Voodoo Lab

Hello sorry if this already been asked.
I have been using my PP2+ for 8-10 years and have one pedal run on 12v (dip away from NORMAL) it's a AMT F1 and it's been in that configuration for serveral years now. All my other pedals run on 9vdc.
Anyways a week ago I unplugged all the usual (including the 12v) and messed around with some pedals and totally forgot I had one out at 12v! But nothing seemed to happen to my pedals, except one! It's a Behringer BDI21 (sansamp clone) that I use for recording bass. I noticed that when I was gonna do some scratch tracking last night and saw that the F1 was at 12v, oh * was my first thought! So when I plugged the BDI21 into a correct 9v it didn't work, so I must have plugged it into the 12v. Sorry if this is a mess but I'm trying to get to the point.

All my other pedals are vintage, mostly from the 80's, Ibanez L and 10 series (which run on 9v) but it seem they all survived the 12v! I tried all of the ones (and more) I think might have been run on 12v and they all worked last night, Fingers crossed!

Question 1;
How is this possible? I googled this and cant find anything other than the old pedals are built with larger volt caps and/or are sturdier in construction than modern (and cheap in this instance) pedals. I also looked at some manuals of these old Ibanez and they seem to run at both DC and AC power (sorta like old BOSS pedals).
Could this be it or is there something else, like the PP2+ have some way of regulating the voltages for lower powered pedals? So if I'd run the 9v pedals on some cheap wallwart 12v theyd be toast?
Also I opened up the BDI21 and couldn't see or smell anything funky, the LED works but no signal comes thru bypassed or ON.
Anyway I thank the spirits that it wasnt one of my vintage pedals that failed and just a cheap one (still hope they are fine).

Question 2;
If there was a power surge in volts would that be instant or can that develope in the future, over time? I hope not.

This is really the first time something like this has happened to me, I'm always really safe when powering gear and look up everything, and when I'm not sure Ive always asked here, and I have to say you guys are really great at this! You have saved people lots of money and time! THANKS!!!

To avoid the possibility that an excess of voltage might cause damage, as a general rule, pedals/devices should only be powered with whatever is the proper voltage specified for that pedal/device and not a higher voltage.

That said, for many (but not all) pedals/devices, if the excess is relatively small, it may cause no damage at all (and may even be fine to use).

In the case of the 9V pedals you've got, I would switch to powering them with 9V (and not 12V). As long as they are still working properly, it is extremely unlikely that the modest excess in voltage caused any damage.

Also, most DC pedals/devices require DC power and may be damaged by AC power (or with the wrong polarity DC power).

Hope this helps!

Hello and thanks for the answer!
I'm happy to inform that none of my effects seem to have been damaged by my accident, even the Behringer BDI21 survived after I put it back together!
I learned my lession and yes I know that you should never power 9VDC center negative effects with anything higher voltage and/or AC, aswell as center positive. Maybe it wasnt clear in my post but I have all 9VDC effects except one AMT F1 that is on 12VDC, but I forgot to switch the Normal DIP back to 9V, thereby could have damaged any 9V pedal used from that outlet. But it seems theyre allright and well!

What my question was;
Does the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power PLUS 2 have somekind of voltage protection in a case like this? I've tried finding out in my manual and on google but with no avail.
I know its regulated and isolated, so in case I used say a cheap 12V adapter, it might have been a much bleaker outcome?

And my second question; Does damage by using higher voltage come instant or does it develope after time? I think it would be instant from the google searches Ive done.

Thanks!

Great.

Almost always if there is a problem with an output, it will simply have no power (and yes this is a consequence of its design).

As for damaging a pedal with excess voltage, it can happen quickly, especially if the excess is large but sometimes it can be slow (for example, it might take 15 minutes for some component to over-heat and fail).

Usually, after any such powering error, if the pedal still works (with the proper power connected) it's fine/undamaged.

Cheers!