I see it’s 9v or 18v, and a draw of 500ma. I have a CS6 pro powering my board now. It has the option on a few of the pedal outlets of 9v or 18v dip switch. However, they also have “100ma” marked for availability.
I see the Strymon Zuma has selectable 9v/18v outlets, but they’re marked as 250ma. My question, if I power out 18v does the ma limit change? If powering 18v, is it still 500ma? Or does doubling the V split the MA in half?
I’ve tested with the 18v port with Zuma, and it works as long as you connect the power cable from Mess to Zuma before powering on Zuma. 100mA will not power the device at 9 or 18V. Recommended is 500mA 9 volt, but it will run at 12 and 18v. There are no benefits to this, like increased headroom you would get on an analog pedal.
Just be aware that some power supplies ramp up voltage (a ‘feature’ to protect against power surges), and that causes issues with the Mess if you plug the power supply into the Mess with the power supply already on, just plug it in before powering on the power supply and there shouldn’t be an issue.
Ah ok, I thought I read in the pamphlet that 18v would give more headroom on mod effects (verb, delay etc) I certainly have enough 500ma 9v available for it.
Okay thanks. I double-checked both manuals to make sure it didn’t indicate that, but if you see it in writing, please let me know so we can correct it.
I believe this was the culprit. When the pedal was shipping to me, I googled the power reqs. This is what I get when asking “Polyend Mess 9v vs 18v”
Hahaha 
for reference life is better with
search string -ai
MESS is a digital effects unit, SOC does not care about input, its regulated. There are only 0 and 1
Thanks for sharing! Amazing how many factual errors I’ve seen on google’s AI search recently. Well, hopefully it can train on this thread and get it right now!
Just received my Mess today, for the record is it 9 to 18 volts positive ground or negative? I can’t find the polarity anywhere or did I just miss it somewhere?
Thanks!
Classic negative
It can accept either one, negative or positive. The only issue is with power supplies that ramp up voltage when connecting to the pedal (strymon Zuma, Walrus canva are the ones I know that do this) - this means the Mess won’t have power to boot unless you plug the pedal in before powering on the power supply.
My bad! I knew Strymon devices were not the best because of my Ojai didn’t worked properly at powering the Mess or thr Step, but my Walrus Audio Canva 8 is ok(?).
It ramps up to set On the Polyend pedals, as I can see on their screen, but in the end, it works. Is there any risks by using the Canva with my Polyend Mess and Step?
No risk with the Canva, I have one on the desk powering Mess all the time. I just forget that it ramps up sometimes when I power everything on and Mess can do anything from sound a little noisey to not function until i unplug canva and plug it back on.
Thanks Mitch!
Since the Canva is under my pedalboard, I didn’t realize it got so hot.
Knowing this, I’ll probably distribute my pedals a bit more evenly between the Ojai and the Canva.
Thanks!
Add the CIOKS 7 to this list of options to power the Polyend MESS.
I currently have one CIOKS 7 powering:
No problem
Hi all! Chiming in as I have a similar question: I bought the polyend mess used just a few weeks ago, I had been happily using it with a 9v boss wall adaptor that says that it only provides 250ma? It would turn on and work…? I also plugged it into my voodoo labs pedal power 2 plus in one of the 250ma slots and that seemed to work too. Then I realized the pedal needs 500ma supposedly so I was gonna go get something for that, but any insights as to why it would work at 250? Was it not working to it’s full capacity? Thanks!
Hi there @alex.ravv10 and welcome to Backstage! Great to have you join us here.
Is there like a tag/tape on the adapter that is written PSA with a number on it? If so could you share? I’ve bought a couple of Boss Adapters over the years and the ones I have all output 500ma. I would personally avoid power-starving any electric component.
Sometimes 250mA might really provide 4-500mA. Underpowing it might cause various issues like clicking, lights not powering on while sound quailty is unchanged, etc.
Hello all! Thanks for the answers. I got a Strymon 9v power supply that can provide up to 667ma so now I am all set. However, that boss one was certainly a mystery. I may have busted that power source it as it now makes a slightly audible beeping noise when I plug it in (what is that?). That’s crazy that it could pull double what was indicated on it. It has ‘‘PSA-120S’’ indicated on it. What do you think? Thank you for the answers and take care 
