Battery Drain Game

[Geri O]

Okay, no idea where that silly title came from….

This is just an observation on leaving a bass with an active preamp plugged in for an extended period of time.

In this case, I put in brand new batteries that measured 9.6 volts. Then I practiced for a bit, but I left the bass plugged in afterwards and forgot about it for around 36 hours. I noticed it this morning as I packed up to leave for the travel day. I measured the voltage and the new Duracells had drained down to 8.2 volts.
So even though I've known it, it does pay to unplug the instrument when it's not being used.

(The passive crowd can let yourselves out now…)

 

[bholder]

Ah-yup. And my mom always yelled at me to turn off the lights when I leave the room.

 

[Geri O]

Ah-yup. And my mom always yelled at me to turn off the lights when I leave the room.

!!

I'm that guy at my girlfriend's house.

As frugal and money-managing as she is, she and the grandkids are like Trace Atkins "every light in the house is on"!..

That's the first time I've ever left a bass plugged like that at the house. Hope it doesn't become a habit

 

[fig]

This is just an observation on leaving a bass with an active preamp plugged in for an extended period of time.

In this case, I put in brand new batteries that measured 9.6 volts. Then I practiced for a bit, but I left the bass plugged in afterwards and forgot about it for around 36 hours. I noticed it this morning as I packed up to leave for the travel day. I measured the voltage and the new Duracells had drained down to 8.2 volts.
So even though I've known it, it does pay to unplug the instrument when it's not being used.

I'll start with something I wrote last year. "...the results I got aren't really applicable to anyone elses equipment. Depends on battery quality, battery type, current draw of preamp, etc."

Sucks that yours drained rather quickly, but like I said, other folk are gonna get different results. So it's a good thing you accidentally got an idea of how fast your drains.

I posted this experiment last year, so just gonna copy and paste it.

"Reminds me of an 'experiment' I did about 10 years ago because I'd left my cord plugged into my bass overnight. Again... LOL.

Of course it drains the batt, but I wondered how fast it drains...wondered if it was a major or minor hit to the battery.

The following was a 'one and done' experiment for shiggles 'cause I'm easily amused LOL.

Got a new 9V for testing purposes only. Measured the disconnected (unloaded) voltage, measured the connected (loaded) voltage, even measured the current draw of the preamp (it was close to its published spec).

Kept the test batt/preamp turned on 24/7 at home by keeping the cord plugged in. Test lasted almost 4 months until the B string started distorting when I plucked it hard. The connected (loaded) voltage when it distorted was, if I remember, 6.8V.

The only time testing stopped was for gigs, when I'd swap the test batt for a known good batt. Gigging was two, sometimes three, 4-hour gigs a week. At home after the gig, I'd re-install the test batt and connect the cord again. Each test week included 2 to 6 hours of noodling/learning songs per week.

It was a fun and informative experiment, one I thought I'd share, just 'cause. As dwizum and a few others pointed out, the results I got aren't really applicable to anyone elses equipment. Depends on battery quality, battery type, current draw of preamp, etc.

Do I recommend anyone doing what I did? Hells no, 'cause there's other easier, faster methods to determine the low craptastic show stopping voltage.

But it did assure me that accidentally leaving my bass plugged in overnight, or between sets, didn't drain the batt much at all, which was my initial concern that started the experiment.

I run passive now, so not an issue anymore LOL."

 

[walterw]

Kept the test batt/preamp turned on 24/7 at home by keeping the cord plugged in. Test lasted almost 4 months until the B string started distorting when I plucked it hard. The connected (loaded) voltage when it distorted was, if I remember, 6.8V.

this points out the fact that we don't need to worry so much about quick change battery doors or external power supplies or passive bypass switches or any of that other stuff; if you pay any attention at all to your sound the bass is not going to take you by surprise with a dead battery at the show.

you get lots of "notice" from a gradually degrading tone before it dies

(totally opposite principle from wireless systems, where it'll sound perfect one moment and then suddenly stop entirely if the battery gets too low, and also one battery will last one show if you're lucky)

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Okay, no idea where that silly title came from….

