Power on Board / Power Splitter from Expansion

[zenkick]

Is there an official/supported solution for pulling 9v from the MFC Expansion port?

I'm a new owner and in the process of planning my board setup (MFC is in for repair/testing, btw.)

Ideally, it would be cool to pull a minimal draw via the 9v from the expansion port to power something on the board (eg. an led on an expression, a "can't live without fuzz", etc.)

Considering future expansion possibilities via the MFC expansion port to support another MFC, I would assume there is some spare power that is being passed down from the Axe FX II via the ethernet.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? I can envision a break-out box being built into a tiny enclosure (perhaps incorporating ethercon at the same time) that pulls/splits power from the expansion/ethernet port for other accessories -- preserving the nice one-cable solution. A very simple DYI, IMO.

Thoughts? Comments?

(Apologies if this was covered - I didn't find anything with a cursory search.)

-Dave

 

[BenLevy]

I'm not an electronics guy, but doesn't the MFC use AC? You'd probably need DC for most other pedals right? You have a great idea there, hopefully someone will be able to shine some knowledge on it...

 

[zenkick]

Ah yes, good point. I just confirmed in the MFC manual that it is indeed 9V AC.

I'm a bedroom hacker at best with powered projects (built my own loopers with LEDs, pedal projects, etc.), thus my post -- hopefully some insight is shed on the topic.

 

[lp59]

Ideally, it would be cool to pull a minimal draw via the 9v from the expansion port to power something on the board (eg. an led on an expression, a "can't live without fuzz", etc.)

I have the same needs, thinking how I could power the led status of my Mission pedal. I've built an on/off switch on it but forget regularly to turn it off. It would be great if we could plug a 9v power supply behind the AF and have a 9v Boss type connector on the MFC, with the ethernet cable carrying the voltage from AF to MFC... I'm sure there's enough unused cables in the ethernet cable.

 

[SimonDreyer]

I think your assumption is correct, the expansion port probably does pass the power supply back out so it would be possible to make a little break-out box. You would only need a $1 bridge rectifier to get the AC to DC so no problems there.
I actually have an extra power supply mounted inside my Axe-II wired to the main power switch that supplies power back out of the little connector (supposed to be for supplying phantom power to standard midi devices) and powers my Brace Audio wireless system.