Can you leave Hilton V P plugged up

Doug Taylor · From: Shelbyville, Kentucky, USA

Is it ok to leave an older Hilton VP with the cord you cannot disconnect plugged up all the time into the wall outlet?

Noah Miller · From: Rocky Hill, CT

Shouldn't cause any problems.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

I'm not technically qualified to give you advice, but I don't like leaving wall warts powered up unattended. They have been known to overheat and/or fail.

I prefer to plug them into a switched power strip sos I can turn the strip off when not in use.

This one may be different, I dunno. You can probably ask Keith for his recommendation. JMO. FWIW.

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

I use a switched power strip. Helps me sleep.
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Doug Taylor · From: Shelbyville, Kentucky, USA

Thanks for the replies! I have always had it plugged into a power strip with a switch. The problem is I use headphones 90% of the time and it buzzes through the phones. Plugged straight into the wall it does not so I guess I’m really looking for a solution for the noise! I bought a Tonex One to use for a headphone rig and completely happy other than the buzz!

Douglas Schuch · From: Valencia, Philippines

I remember a thread where people were looking for a more affordable power supply than the model that Keith Hilton sold. Keith chimed in saying that the unit he sold was in his opinion much better than the cheap ones - IIRC, he mentioned the noise, but also longevity - but said that they are often left plugged in, which adds many hours to the power supplies, shortening their lifespan. So based on that statement, I think it's safe to conclude it's best to unplug them when not in use to get maximum life. Maybe later today I'll search for that thread and link it here - can't right now as I'm heading out for band rehearsal.
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Doug Taylor · From: Shelbyville, Kentucky, USA

Thanks Douglas, I have the older pedal with the hard wired power supply. So I would guess you would have to take it apart to change it!

I moved my power strip that I always have turned off away from the Tonex pedal and that eliminated most of the noise I was experiencing! It was sitting right next to it so I guess I was getting some kind of electric interference!

Dave Grafe · From: Hudson River Valley NY

The reason manufacturers use wall warts is to get around UL safety testing. The equipment passes the UL inspection but the wall wart is not part of the tested package and yes, they do heat up and burst into flame from time to time.

Bill McCloskey · Posted 28 Aug 2024 4:28 pm

I had a Hilton and it always bugged me having to plug a vp in. I tried non powered as well.

But I've gotten rid of all of them now and I use the Mission Engineering pedal that works with the Kemper. VP plugs directly into the kemper so it bipasses the signal chain coming from steel. Steel goes directly into the kemper without anything else in the signal chain. It can be configured to be a wah or any number of effects as well. Steel->Kemper->Laney Powered speaker. Easy Peasy.

Bob Sykes · From: North Carolina

These power supplies were developed and used primarily for early telecommunication systems. Typically there are 3 output voltages. The +12V and -12V powered the RS232 comms interface. The +5V powered the logic cicuits (i.e. TTL). I don't think the Hilton pedals use the +5V output. Hopefully Keith will correct me if I got that wrong. They are linear supplies, so relatively bulky but better for audio (quieter). These early system were usually powered up 24/7.

Leaving electronics powered on all the time does cause "wear-out" and eventually failure, but so does switching them on and off. Power cycling is a fundamental component of accelerated life testing used to gauge product reliability.

My personal preference for solid state musical gear is to power up once per day if I'm going to use it. Switch it off when I'm done with it for the day. I turn my tube amps off as soon as I'm not using them. Maybe several times a day. YMMV
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Doug Taylor · From: Shelbyville, Kentucky, USA

thanks everyone for the good advice. I have decided to leave it plugged in the power strip so I can turn it off when I, done.

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