Wireless transmitter: why no rechargeable batteries?

[Willem]

Just curious...
Life would be easier...

[Vakmere]

Rechargables dont carry the full 9 volts and will be drained quicker than you could imagine. Thats life and keeps battery companies in business.

[Marley's Ghost]

I have been using 400 and 500ma 9V Li-ION batteries in my X2 transmitter for years. I can get 4-5 hours of playing time on one charge.

[Vakmere]

Originally Posted by Marley's Ghost

I have been using 400 and 500ma 9V Li-ION batteries in my X2 transmitter for years. I can get 4-5 hours of playing time on one charge.

I get less than an hour with a 9 volt alkaline. Maybe I should try your Li-ion type.

[walterw]

+1 on the lithium rechargeables.

here's what you want.

i can get two whole gigs out of one charge on my shure p4 IEM receiver.

[Marley's Ghost]

Originally Posted by walterw

+1 on the lithium rechargeables.

here's what you want.

i can get two whole gigs out of one charge on my shure p4 IEM receiver.

I have 2 of these. Amazing batteries. If you watch Fleabay, you can get a better deal sometimes. I got 2 and a charger for $25 about 6 months ago. Took about 30 days to get to me from HK, but it was worth the wait.

[Willem]

Glad they work for you guys.
But I can't find Li ion AA rechargeables as the G30 relay transmitter uses AA's...

[jasonbraatz]

Originally Posted by Willem

Glad they work for you guys.
But I can't find Li ion AA rechargeables as the G30 relay transmitter uses AA's...

Sanyo Eneloops would probably be the best bet for a transmitter that uses AA's.

[DavidE]

Any experience with these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/High-Capacity-9V...item3a5e2a56f2

With charger:

http://cgi.ebay.com/500mAh-long-life...item3a5e2a53fa

Or is this more what we're looking for?

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-500mah-9v-PO...item3cacd4dc47

[HUnt49]

You'd want the lithium over the NIMH -- much longer lasting.

[HUnt49]

Originally Posted by Marley's Ghost

I have 2 of these. Amazing batteries. If you watch Fleabay, you can get a better deal sometimes. I got 2 and a charger for $25 about 6 months ago. Took about 30 days to get to me from HK, but it was worth the wait.

Were they the same brand as posted above (ipower), or another brand? I find several battery listings, but not that same brand. I'd rather find a tried-and-tested brand.

[georgestrings]

I've got these on the way for my XDR-95... I'll be sure to post about them after I give 'em a tryout:


http://www.batterymart.com/p-c-rli-9...n-charger.html


- georgestrings

[georgestrings]

Well, I tried those Hitech rechargeables on last night's gig, and *so far* they look like the answer for us X2 users... Batterymart shipped them out quickly - even using their cheapest shipping option(USPS supersaver), I still had them in 4 days from ordering...

Now, on to last night:

I got the batteries and charger yesterday, about 4 hours before leaving for my gig, so I stuck them on the charger - and they showed fully charged in less than 1 hour... Fully charged for these batteries is only around 8.5 volts, btw... I put one in my XDR-95's transmitter, and it only showed about 4.5 hours on the receiver's meter - on the bright side, after about 2.5 hours of playing, the meter had barely moved - it was still showing over 4 hours playing time left... I put it on a multi-meter when I got home, and it had lost about .5 volts after being used for 2.5 hours...

As I said, so far, so good - here's the link again, in case anyone's interested:


http://www.batterymart.com/p-c-rli-9...n-charger.html


- georgestrings

[Wayauste]

I bought the Hitech batteries that georgestrings has linked and they are been great so far. Using alkaline batteries I was getting about 4 hours on the receiver and about 6 on the transmitter, the receiver would last for one rehersal and I would need a new battery. The Hitech battery lasted for 3 rehersals (4 hours each) and still showed 2 hours left before I decided to recharge it. Just a couple more times at practice and they have paided for themselves over using alkaline.

[xikbastard]

using a g30, using eneloop on the transmitter get a good 3-4hrs on it and than i got a spare in the gig bag. so usually i will pop in a fresh one every time before shows and another set for soundcheck, etc..etc.. and charge both sets at night for tomorrow and rinse and repeat, so far save me tons of $$ buying alkaline batteries everyday!

[MrDOS]

I've been using standard NiMH AA batteries on my G30 for about a month. One charge gets me through the gig if I switch the Xmitter off during breaks.

[steveksux]

They have a few brands of 9.6v NiMH batteries that work great with the rackmount X2. Most of the rechargeables are 8.4 or even 7.2 volts.

Also re: battery meters on units, alkaline voltages drop at a more constant rate, so the battery meter is calibrated to that.

Rechargeables hold their voltage higher longer, so it looks like you have plenty of time left. However, toward the end, once the voltage starts drooping, it drops much faster.

So bottom line, if you see the battery meter start to drop, switch batteries.

For example, it may say 4 hrs for a long time, then drop to 3.5 hrs, then 3, then 2.5, etc in the span of a half hour.

Also listen for a bit of distortion, sound isn't quite right, sometimes if I forget to keep an eye on battery level, I hear something not quite right. At that point you may be 15 min away from total dropout.

Randy

[steveksux]

Originally Posted by jasonbraatz

Sanyo Eneloops would probably be the best bet for a transmitter that uses AA's.

Eneloops hold their charge while not being used for much longer than normal NiMH, but have lower capacity than normal NiMH. I think eneloops are around 2000 mAH, while the newer Sanyo AA's are nearly 50 % more capacity at 2700 mAH.

Eneloops are great for powering stuff that sits idle for long periods, they don't self discharge. I use them in my garage door remote control, my GPS that I leave in the car. If you need long life all at one setting and charge them prior to the gig, though, regular NiMH are a better bet. If you don't remember to recharge stuff, charge the eneloops between gigs and let them sit in the unit, they'll still be charged for the gig. If you try that with normal NiMH, they'll be half dead in a week sitting in the unit. Depends on how you tend to use them.

I use the Sanyo AA's for my DR-07 to record gigs, but keep a set of eneloops that have been charged in the case in case I forgot to charge the Sanyo's. Also leave the eneloops in the unit between gigs so the time/settings are saved.

Randy

[DWBass]

Originally Posted by Vakmere

I get less than an hour with a 9 volt alkaline. Maybe I should try your Li-ion type.

Somethings wrong then! You should be getting several hours.

Mine uses 2 AA batteries and I use Lithium's. I can get 2 gigs out of a set.