# Battery Mod



## metaljonesy

Hey all, just on with my first 4 builds and the Triangulum boost is nearly complete!!

I've had a good search, but haven't managed to find yet, a detailled methodology of adding a 9v battery option that disconnects the 9v dc supply if connected this way but in general terms, just adding a 9v battery.

Does anyone have a step by step guide to this?


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## Nostradoomus

From your battery snap, black goes to the same ground as your regular 9v and the red wire goes to the other empty tab on the jack. It should switch internally, most dc jacks have that feature but if not make sure you buy a switching dc jack.


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## metaljonesy

Nostradoomus said:


> From your battery snap, black goes to the same ground as your regular 9v and the red wire goes to the other empty tab on the jack. It should switch internally, most dc jacks have that feature but if not make sure you buy a switching dc jack.




Thank's for your reply, the DC sockets I have just have two lugs on them, or do you mean using the other side of the PCB 1/4" jack socket to create the switching?


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## Nostradoomus

Oh no you’ll need a 3 tab jack.


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## metaljonesy

Nostradoomus said:


> Oh no you’ll need a 3 tab jack.
> 
> View attachment 846



That's great, thanks, managed to find them on ebay straight away


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## phi1

You'll want to use a stereo 1/4" jack for the input jack and wire it so that it disconnects battery power when you unplug the input jack. Otherwise you pedal would drain the battery constantly with nothing plugged. 

You can probably find a diagram of this online, but if you're having trouble I could draw something up. 

The switching DC jack will disconnect the battery when a DC jack is plugged in, so it won't drain battery sitting on your pedalboard as long as a DC jack is plugged in. But if you're using the battery, you'll wants unplug the 1/4" input jack when not using.


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## metaljonesy

phi1 said:


> You'll want to use a stereo 1/4" jack for the input jack and wire it so that it disconnects battery power when you unplug the input jack. Otherwise you pedal would drain the battery constantly with nothing plugged.
> 
> You can probably find a diagram of this online, but if you're having trouble I could draw something up.
> 
> The switching DC jack will disconnect the battery when a DC jack is plugged in, so it won't drain battery sitting on your pedalboard as long as a DC jack is plugged in. But if you're using the battery, you'll wants unplug the 1/4" input jack when not using.



If you could PM me the details that would be great. I've ordered some switching DC sockets but would like to have the option of disconnecting the jack to cut the battery supply


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## phi1

I'll just post it here for everyone.  I found/edited a couple graphics from the web.

The concept is: The Battery and DC Jack negatives won't connect to the ground of the rest of the pedal.  Rather, they connect to the RING lug of the stereo Input Jack.  So, when the input is unplugged, the Battery and DC Jack negatives are just floating.

When you plug a mono (TS) 1/4" plug into a stereo input jack, the RING lug of the input jack is connected to ground via the mono plug's SLEEVE.  So, the Battery and DC Jack negatives are connected to the ground of the rest of the pedal.

The 3 pins on the DC Jack of this diagram correspond to Nostradoomus' picture.  Hopefully this makes sense, let me know if you still have questions.


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## metaljonesy

That's fantastic, many thanks for this, I'm sure a lot of others who are just starting out with these builds will find that info invaluable!!


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## sabbathfan0220

Hey guys, I'm new here.

Quick question about adding a battery snap as per phi1's diagram: What does the (-) on the circuit board connect to? I have the input jack sleeve going to ground, same as on the original PedalPCB instructions and phi1's diagram. I'm confused about the (-) from the power supplies going to the board (as per Nostradoomus) or going to the ring of the input jack, as per phi1.

Thanks!


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## BurntFingers

You'll need to drill out the hole to 11.5mm too.


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## phi1

The point of my diagram is that you need a way to disconnect power if you’re using a battery. (When you turn the pedal “off”, the circuit is bypassed, but this has nothing to do with power. The circuit is constantly drawing power whether the footswitch is on or off. This will drain your battery, unless you have a way to disconnect the battery power from the circuit. 

The most common way to do this is like my diagram, where unplugging the input jack disconnects battery power from the circuit by disconnecting circuit ground from battery minus. When the input jack is plugged in, it connects battery (-) to the circuit ground because the mono male jack’s sleeve connects the ring and sleeve connections of the female jack.


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## Mcknib

Pic paints a 1000 words and all that

Here's how you wire a DC jack and battery snap

As Nostradoomus said your DC jack would switch between adaptor or battery ie stick an adaptor in it and that powers your pedal take it out and your battery would power it and as phi1 says the battery ground is connected when you stick a jack into your IN socket which connects the ring to jack sleeve and completes the circuit take it out and it disconnects ground saving your battery from draining 

Hence why you see this "always unplug guitar cable" warning on pedals that use batteries





and who woulda known yer man at Fulltone was a bit of a Goth eh?


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## sabbathfan0220

Thanks phi1, I understand it in theory, I'm having trouble understanding what connects to the PCB ground vs the PCB (-). I'm working on a Fuzz Foundry, here is where I'm at:


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## sabbathfan0220

Thanks for the reply, Mcknib. It looks like your diagram is actually this, where the DC jack (-) and the battery snap (-) don't join:


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## Mcknib

Battery snap - or ground goes to the in jack socket ring connection, your in jack socket needs to be a stereo trs (tip, ring, sleeve) type as shown by phi1

Your pcb ground or minus are the same thing and connects to the DC jack ground lug so your 2nd pic is all good


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## phi1

Yeah either of those is fine. My diagram (where dc jack - and battery - are connected) would remove power when input is disconnected, regardless of battery or power supply. In your second diagram, unplugging input only disconnects power if you are using battery. 

Practically, either option works fine. The main thing is a way to disconnect battery power. When using a dc jack on a pedal board, you can just turn off the Pedal board power when you’re not using it.


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## sabbathfan0220

Got it, thanks guys!


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