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Roland Fr8x Power Supply

J

Jibberin

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Just wondering if anyone has sourced a mains replacement power supply for the above?
 
Amazon.CA seems to have them, but they are not cheap:

24V 3.75 amp Power Supply Billion By Inspired LED Power Supply, Level VI compliant : Amazon.ca: Electronics

24V 3.75 amp Power Supply Billion By Inspired LED Power Supply, Level VI compliant : Amazon.ca: Electronics
www.amazon.ca

I saw a few at the electronics store (Adisson electronics in Montreal) that looked to have the same specs but the end plugs would have needed to be changed, those were (at the time, about a year ago), went for $27.00 ea. They looked to be new-old stock.
 
For my FR-7, I use a 'pre-owned' Canon CA-CP200B (24V, 1.8A). It is available from the popular auction website for about US $15.

FR-5/FR-7/FR-7x/FR-8x consume about 0.5A. 1.8A is plenty.

You may need to do some minor surgery for the connector.
 
JIM D. said:
www.ebay.com

ABI 24V 3A AC Adapter Power Supply Driver for 24V LED Strip Light 845832011141 | eBay

Simply plug your adapter into the strip light and into a wall socket and enjoy the benefits of long-life LED lighting. For use with 24V LED strip lights. Input: 100-240V (worldwide use), Output: 24V 3A (72W), Non-Dimmable.
www.ebay.com

Save the cord from the original . Use the original cord & plug for replacement.
Click to expand...
Can I use this power supply to connect to an appropriate 19 pin Amphenol connector that attaches to my FR-7X in lieu of the FBC-7 cord? I’d rather use AC power than have to replace $300 battery packs.
 
Gary M said:
I’d rather use AC power than have to replace $300 battery packs.
Click to expand...
Gary,

No need to spend $300. If you have basic soldering skill and are willing to live with about 4 hrs (instead of 8 hrs) of play/battery swap, you can put a battery pack together with 20 AA rechargeable battery cells (I just bought a few "Energizer Rechargeable 2300 mAH AA Batteries, 16-pack" for $19.99 ($10 off) each from Costco), 2 10-AA cell holders (a few $ each from FeaBay), a 4-pin Molex connectors (e.g.this from Amazon ).

Read these threads:

Battery pack for FR-7/7x/8x

Related thread: FBC-7 Eliminator This post was initially intended to be in this thread because Id like to clarify some points raised in the thread. But then I thought it was deserved its own thread. ... the 24 volt battery pack for the Roland models FR-5, 7, 7x & 8x ARE NOT made from the...
www.accordionists.info

Roland FR-8X Battery Options

Well, it's been five years and my original FR-8X battery is finally tired. It's only lasting a couple hours - and that's when using headphones and not running the internal speakers. I've looked at some options - although information is sparse online. I know Jerry built his own - and I read his...
www.accordionists.info

Of course if you want to use an AC power adapter, you can go from the Molex connector for the batter pack, through the battery cover, to a plug that takes the connector from a power adapter. Or you can go inside the accordion, installing the plug as I did.

But the AA rechargeable battery pack is the simplest and the least intrusive; you don't have to do anything to the accordion.

The full mutilation project is here:

FBC-7 Eliminator

This is the original thread. I decided to start a new thread because the scope of the mod has exceeded the duplication of the AMC-4. Heres what the FR-7 after the mod: You can see (from left): MIDI out, MIDI in, 24VDC jack, and (2) charging jacks. I need 2 jacks for charging because there...
www.accordionists.info
 
Last edited:
here is a current offer on tenergy aa.. can just solder them together
20 pack with nice long tabs $33.99 amazon prime


and hot glue gun them into a 5 row W similar to the original battery

swipe a spare MOLEX connector from any handy surplus Computer Power supply
and i did buy a 10 pack of thermistors

cheep heat shrink also available on Amazon

still use the original packs for gigs, but here in the studio it doesn't
matter if i swap batteries every 2 or 3 hours of use

the AA packs re-charge correctly on the pedalboard
 
Thank you very much for this valuable treasury of information!!! I appreciate it so much!
My first choice preference however is to make up a kind of rig like Jim D. made and sold. That is, a wall outlet plug on one end, 24 volt transformer/power supply in the line, and an Amphenol connector on the other end that mates with the one on the FR-7X. The battery would be removed and not used or charged by this device. I’m not trying to take business from Jim D., but when I spoke to him recently he didn’t have any left and had to order the component parts before beginning to make them again. I didn’t press him for a timeline and I forgot to ask how much it costs. If I can just get the right Amphenol connector and determine which pins supply 24 volt power to the instrument I should be golden. I asked Jim on another post if he would share the information, but I understand if he doesn’t want to.
 
Hello Gary,

Have you considered this as in my post above: ”you can go from the Molex connector for the batter pack, through the battery cover, to a plug that takes the connector from a power adapter”? The connection to the 24V power adapter will be under the bellows pad

To be honest, I think this approach is simple, and definitely costs much less than the 19 pin Amphanol connector, which was somewhere in the neighborhood of $80 a few years ago when I last checked.
 
pentaprism said:
Hello Gary,

Have you considered this as in my post above: ”you can go from the Molex connector for the batter pack, through the battery cover, to a plug that takes the connector from a power adapter”? The connection to the 24V power adapter will be under the bellows pad

