Boss ME-30 power supply?

[JohnH]

This is probably a super noob question, but do these use AC or DC adapters?

I was given a second hand one today, and I can't get it to turn on. The back of the box says 9V DC, which I have, but online everywhere seems to say it needs 9V AC.

I downloaded the manual but that confused me even more, as it has a drawing of the back of the box which says dc, but the text box says AC.

(bottom of page 6 at: http://cdn.roland.com/assets/media/pdf/ME-30_OM.pdf)

I put batteries in, and it worked for a bit before stopping again, but it could just be that the batteries aren't supplying enough power.

Not super invested in it, as it's a pedal my uncle wasn't using and I hadn't expected to end up with. Now I'm curious though, and it's going to annoy me til I fix it lol

[Andy40]

Would this be it?

just an 9v AC/DC adaptor

https://www.ebay.com/itm/AC-DC-Power...-/361668760920

[JohnH]

Would this be it?

just an 9v AC/DC adaptor

https://www.ebay.com/itm/AC-DC-Power...-/361668760920

Oooooh, so it just means an AC to DC adapter, rather than an actual AC power plug?

[corsair]

I use an ME 30 picked up in England for pennies some years ago and I just use a standard Boss wall wart to power it.

[JohnH]

Hmmm, it seems to stop working when I plug a DC wall wart in, but works fine when the batteries are in (just recharged them all to see if that was the problem). Curious.

[corsair]

Does the DC wall wart work?!

[JohnH]

Yeah, it's the one I use for my other pedals. Just tested it on my fuzz and it's fine...

[JohnH]

A mystery that will have to wait a few days I'm afraid - about to head up the coast for a week. This will drive me mad the whole time lol

[Simon Barden]

It uses 9v DC and needs a supply that can provide at least 170mA and has a centre negative barrel connector. The manual says use a Boss PSA series adaptor, and they all provide 9VDC, but the PSA models available will vary as to the incoming mains AC design voltage. So 120v for the US, 230V for Europe, 240v for Australia etc.

Your existing pedal adapter may not provide enough current to power the ME-30 as the digital electronics in the ME-30 take a lot more current than an analogue fuzz pedal will take. But there should be some thing on the pedal adapter that says the current it can provide. If this is greater than 170mA (say 500mA), then there is no reason the PSU should not work (providing the barrel adapter is centre negative). So as the ME-30 works with batteries, there may be a broken or dry solder joint on the circuit board for the DC adapter fitting.

[PJSprog]

Yup, this ^^^.

Either your power supply isn't providing enough current, or there is a bad/broken connection in the pedal.