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Post subject: Power plug to Fender Floor unit
Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2013 2:31 pm
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Hobbyist
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Joined: Sun Nov 24, 2013 4:58 pm
Posts: 2
Fender Floor unit...
Issue;
After about 4 months using it in my band, it started miss-behaving. It would be going along fine, then in the middle of a song it would reset. This behavior happens as though the power switch was flipped off then on again. It went from the 3*8 button selection (That I have set to the effect I use) to the 0*5, as it defaults to at power on. I am surprised that no one else on the internet, or this site, seems to be having this issue.

Status;
I contacted via email, some Fender tech guy connected perhaps with this site. Turns out that the closest certified Fender repair shop is 4 hours away from me. I figure that sending the unit in, will result in my money wasted, when they return it with no fault found. So, since I am an electronics design engineer, I should be able to figure this out. I happened to notice that the reset occurred once when I powered on the bass player's amp. Then another time it reset when the PA amps were powered on. This led me to think that there is something wrong with that cheap-ass China power supply that comes with the unit. So I started there.
I measured the power plug and found that it is a 2.5mm center pin, with a 5.5mm outside diameter arrangement. This is a very popular size. The center pin is +12V and the outer is return or minus (0 volts). Again, very common. I found one on ebay for $3 with free shipping. I have not measured the current draw from the floor unit, but it probably can vary some, depending on what features are selected. But, I will guess it is less than 800mA. I saw that number somewhere with the floor unit. The ebay supply I bought is +12 at 1Amp. Should be able to support operation of the floor unit.

Here is the main point of my story; The hole in the power connector (The 2.5mm pin) with the power supply that comes with the floor depends on the outer spring contact (The 5.5mm one) to push it against the inside post. The new ebay one I got, has 2 spring loaded contacts in the center hole. I have not had a reset happen since I have used the new power supply. I suspect that any corrosion or resistive material on the surface where the pin rests in the hole, might be the weak link in the current path. On the original power supply, that only has one point of contact connection.
By the way, this little power supply is called a switching supply. Though it must rectify the AC power, it would not need massive magnetic material for this power level. +12 volts at 1 Amp would be 12 watts of power. That box would get warm if it wasn't efficient. I was also planning to use a UPS with this unit, to make sure there would be no surprises during a gig. But that is one more thing to lug around. So if anyone else has this issue, try a power source with the two spring contacts in the center hole.


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Post subject: Re: Power plug to Fender Floor unit
Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2013 4:16 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2012 8:08 am
Posts: 824
that is actually pretty useful info.
Can you share a link to the ebay item you bought?


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