Unplug that WallWart

[Bud Angelotti]

I just discovered something about wallwarts, quite by accident.
The wallwart is plugged into the wall, and plugged into the device, an effects box in this case. The device is turned OFF, but the Wallwart is all plugged in.
The wallwart heats up, just slightly mind you, but enough to tell the wall wart itself is ON, even though the device itself is turned off.
It seems as tough if its plugged in it is ON. Even when everything is turned OFF.
This explains to me at least why these confounded warts are always crapping out. Making noise and such. They just wear out if plugged in all the time.
The lesson would be of course, unplug those warts when not in use!

[Jerry Overstreet]

Yessir. I have my music gear warts plugged into a switched power strip and switch it off when not in use.

Other household items and things like computers may have wall warts that must nearly constantly have power though.

[Larry Dering]

I use power strips on anything that needs a wallwart so I can turn it off. They continue to draw a modest amount of current and present a fire hazard if left plugged in.

[John Larson]

I just discovered something about wallwarts, quite by accident.
The wallwart is plugged into the wall, and plugged into the device, an effects box in this case. The device is turned OFF, but the Wallwart is all plugged in.
The wallwart heats up, just slightly mind you, but enough to tell the wall wart itself is ON, even though the device itself is turned off.
It seems as tough if its plugged in it is ON. Even when everything is turned OFF.
This explains to me at least why these confounded warts are always crapping out. Making noise and such. They just wear out if plugged in all the time.
The lesson would be of course, unplug those warts when not in use!

I use one of these and I plug the amp into the switching outlet, when I turn the amp on it then turns on the other outlets powering the wall warts for my pedals. I have one for my pedal steel rig and one for my standard guitar rig.
https://www.greenliteusa.com/products/t ... ing-ports/

If all your music stuff is in its own room on its own circuit you can always turn the breaker for the outlets off when not in use. I used to do this before finding these gadgets.

[Bud Angelotti]

Thanks John - I can't seem to fiqure out where to get these things or how much$$.

[Patrick Huey]

Thanks John - I can't seem to fiqure out where to get these things or how much$$.

Bud,
I personally have my pedal boards, rack stuff, and amp heads in my home studio all plugged into a Furman power conditioner. I have my pedal boards on standard pedal power bricks and their wall warts all plugged into the Furman along with my amp heads and rack gear. When I am ready to play I just plug the Furman’s cord into the wall and turn it on. This also protects all of my gear in case I am not at home and there is a thunderstorm or power surge .

[Donny Hinson]

Those "wall warts", especially the heavier ones (with transformers in them), can use a lot of electricity if left plugged in 24/7/365. A constant draw of only five watts amounts to using over forty-three thousand watts of electricity if left plugged in all year!

This is why, when rural areas were electrified over a century ago, the electric companies would often give the farmers a free, new-fangled, electric clock as a gift! Their story was they wanted the farmer to finally have an accurate clock that they didn't ever have to wind up. But of course, the real reason they did that was so the farmer would be constantly using some electricity.

[Ron Pruter]

With charging, I have always just felt the wart to see if it was hot or not. If it was cool, it usually meant my tablet, or what ever, was fully charged. Isn't that a good test? Is that something new with wallwarts? The auto off feature, I mean.. Ron

[Larry Allen]

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One switch turns on/off the whole kit..

[Jim Pitman]

As an EE, I hate walwarts. 99% directly rectify the line voltage (not isolated via a transformer) which makes for a lot of leakage current that makes noise. It's best to get a desktop power supply with a transformer in it and an on/off switch.

[Paul Seager]

Those "wall warts", especially the heavier ones (with transformers in them), can use a lot of electricity if left plugged in 24/7/365. A constant draw of only five watts amounts to using over forty-three thousand watts of electricity if left plugged in all year!

I recently had a photo-voltaic system installed in my house. With that you get the ubiquitous smart-phone app. One morning I was curious , when only my refrigerator was running, where was the electricity going. I went through the house and unplugged all those little "warts" and well, well, well, suddenly I was selling my excess electricity ... what a difference a wart makes!

To be fair some household items you need to leave on but rarely an effects board !

[Bob Sykes]

It's not just wall-warts consuming stand-by power. Any product with a wireless remote control or a "soft" power switch also uses some energy 24/7/365.

If it doesn't have an old fashioned mechanical power switch like a vintage Fender or Peavey amp, then it's likely included. Wall warts or not.

[Dave Mudgett]

Like John L. above, at home, where I typically leave my pedalboard plugged in, I typically use a current-sensing master-controlled power strip - this one specifically, the Sunbeam Advanced 7-Outlet Power Strip - https://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-Advance- ... B07K3ZLMP7



Just plug the high-current device (normally guitar amp that you always switch off when finished playing) into the Master outlet, anything you want to automatically switch off when the amp is switched off in the Master Controlled outlets, and anything you want to stay switched on all the time in the Always On outlets. Note that the Master device has to continually draw enough current to activate the "ON" switch to the controlled devices. I haven't had any problem with a normal guitar amp, but I have had some really small amps or other devices that don't draw enough current.

Like Jim, I'm an EE, and I dislike wall warts. And especially since they have definitely veered to switched-mode supplies. Yuck. The clock noise can definitely get into the signal path if one is not careful. But it's getting harder to find traditional analog transformer-based supplies in the higher powers needed for a modern pedalboard with higher drain devices.

BTW - I do NOT use one of these switching power strips on a gig. In a mission-critical situation, it is a real drag if the current sensor decides the amp is off (when it isn't) and switches the pedalboard off. Ask me how I know.

These switching power strips are used a lot with, and I think primarily designed for, computer systems. Plug the main computer into the Master, and auxiliary devices like monitor(s), external drives, printers, or whatever, into the controlled outlets.

[Bud Angelotti]

Thanks Dave! Thats the ticket.