This is just an observation on leaving a bass with an active preamp plugged in for an extended period of time.

In this case, I put in brand new batteries that measured 9.6 volts. Then I practiced for a bit, but I left the bass plugged in afterwards and forgot about it for around 36 hours. I noticed it this morning as I packed up to leave for the travel day. I measured the voltage and the new Duracells had drained down to 8.2 volts.
So even though I've known it, it does pay to unplug the instrument when it's not being used.

(The passive crowd can let yourselves out now…)

Yeah.

You plug the bass in, to turn on the preamp. You turn it off by unplugging the cord.

Would you leave your headlights on for 36 hours?

 

[fhm555]

this points out the fact that we don't need to worry so much about quick change battery doors or external power supplies or passive bypass switches or any of that other stuff; if you pay any attention at all to your sound the bass is not going to take you by surprise with a dead battery at the show.

you get lots of "notice" from a gradually degrading tone before it dies

(totally opposite principle from wireless systems, where it'll sound perfect one moment and then suddenly stop entirely if the battery gets too low, and also one battery will last one show if you're lucky)

Yep, I played an active bass for quite a while and the first time I got caught with a low battery, the volume dropped like it fell off a cliff, then a few seconds later came back to near where I had it. I switched it to passive mode and finished the set. It took me a couple minutes to remove four screws and replace the battery. I'd had it about eight months so I started replacing my battery every six months and never had to switch it to passive again unless I wanted to.

 

[walterw]

Yep, I played an active bass for quite a while and the first time I got caught with a low battery, the volume dropped like it fell off a cliff, then a few seconds later came back to near where I had it.

hmm; had you noticed any tonal degradation before then? if not then that kind of puts the lie to what i posted

were you using an already kind of grindy tone? that might have covered up any distortion coming from the bass itself

 

[Geri O]

Yeah.

You plug the bass in, to turn on the preamp. You turn it off by unplugging the cord.

Would you leave your headlights on for 36 hours?

Well, if you had read the original post, I did say it was a mistake that I had never made before. I was just posting an observation about the measuring I did afterwards. I expressed no surprise or disbelief at the results from doing so.

But you go right on ahead commenting on what you think you read or what you wish you had read to accommodate the snarky response.

(I'm not gonna even dignify the headlights comment with a response…)

 

[Jogobass]

Once I accidentally connected a new jack the wrong way on my active bass. The battery was always on. it lasted at least a couple of weeks. I didn't play much at the time. After a couple of months I wanted to check the battery and it had corroded the potentiometers. Can't recommend.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Well, if you had read the original post, I did say it was a mistake that I had never made before. I was just posting an observation about the measuring I did afterwards. I expressed no surprise or disbelief at the results from doing so.

But you go right on ahead commenting on what you think you read or what you wish you had read to accommodate the snarky response.

(I'm not gonna even dignify the headlights comment with a response…)

Relax dude. You took that as an attack. It wasn't.

 

[fhm555]

hmm; had you noticed any tonal degradation before then? if not then that kind of puts the lie to what i posted

were you using an already kind of grindy tone? that might have covered up any distortion coming from the bass itself

Things would distort when I was pushing it really hard which I was doing that night, but I thought it was just more of the usual when we got to that level of ear bleed, until it dropped off like it did.

 

[kgbeast]

The preamps and active pickups all different and consume power at a vastly different rate. 8.2V in a 9v battery is not a dead battery. Many batteries quickly loose 1v relatively quick then they linger in just above 8v range for quite a while and it is not a dead battery. Actually Li-Ion rechargeable batteries never get to be over 8.2V.
I doubt you will notice anything wrong untill you battery measures less than 6v. It is always helps to know what your instrument pulls for power. My bass now pulls 0.52mA. The rechargeables I use say they are 600mAh... At that rate it should last 600/0.52=1153 hours. Obviously it'll packup before battery completely empty so perhaps 800 hours. With old active pickups, my bass used to pull 3.6mA. with that I did leave the bass plugged in and it did last about 6 days which is about 140 hours, which roughly matches the calculated 600/3.6=167hours.

