Need sanity check with BOSS CE-3

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Hey all....

Its been a while since I have messed with a BOSS pedal and I need some guidance. I have a BOSS CE-3 and everything works great on it EXCEPT for the Check LED. When I plug in my 1Spot the effect works just fine sound wise but, I get no Check LED to indicate it is engaged.

Is this normal? If not... what could be the causes?

EDIT: Check light works just fine on battery!  Whaaaaaaaa

[jkokura]

Chances are high that the version you have is likely looking for an ACA, or 12V power supply, and you're using a 9V supply. So, basically, it's not quite getting enough voltage to light up that LED properly.

Mod the pedal to expect a 9V supply, and it will be fine. Or, you can use an ACA/12V power supply. Or you can switch out the CLR.

Or, I'm wrong and the LED is burnt.

Jacob

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Chances are high that the version you have is likely looking for an ACA, or 12V power supply, and you're using a 9V supply. So, basically, it's not quite getting enough voltage to light up that LED properly.

Mod the pedal to expect a 9V supply, and it will be fine. Or, you can use an ACA/12V power supply. Or you can switch out the CLR.

Or, I'm wrong and the LED is burnt.

Jacob

Huh?? 

The Check light works fine with a 9V battery. Why would it need 12V?

This is a run of the mill CE-3. Built to work on 9VDC. With the MN3207. 12V would kill it! 

More research suggests that it has something to do with BOSS' diode/resistor circuit on the power jack. Recommendations say to daisy this with another pedal to get it to work. Don't have one available at the moment. Can someone confirm this or provide other ideas?

[jkokura]

The CE-3 I owned had an MN3007 chip in it, but it's almost identical to yours. Mine still had the little 'ACA supply only' sticker on it. Your experience was exactly like mine, that the light didn't light up with a 9V power supply. Yes, the 9V battery would work like normal, but when using a supply it connects to the circuit differently, then steps the power down (because it ran on 9V, but the supply put out 12V.) The Battery skips the step down diode bit of the circuit.

So basically, the power supply you're putting in is being stepped down, so the LED doesn't work because you're not applying the full 9V power to the circuit.

Jacob

[Govmnt_Lacky]

The CE-3 I owned had an MN3007 chip in it, but it's almost identical to yours. Mine still had the little 'ACA supply only' sticker on it. Your experience was exactly like mine, that the light didn't light up with a 9V power supply. Yes, the 9V battery would work like normal, but when using a supply it connects to the circuit differently, then steps the power down (because it ran on 9V, but the supply put out 12V.) The Battery skips the step down diode bit of the circuit.

So basically, the power supply you're putting in is being stepped down, so the LED doesn't work because you're not applying the full 9V power to the circuit.

Jacob

So... is it normal that I don't see the Check LED light up with my 1Spot? If so, is there a way that I can verify that it WILL work with a wall wart even if I only have a 1Spot to use?

[jkokura]

If you have a Boss ACA supply, which puts out around 12V, you could verify it. If that's not a possibility, can you use a 12V supply from a VooDoo Labs Pedal Power 2 (or other supply that will put out 12V)?

Aside from that, you could just do the Boss ACA to PSA mod on the CE-3. I googled this, but unsure if it's what I used on my CE-3 back a few years ago.

http://stinkfoot.se/archives/1019

Jacob