For this weeks post, I just wanted to let you all know that I finally received my pedalboard power supply. They are finally available!
It is called the Sanyo KBC-9V3U Pedal Juice—a pretty fancy name for something that does something so well and so simply.
This is one of those inventions that was sooo long overdue, one of those “Why didn’t someone think of that years ago?” kind of products.
And it works like a charm. It is a handsome little pedal slightly bigger than a phase 90 that charges in about 3.5 hours. This pedal keeps you free from wall-warts and batteries and extra things to plug in.
Also a plus, at little more than a 1/2 lb, this pedal weighs in at less than the average pedal, so no worries about adding too many extra pounds to your pedal-board.
While charging a small flashing LED informs you of the rate of progress:
Flashing RED: less than 30%
Flashing ORANGE: 30-60%
Flashing GREEN: 60% or more
LED OFF: Fully charged
When the power supply is being used to power your board, the light is steady but the RED ORANGE and GREEN colors indicate the same power status. It has a power switch that comes on with a touch, but needs to be held for a couple of seconds to switch off…no risk of accidental power downs with this bad boy! Well thought out.
So I am sure many of you have questions on how long the power supply will last…well it powered my small pedalboard (see Pedalboards Part 1 and Part 2) for a couple of practice sessions lasting a couple hours or so each, then for for a 6-7 hour recording session, and then a couple more days of practicing for a couple of hours before finally shutting down!…not bad in my book…here is a list that Sanyo provided of some devices and the approximate time that your Sanyo Eneloop pedal with provide power on a single charge.
Analog Effects: Distortion/Overdrive (10mA current draw) 50 hours
Digital Delay/Digital Reverb (50mA current draw) 27 hours
Digital Multiple Effects/mini amplifier/graphic digital multiple effects/graphic EQ (100mA draw) 17 hours
Muti-Trac recorder/synthesizer (300 mA draw) 7 hours
Electronic Drum/percussion instrument (1000mA draw) 2 hours
Powered by a Lithium-ion battery, the unit charges with a provided 5v power supply plugged into a dummy-proof input plug (no mixing up the 5v ins and the 9v outs here), and has 2- 9v center tip negative outputs to power your pedalboard.
The unit is not to be charged while supplying power to your pedalboard and when the output of the two 9v plugs exceeds 2A, the unit will shut down but that is quite a bit in pedal speak, so more than enough for most of us. And if needed, you can always have 2 to power an oversized board.
So there is a good amount of hi-tech safety in this product. Most importantly there is no memory issue with it, so no needing to drain fully before recharging etc etc . And, of course, the charge time will be less than the estimated 3.5 hours, if there is any residual power left from the last charge…
So charge up fully before each gig and you will be more than guaranteed good clean safe hum-free power through your show…and then maybe a (some) day(s) of rehearsing afterwards…of course, be careful to check the power reqs on your pedals before doing your show…I used mine at home for a few days before confidently taking it into a pro recording session. But it really did make everything much easier: just plug the amp in, and then the guitar into the pedals into the amp..no extra chords.
I am loving this pedal…it does everything I was trying to design into my prototype (see pictures of my home made rechargeable power supply) except it is a lot more hi-tech and certainly a lot prettier… 
Check out the KBC-9V3U Pedal Juice on Sayno’s site.