​

 

[KohanMike]

I only play active bass ukes and use a Lekato wireless pod, which I didn't want to unplug each time there is a break, so I had my go to place, Eric's Guitar Shop, add an on/off switch to all of them. I also learned a lesson the other day, I was getting ready for a gig on Sunday, practicing Saturday with the bass I was going to use in which I use rechargeable 9v lithium batteries. All was working fine, but Sunday morning I thought I better replace the battery with the new one I bought that has an USB-C port to charge instead of one of the boxes for the batteries I use.

At the gig on Sunday, we did our sound check but my bass had a loud hum and unbalanced volume. Switched to a cable instead of the wireless pod, but same thing. I had to ride the volume control in between each of the 18 songs to stop the loud hum during the leader's banter, and carefully find the volume that was loud enough for the bass, but not too much hum. What a PITA.

All the way home I tried to figure out what the hell went wrong. When i got home, I plugged in the bass to my computer, which I use for practice and recording, and to my Phil Jones Double Four, but still had the hum and volume problem in both cases. It them occurred to me that the only thing different from Saturday to Sunday was the battery. I put back the lithium I'd always been using and the bass worked perfectly. I put in one of the other USB-C batteries I bought and the same problem. I was shocked that a battery could do that, but obviously adding a USB-C port to the battery is not good for audio equipment.

My big lesson is not to use those kind of batteries, my bigger lesson is not to change ANYTHING before a gig that worked properly.

 

[walterw]

what's crazy is the first music man basses came with mono output jacks and the preamp was just wired to be on all the time!

they expected that the battery would still last long enough for it not to be a big deal

 

[kgbeast]

I only play active bass ukes and use a Lekato wireless pod, which I didn't want to unplug each time there is a break, so I had my go to place, Eric's Guitar Shop, add an on/off switch to all of them. I also learned a lesson the other day, I was getting ready for a gig on Sunday, practicing Saturday with the bass I was going to use in which I use rechargeable 9v lithium batteries. All was working fine, but Sunday morning I thought I better replace the battery with the new one I bought that has an USB-C port to charge instead of one of the boxes for the batteries I use.

At the gig on Sunday, we did our sound check but my bass had a loud hum and unbalanced volume. Switched to a cable instead of the wireless pod, but same thing. I had to ride the volume control in between each of the 18 songs to stop the loud hum during the leader's banter, and carefully find the volume that was loud enough for the bass, but not too much hum. What a PITA.

All the way home I tried to figure out what the hell went wrong. When i got home, I plugged in the bass to my computer, which I use for practice and recording, and to my Phil Jones Double Four, but still had the hum and volume problem in both cases. It them occurred to me that the only thing different from Saturday to Sunday was the battery. I put back the lithium I'd always been using and the bass worked perfectly. I put in one of the other USB-C batteries I bought and the same problem. I was shocked that a battery could do that, but obviously adding a USB-C port to the battery is not good for audio equipment.

My big lesson is not to use those kind of batteries, my bigger lesson is not to change ANYTHING before a gig that worked properly.

I have made several posts about that rechargeable batteries with integrated charger are noisy in an active bass guitar. I also written a couple of reviews to Amazon for a couple of different batteries one with USB-C and one with Micro-USB, pointing out the noise issue in an instrument even though on the packaging, it says that the battery is suitable for active guitars. I actually got a 4-pack of regular Li-Ion batteries, that require a desktop charger, from EBL as a compensation for the troubles. So now I have 6 of these and they work great and last long too. I am not really unplugging my bass at home, it is always plugged in and on. But regardless, placing a freshly charged battery before gig is a must. Might be even better to buy an Energizer from a store on the way. I would think that gong to a gig with a battery that sat in the bass for who knows how long is a poor judgement. With rechargeables, they are always discharged from the store, so I'd say charge that and then plug it in the guitar and see that it lasts at least for 4-5 hours before declaring it a gig worthy.