Active Pick-ups Short Battery Life

[neversilence]

How long should they last? Mine seem to be going a month only then it starts to distort. I try not to leave plugged in. Would it matter that I have all 6 controls MAXED all the time? Would it help if I turned all the knobs off when not playing? I have started to now to see. Just curious what everyone's experience is. It seemed to last longer when I first got the bass but I have also had a host of issues with this bass. So who knows.....

 

[Dave W]

I try not to leave plugged in.

What does that mean? If you're not unplugging your cable when you're not using the bass, it is draining the battery. Any time a cable is plugged in it's draining the battery.

Control position makes no difference at all.

 

[ctmullins]

Control position makes no difference at all.

I disagree. All controls maxed means that the preamp is putting out as much as it can, which will necessarily use more juice than a more conservative setting. But I don't think that's the root of the problem here. It's usually a miswired jack. Check to make sure the ring is wired to the battery -, and that the ring and sleeve aren't shorted together. Could also be a bit of shielding accidentally making contact with the battery - somehow.

Any particular reason you max out all of your knobs?

 

[Means2nEnd]

99% battery ground is switched with the main ground and causes continuous circuit..see it all the time..

 

[mmbongo]

Two ways to kill your battery:

1) Max out the controls.
2) Leave your bass plugged in.

Also see Means2nEnd's post..but did you install these yourself?

 

[neversilence]

Ha... I do not leave it plugged in though for days or weeks guys.. I might leave it for 2-3 hours. It is certainly dying quicker and I did just have someone fix an issue I was having and they said my pickups were never soldered and they soldered them as well as fixed a ground. Perhaps they have wired something incorrect. I appreciate the input

 

[jeffmensch]

The other posters have nailed it. That rewiring job you had done may have changed something so the jack ring (- battery) is shorting to the jack sleeve (ground) even when not plugged it. It's also possible that the jack is faulty. Have an experienced person take a look at it. When properly wired, the battery should last a year or more.

 

[Dave W]

I disagree. All controls maxed means that the preamp is putting out as much as it can

I read it as a question of control position while not being plugged in.

 

[Steve Dallman]

"...fixed a ground." That's it. They soldered the negative battery connection to ground when it should go to the sleeve connection of the jack. The preamp isn't turning off when you unplug the cable.