Warthog

"Ditch those transformers, batteries, and wall-warts"

 

 

The Warthog is a GT-original module that provides 4 channels of clean DC power for third-party products so you don't have to use third-party transformers.  You choose the polarity and voltage for each channel.

 

Description

There's little doubt that transformers or "wall warts" are a nuisance.  Even in rack setups, they are difficult to secure and tend to come unplugged when racks are moved and transported.  Not only might the transformer or power cable get damaged when they are dangling inside the rack case, they tend to bang into other equipment and perhaps cause even more damage.  Depending on your power conditioner outlet configuration (you are using a power conditioner, right???), you may even have trouble plugging in some large or poorly designed transformers that need to be mounted "sideways" or that protrude too high or too low in your rack space.  While those are certainly good enough reasons to find another solution, there is an even worse problem.  Many transformers generate electrical noise in the power they produce or in equipment and cables nearby.  No one wants power hum or whining!

The Warthog is a companion module to the 18V Power module.  It takes a power feed from the 18V Power module and produces four independent DC power channels.  You can select center positive (C +) or center negative (C -) polarity for each channel.  That nomenclature may be a little less clear when you have negative voltages, so you can also think of it as whether you want the center pin or the sleeve to be ground.  You can select voltages from -18V to +18V, with common choices being:  -9V (100mA), -3V (100mA), -1.5V (100mA), 5V (100mA or 1000mA), 9V (100mA or 1000mA), 12V (100mA or 1000mA), 15V (100mA or 1000mA), and 18V (100mA).  This is quiet, steady, and filtered power, rectified to within about +/- 10% of the voltage.  The mA numbers displayed are maximums that should not be exceeded.  If you exceed the maximum, the channel has thermal shutdown protection, but frequent overheating can lead to untimely failures.  Use the meter on your 18V Power to keep track of your utilization.  If you eventually blow the board in a channel, replacement boards are available.  You can also order a different board if you need to change the voltage of a channel.  In that case, your rear panel markings may be incorrect.  You can mark them differently or order a replacement panel.  Also note that everything chained from your Warthog will be consuming mA from the 18V Power module power channel feeding your Warthog.  You may need to adjust your power daisy chains a bit to keep the 18V Power channels balanced.

Of course, you can daisy-chain from the Warthog channels, and power both positive and negative ground effects as long as you don't mix positive and negative ground on the same channel.  The GT power design uses the same type of power for all modules, and has many power protections built in to prevent problems with connecting the wrong power to your equipment.  The Warthog enables just the opposite, so you must be careful when you connect equipment to the Warthog and make sure you have the right voltage and polarity.  Since we don't know what you will be connecting, we don't supply any cables.  The connectors are all standard 2.1mm Boss-style connectors.  If you have problems finding some cable, let us know and we may be able to make custom cables for you at a modest cost.  We recommend that you mark both ends of your cables to show which power connection to use and which piece of equipment it goes to.  Then if something comes unplugged, you know how to reconnect it.  If you have a multimeter, it is always good to doublecheck voltage and polarity before you connect anything.

If you have some pedals in your GT rack configuration, you may be using transformers to power them.  Or you may be using batteries.  The Warthog can also replace batteries in older pedals that do not have power connections.  There are cables available that will plug into say, the 9V battery clip inside your pedal, giving you a "normal" connection outside your pedal that you can then connect to another power source, such as a Warthog module.  Just be certain that you know the polarity and voltage.  Also, particularly for some old vintage fuzz pedals, make sure you know if they use positive or negative grounding.  You can power either type with a Warthog, but you cannot mix the two different grounding types on the same power channel.  This is generally true for any power supply, not just the Warthog.

 

Configurations

  • Warthog - compares roughly to various pedalboard power supplies, or a handful of transformers

 

Buffers

N/A

 

Options

  • Voltages / Polarities - For each of the four channels, select either Center Positive or Center Negative polarity.  Also select the voltage for each channel from: -9V, -3V, -1.5V, 5V, 9V, 12V, 15V, and 18V.  By default, negative voltages and voltages greater than +15V will have a 100mA limit.  Positive voltages of 15V or lower will have a 1000mA limit.  The 1000mA limits can be changed to 100mA limits for no charge.
  • Custom Voltage, mA - 100mA limits can be doubled to 200mA, and other voltages from -18V to +24V may be available.  These require extra circuitry and in some cases extra boards.  Let us know what you need and we'll let you know if it will fit in the module, what the extra cost would be, etc.
  • Extra Protection - The Warthog is meant to be powered by our 18V Power module.  If you want to use it with a compatible third party power supply, we recommend adding an extra power protection board to the Warthog, similar to what our other modules have.  This can help prevent damage in the case of connecting it to the wrong type of power.  However, it may lower the total number of mA available or take away some voltage options (eg -24, -18, +18, and +24) for the four channels in the Warthog, depending on your exact configuration.
  • Custom Cables - You should be able to find inexpensive power cables of any type you need, or easily make them by splicing together parts from two power cables that have the correct connectors.  If you can't, let us know and we'll see if we can build what you need.  (These will likely be halves of different cables spliced together.)  When looking for power cables, shielded is good for minimizing the possibility of power noise, but usually shielding isn't necessary for DC.  Also, cables with bigger wire gauges are better.  With wire gauges, the lower the number the bigger the wire.  Many cheap cables may have 28, 30, or even higher gauges, meaning very small conductors.  If you can find cables with 22 - 26 gauge wire, you should probably be OK.

 

Front Panel

  • Power indicator - shows there is power coming into the module

 

Rear Panel

  • Power In Connector and Indicator LED.  The LED shows that power is coming into the module, same as the front panel LED
  • (4) Power Out Connectors and Indicator LEDs.  LEDs indicate that the channel is receiving power OK.

 

Module Width

  • 1.5"
  • wing module not currently available

 

Power Consumption (aprox)

Depends on what is connected.  Uses some power itself, but the amount depends on the configurations for the individual channels.  Usually in the range of 25 - 50 mA internally.

 

Base Configurations

Part # Description List Price
MOD-WARTHOG Warthog Power module $149

 

Options

Part # Description List Price
MOPT-WARTHOG-VOLTSMA Custom voltage or mA $0-TBD
MOPT-WARTHOG-PROT Extra protection for use with third party power supply $29
MOPT-WARTHOG-CABLE Custom power cable $TBD

 

Parts

Part # Description List Price
MPT-WARTHOG-BRD Replacement power boards $29
MPT-WARTHOG-CA Replacement cable assemblies $19