To be honest, I think this approach is simple, and definitely costs much less than the 19 pin Amphanol connector, which was somewhere in the neighborhood of $80 a few years ago when I last checked.
Click to expand...
i even took a thick piece of aluminum frame then filed and sculpted it to match the lower 2 inches
of the battery compartment cover, with a finger to press the hidden switch, and
have that screwed in so that switching batteries or using an extension cable from
an alternate power source is easy

the first alternate battery i tried was this

https://www.amazon.com/MPF-Products...words=24v+nimh+battery&qid=1661092060&sr=8-54

and just put longer wires when i soldered on the MOLEX plug
so slipping it under the backpad works
 
Gary M said:
Thank you very much for this valuable treasury of information!!! I appreciate it so much!
My first choice preference however is to make up a kind of rig like Jim D. made and sold. That is, a wall outlet plug on one end, 24 volt transformer/power supply in the line,
Click to expand...
i would keep in mind that 2 things are very important regarding
power to a Roland

first: the voltage must be regulated, or naturally exact at the voltage required

second: the supply must be capable of the necessary
and at times quite high sustained amperage

(this is why 20battery NiMh packs are so perfect for this device)

many 24 volt supplies you see on Amazon are designed to be used to recharge
24volt battery setups in scooters or kids go-karts and such, so they actually
have working voltages more like 27 or 28 volts, as NiMh an Lead Acid
require an overvoltage to trigger recharging effiiently, and the motors
in these devices are very forgiving about voltage fluctuations

if you build a voltage regulator circuit to control your power supply,

L7824CV L7824 Positive Voltage Regulator IC TO-220 Output 1.5A 24V​

make sure it can handle the current and dissipate heat efficiently

i personally would not attempt to power a Roland from an unregulated
power supply. as it is already hugely difficult to get these accordions
serviced or repaired, and many parts and assemblies are simply no longer available
 
Below is related to my FR-7b, but I think FR-7x is not much different:

- The voltage of the Roland battery pack when fully charged is 29.5V.
- Starting current is about 2A
- When the accordion is up an running, the current is between 0.4 and 0.5 A
- For AC power adapter, I've been using a copy of Canon CA-CP200 that I bought from FleaBay for $14.

Of course whatever I write here is worth exactly what you've paid for them.
 
there are 20 batteries in the pack, each battery is 1.2 volts by it's nature

that is 24 volts

you might get a higher reading from a Voltmeter just after they have charged,
(without a load)
but the working voltage will be 24 under load and NIMH batteries are stable

now Lithium batteries do have a wider swing on their voltage under load,
which is why they get away with calling a 3 battery pack "12 volts" when it is
actually 3.7 x 3 = 11.1 volt, and will brown out a connected device that is
voltage sensitive rather quickly as it drops to it's natural level, but it can
throw out over 14 volts for awhile

battery stuff can be weird
 
pentaprism said:
Hello Gary,

Have you considered this as in my post above: ”you can go from the Molex connector for the batter pack, through the battery cover, to a plug that takes the connector from a power adapter”? The connection to the 24V power adapter will be under the bellows pad

To be honest, I think this approach is simple, and definitely costs much less than the 19 pin Amphanol connector, which was somewhere in the neighborhood of $80 a few years ago when I last checked.
Click to expand...
Thank you! You make a very good case and clearly know what you’re talking about. I think I’ll reconsider based on your input. Much appreciated!
 
Ventura said:
there are 20 batteries in the pack, each battery is 1.2 volts by it's nature

that is 24 volts

you might get a higher reading from a Voltmeter just after they have charged,
(without a load)
but the working voltage will be 24 under load and NIMH batteries are stable

now Lithium batteries do have a wider swing on their voltage under load,
which is why they get away with calling a 3 battery pack "12 volts" when it is
actually 3.7 x 3 = 11.1 volt, and will brown out a connected device that is
voltage sensitive rather quickly as it drops to it's natural level, but it can
throw out over 14 volts for awhile

battery stuff can be weird
Click to expand...
Wow, that is very enlightening! I never would have known about voltage variation concerns like that. I will be considering your warning and comprehensive rationale very seriously. I bought a used Canon CP200 power supply and I’m wondering if it is just a power supply device or a charger. If just a power supply maybe the voltage is adequately regulated? What are your thoughts on this? Thank you very much!!!
 
Gary M said:
I bought a used Canon CP200 power supply and I’m wondering if it is just a power supply device or a charger. If just a power supply maybe the voltage is adequately regulated? What are your thoughts on this?
Click to expand...
From what I know, Canon CA-CP200 is a power adapter, not a charger.

Is it adequately regulated? I don't know.

All I know is that my FR-7b is happy to be married to it.

In the photo below, you can see the battery pack at the upper left corner; it is not supplying power to the accordion.
 

Attachments

  • CA-CP200AndFr-7xb.jpg
    CA-CP200AndFr-7xb.jpg
    151.1 KB · Views: 24
Gary,

I'm not sure if you read the old posts. But I actually ran the wires from the battery connectors inside the accordion and installed a plug for the 24VDC input at the bottom of the accordion. You can see it labeled "24 VDC NEG CENTER." The Canon CA-CP200 connector is actually positive-center. But I made a mistake in the harness from the battery to the charging ports (the orange and black ports at the edge of the accordion) and it was simpler for me to correct the mistake by swapping the polarity of the 24VDC port.

If you don't want to mutilate your accordion, you can run the wires from the battery connector through the door of the battery compartment and have a (female) plug hanging under the bellows pad.

The charging ports, by the way, allow me to charge the battery pack inside of the accordion.

When I was at it, I also added the MIDI ports.
 

Attachments

  • FR-7b.jpg
    FR-7b.jpg
    185.7 KB · Views: 18
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