects you are simultaneously tying the grounds of the power jacks.

And you can totally do it!  It looks like a complex build but its just the same simple circuit repeated over and over.  I added some bells and whistles but you wouldnt have to do that. 

Thanks for the reply, jimijam.  I appreciate it.  I understand that the idea is to eliminate ground loops.  The thing that I didn't foresee is that the grounds of all those nicely isolated taps get tied right back together as soon as you interconnect pedals with instrument cable because signal ground is tied to power ground. 

If I touch my DMM leads to two different regulators in my isolated supply, there is no continuity, even if I have them powering pedals.  If I then interconnect those pedals with a patch cable, there is continuity between the grounds of the regulators.  This happens via the sleeve connection of the patch cable.  How does this eliminate ground loops?

Hope it's ok to bump this thread.

I have a perfectly good 1 Spot that I've never had issues with.  I'm afraid I may have wasted a bunch of time building a neato box that adds a lot of weight to my board. 

What am I missing on the ground loop/isolation thing?

1) I like to watch "Anne of Green Gables"

2) I left my iron on all night last night

Don't change it. It's perfect!

I unfortunately can not help with your question as I have never made a PSU before, but I had to tell you that thing looks awesome. You did a great job. Hope you get your questions answered.

Cody

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Cody. It's a bit scary posting pics of all that spaghetti given the amazing gut shots I've seen on this forum. 

I recently built RG Keen's Spyder power supply using the Weber 120vac pedal transformer.  Aside from some heat-sinking stuff to work out, I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  All 9v taps are measuring at between 9.02 & 9.08 volts.  At 300mA each, it's loads of power. 

My first question has to do with isolation.  With my DMM, it's simple to verify that each filter/regulator circuit is completely isolated UNTIL I interconnect effects with instrument cables.  I hadn't really thought about it before, but as soon as pedals share a common ground connection through the signal cable, their power grounds also have continuity.  Again, this is easily proven by touching the metal tabs on the regulators with my DMM probes.  With this being the case, what advantage do I have in having isolated power?  I'm no longer isolated.  I know there's something I'm missing, but I can't wrap my brain around it.

My second question has to do with fuses.  I'm using two separate fuses, one for the PS circuitry and one for the courtesy outlet.  Right now I have a .6 amp fuse on the PS and 2 amp on the outlet.  I just guessed at those values.  Any recommendations?

links:

Spyder circuit:  http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/spyder/spyder.htm
Weber transformer:  https://taweber.powweb.com/store/pdlxfmr.gif

Wow!  Congratulations!!!