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stinkfoot
Silver Member
Sweden
181 Posts |
 Posted - 12/15/2009 : 13:05:29
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That'd be awesome. It's the "black art" bit as well as the annoyingly high current draws that has prevented me from messing with relays this far, and if there's a solution to both problems, I'm all for it. I'll owe you a  or two...
/Andreas |
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Dr. Bob
Moderator
Australia
6593 Posts |
Posted - 12/15/2009 : 13:30:12
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Hi stinkfoot
Sorry to hear about your trials & tribulations with the miniature 3PDT switches, that you are experimenting with.
It's one of the many things that users never see, that Engineers have to deal with.
On the subject of using sub-miniature low current relays.
Laurie & had a long discussion on this subject.
I was telling him of some relays I used to use when I doing engineering & development at Motorola Comms.
We purchased some relays that were "magnetically biased",
This allowed the relay to be only powered during the Change over period/pulse.
Once toggled they require zero holding current.
We have a Honywell Thermostat which I fitted to out central heating that works in the same manner.
A set of AA batteries last about 4 years.
Perhaps you could investigate if similar relays are available from your suppliers.
I hope this has given you some insight into what might be available.
It's nice to see you back on a more regular basis as well.
Your input is always appreciated & welcome.
Regards Dr. Bob 
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bside2234
Copper Member
USA
15 Posts |
Posted - 12/15/2009 : 17:47:25
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I too have been wondering about the "voodoo" of relays. I have never used them before and have been trying to read up on them to see how I can use them. I have yet to find anything that explains how to apply them to our applications. I was going to purchase some and start experimenting but I have no idea what to buy so that hasn't happened yet.
Using the Boss switching to control the relay is very interesting and would love to see how it was applied. I've been trying to figure this out since I have read this and just can't get a grasp on it.
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stinkfoot
Silver Member
Sweden
181 Posts |
Posted - 12/15/2009 : 19:01:07
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Relays are just switches, but instead of physically manipulating them to switch from one state to the other, they use a control voltage (it can also be a connection to ground, I believe) to decide which state they should have. The flip-flop circuit included in most Boss pedals (some use logic switching, which may or may not work for this application) already control the state of the mute transistors, so I can imagine it wouldn't be too hard to make it control a relay instead.
The trouble is the sheer number of different relays out there (latching, momentary, different voltages etc), so it'd take some studying to find which ones are useful for this particular purpose. Or you can ask someone who has already done the homework... 
I'd imagine a momentary relay would be the best choice, as it has a resting mode that it reverts back to when power is lost if you wire it up right, the pedal will automatically switch to bypass when the battery gets low. The drawback is that it constantly uses power to hold it in the "active" mode, where a latching relay would only use power while it is switching.
Anyway, that's about as much knowledge as I have at the moment...
/Andreas |
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bside2234
Copper Member
USA
15 Posts |
Posted - 12/17/2009 : 16:37:13
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Well that's about exactly where I am at right now in my understanding. I have the basics of how a relay works down but have no idea where to start when looking to purchase some. There are just too many choices.
It'd be nice to know exactly how to apply the relay to a particular pedal so I would know if the relay was the wrong one or how I applied it was the problem. That's whats holding me back. |
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True bypass Boss pedal mod
