Boss CS-3 Power Problem

I want to hook up my Boss CS-3 to my power block with my other pedals. I had it hooked up before, but now it doesn't get full voltage to the circuit through the power adapter, but it does get full voltage through the battery side though. I'm not sure how to test the power adapter port on the back of it, but I'm kinda leaning towards that being the problem. Just to be sure it wasn't the cord or the port I tested other pedals in the same spot with the cord and tested other the ports with the Boss Pedal. I'd really like to kill off using batteries, but I would like to leave it stock so I could use a battery from time to time if needed and use the power block almost permanently.

It seems that you have an old one that requires an ACA adapter.Read Stinkfoots explanation:
http://stinkfoot.se/archives/726
Here is his ACA to PSA mod:
http://stinkfoot.se/archives/1019

Ah yes that's it, it used to work fine then it all the sudden it started this, weird. Thank you very much.

Apparently this photo is about as clear as it's gonna get with my iPhone, but here's the culprits R32 & D10. I'll remove those and and solder in a jumper wire some time this week.

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Apparently this photo is about as clear as it's gonna get with my iPhone, but here's the culprits R32 & D10. I'll remove those and and solder in a jumper wire some time this week.

129055

I just discovered this problem with my black label CS-3 and was wondering if the diode & resistor that you high-lighted turned out to be the right ones. From the Stinkfoot site I've deduced that they are the ones but thought getting confirmation first might be a good idea. Thanks.

The CS-3 requires 9VDC and 11mA - quite low current for a pedal.
http://www.roland.com/products/en/CS-3/

If the "power block" is asked to supply more current than it can deliver then its output current will drop, example - too many high current pedals.

The CS-3 wants a PSA-Series AC Adaptor (ACA) i.e. same thing.

Cause is quite often that you have introduced more pedals, especially one or two that demand a lot of current.

Cure is usually a more hefty power supply unit (PSU), example - one that can deliver 450mA to its sockets, these consume around 6W.
If you are using a wall wart type you may notice they get rather hot, not man for the job, and voltage drop is normal.

I got it worked out. Its definitely the R32 & D10 components that need to come out. Turns out its part of the Monte Allums (http://www.monteallums.com/pedal_mods.html) mod that I'm waiting to do.

The CS-3 requires 9VDC and 11mA - quite low current for a pedal.
http://www.roland.com/products/en/CS-3/

If the "power block" is asked to supply more current than it can deliver then its output current will drop, example - too many high current pedals.

The CS-3 wants a PSA-Series AC Adaptor (ACA) i.e. same thing.

Cause is quite often that you have introduced more pedals, especially one or two that demand a lot of current.

Cure is usually a more hefty power supply unit (PSU), example - one that can deliver 450mA to its sockets, these consume around 6W.
If you are using a wall wart type you may notice they get rather hot, not man for the job, and voltage drop is normal.

No, the PSA and the ACA are not the same thing. The ACA was designed for older Boss pedals, and puts out an unregulated 9-12 VDC. Older CS-3 pedals (as well as CS-2s) were designed for the ACA, and have R32 & D10 on their boards to drop the unregulated supply voltage down to a useable 9 volts.

When you power an old ACA-type pedal off a modern regulated 9-volt supply, R32 & D10 drop the voltage even lower, and the pedal won't work. (Some pedals DO work on the low voltage, SD-1s sound great this way.)

The power specs you linked are for current production CS-3s, and don't apply to the older pedals. Using a larger power supply will not fix the problem for either of the posters in this thread, they needed either to stick with an ACA, or do the mod to make their old pedals compatible with their modern supplies.

Here's the BossArea.com history of the ACA (http://www.bossarea.com/other/aca.asp), including a link to Stinkfoot's site.

No, the PSA and the ACA are not the same thing. The ACA was designed for older Boss pedals, and puts out an unregulated 9-12 VDC. Older CS-3 pedals (as well as CS-2s) were designed for the ACA, and have R32 & D10 on their boards to drop the unregulated supply voltage down to a useable 9 volts.

When you power an old ACA-type pedal off a modern regulated 9-volt supply, R32 & D10 drop the voltage even lower, and the pedal won't work. (Some pedals DO work on the low voltage, SD-1s sound great this way.)

The power specs you linked are for current production CS-3s, and don't apply to the older pedals. Using a larger power supply will not fix the problem for either of the posters in this thread, they needed either to stick with an ACA, or do the mod to make their old pedals compatible with their modern supplies.

Here's the BossArea.com history of the ACA (http://www.bossarea.com/other/aca.asp), including a link to Stinkfoot's site.

Thanks for the linky.

I've been using Boss pedals for, well a long time, and have never seen an "ACA" adaptor, I have to think they never made it over here. Those wall warts may have initially been banned here because no on/off switch on primary side, they are still not considered very safe but were improved to "double insulated" to permit use. Our 245VAC caused arcing inside some of the early wall warts, scary. The equipment I use at work has long been tested before approved for use there.

The oldest Boss I have is MIJ and dates from mid-80s and wants 9VDC and states, "Use of Boss PSA Adaptor is recommended for its larger current capacity" - therein lies the nub of the problem.

The cure for voltage drop however is as always - bigger PSU, and some of those do have 12VDC outlets.

Now that I've done the Allums mod and removed the R32 & D10 parts and added jumpers on my CS-3 the PSA-230s doesn't work at all. No power. No sound. No nothin'. Anyone have any other suggestions?

I do have two adapters that fit this pedal. They're both rated at 9V 500mA just like what's written on the side of the PSA-230s but am loathe to just plug one in as I'd rather not risk blowing up the pedal, if you know what I mean . . . .

No sound. No nothin'. Anyone have any other suggestions?

Sounds like it's time to start troubleshooting. Did you do the mod one step at a time, and test after every components swap, as Allums quite wisely tells you to do in his directions? If so, when did the pedal stop working? If not, good luck.

If the pedal doesn't work on one normal supply, different ones aren't likely to give different results. However, it's worth testing the supplies with a different pedal, just to make sure they are working. Also, test the modified CS-3 with abattery. This may help narrow down the problem.

Sounds like it's time to start troubleshooting. Did you do the mod one step at a time, and test after every components swap, as Allums quite wisely tells you to do in his directions? If so, when did the pedal stop working? If not, good luck.

If the pedal doesn't work on one normal supply, different ones aren't likely to give different results. However, it's worth testing the supplies with a different pedal, just to make sure they are working. Also, test the modified CS-3 with a battery. This may help narrow down the problem.

Yeah, I did all of the above. Thing of it is I hadn't realized that just because it works with a battery doesn't mean that it will work with a power supply. After getting away from this project for a few days it dawned on me that jumpering those 2 components were the first thing that I did in the mod as is stated in the instructions. Where the problem surfaced is the fact that I'd never soldered a circuit board and my over cautious approach initially caused me to not make the proper contacts. Went back and re-jumpered them and , viola! It all works as its supposed to.

This is the main reason why, when a friend complains about their computer not working properly, I ask them, "So, what did you do wrong?" 9 out of 10 times it always pilot error. Accepting that sure saves a lot of wasted energy. In this case it was no different.

Big thanks to Monte Allums and Stinkfoot + the insightful comments left here. Cheers!