Best 9v batt for active basses

[Low Main]

I have an original Cafe Walter battery powered headphone amp. It's powered by two 9V batteries.

I use Ansmann rechargeable batteries, but I only have one pair of them on hand at the moment.

So I swap in a pair of disposable batteries while the Ansmanns are charging, then swap the Ansmanns back in once they're fully charged.

The Ansmanns are great and the disposable batteries have lasted for years just being used as temporary backups, so I'm generating less durable waste.

Ansmann batteries are worth the money, and make sure to get a good charger. There are a lot of cheap battery chargers out there. I bought a couple of less expensive chargers that I thought were a good value, but one after the other they broke down and I had to get a better charger in the end. I hate that kind of wasteful purchasing. I should have just gone for decent quality to begin with.

 

[BobKos]

Duracell Copper Tops are the best readily available 9V batteries I have used. Costco has the best deal on them if you are a member.

 

[HearNoStevil]

Duracell Copper Tops are the best readily available 9V batteries I have used. Costco has the best deal on them if you are a member.

Not my experience. See my post earlier in this thread.

 

[DWBass]

I use these. Get them from Pep Boys. Haven't had any problems.

 

[FugaziBomb]

I use Rayovac "High Energy" 9V's in my active basses and acoustic guitar. I use the same brand for AA's in my wireless. I've never had any issue with them. They're inexpensive, and seem like decent quality to me.

+1 on the Rayos. Cheap, but good quality.

 

[iiipopes]

I guess I'm just old-school: if not using a power supply (as to avoid ground loops or other reasons, including on the bass itself), I use whatever alkaline 9-volt is available and on sale; currently I'm having good luck, longetivity, and holding the voltage with Ray-O-Vac.

 

[Sixgunn]

I wasn’t thinking rechargeable - who has time for that

I know! That exhausting step of putting the dead battery in a charger instead of the trash can take days!!

 

[wraub]

I had several items (remotes, flashlights) ruined by Duracells back in the day, I still avoid them.

The Ansmann ones look good.

 

[Bob E]

I go for Duracell. Followed by Energizer. Probably anything in a pinch. Back in the day I used Eveready a lot. Can't remember why I started or stopped using those, but the cat logo always reminds me of better times.
Also can't seem to remember ever having a 9v leak...

 

[bhoff5150]

Does anybody know which is the best 9V battery for metal? Asking for a friend....

 

[RoketRdr]

I use the EBL 6F22 600mah lithium-ion rechargeable's and they work just fine. On New Years Day I pull it out and throw it on the charger and then reinstall until next NYD.

 

[RoketRdr]

Does anybody know which is the best 9V battery for metal? Asking for a friend....

Tell your "friend" its the ones with the plastic casing.

 

[Killing Floor]

Duracell in my EBMM Sabre lasts between 3-5 years depending on activity. Duracell in my ABG that I left at my parents house in the '90's was still 85% when I picked it up this winter after 25 years in a closet. The Duracell in my East preamps in a Jazz and a P last a few months of regular use but if you leave the cable plugged in overnight it basically kills it in a day.

I remember Eric Johnson (guitarist) stressing and obsessing about Duracell sounding different that Energizer, we can all agree that's total BS. But just because it's BS doesn't mean somebody doesn't totally buy into it.

 

[bbh]

Those batteries last so long, I don’t bother with rechargeable. I stick with the standard Duracell gold tops. I hear no advantage with the pro cells.

 

[arbiterusa]

Both Duracell and Energizer moved their manufacturing out of the US, and it shows. I'm still using Energizers, but I now have a checklist attached to each bass to make sure they don't stay in the basses longer than 6 months. Because the "new" Energizers and Duracells leak within a year. Sometimes sooner. It's a problem.

I ran into some 15 year old Energizers in my bike lights, stored in my garage - not climate controlled. Not a one has leaked. The Energizer I put into my Jazz two years ago? Leaked everywhere.

Energizer is at least moving some of their assembly back into the US. Duracells are all coming from China now.

 

[Sid Fang]

Haven't read the whole thread but....

1) Some folks are recommending rechargeables, and that's a Good Idea, environmentally. However, be aware that the standby charge loss is higher on rechargeables. If I don't play it much, an active bass battery may last a couple of years. A rechargeable battery will run down faster with the bass sitting in the case. Just something to plan around.

2) The battery door on my Steinberger XL-2A was damaged and repaired, so every opening/closing is a big deal for me. For that one, I use lithium cell smoke detector batteries. Much more expensive, but *much* longer life.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

Current Duracells, at least from Costco, are not the same as Duracells of years gone by.

I have had 9v Duracells go dead in smoke detectors and leak enough to corrode the contacts in a short amount of time.

I had an entire set of LED candles (also from Costco) have their their battery compartment contacts ruined by Duracell AA batteries leaking, destroying some of the candles. I also had this happen in an older JVC dvd recorder remote. The Duracells leaked enough to completely corrode the entire circuit board in the remote to near dust

I was always a Duracell fan myself, but have recently had issues with both Duracell and Energizers leaking and causing corrosion. I hadn't seen a leaking battery since the 70's! Most of the issues were with AA, but several 9V examples from both brands have had problems in long term use. I've heard that Kirkland AA batteries are made by Duracell, but I've had one or two of them leak as well.

I'm married to a teacher who has tons of small classroom items that use batteries, I prefer to use disposables there because I would probably never see the rechargables again. I've leaned towards Kirkland for those.

For AA and AAA in my household, I've gone all Eneloop all the time, and they've been perfect for years. I haven't found a 9V that performed like Eneloop yet, I may try a few suggestions posted here.

I can attest that Lithium is a fantastic way to go in low draw 9V devices, they last up to 10 years in smoke and hazard detectors and my outdoor weather sensors. Next time I need a bass battery, I'll probably toss in a Lithium.

 

[dkelley]

I buy cheap off brand alkaline batteries. Never had an issue in anything I've ever put them in, including my basses. The cheap alkalines work just as well, from my experience, as the big brand ones, and cost as little as 10% the price.

I have 2 in my carvin, 1 in my aria, 1 in my ibanez, 1 in my EBMM, 1 in my peavey (which is driving 2 preamps), 1 in each of my other axes (electric violin and cello)... and I only replace them when they start sounding bad, typically 1 or more years between changes. I have never replaced some of them after my initial new battery after buying the basses used.

I've never experience leaking from a 9v unless I were to do something dumb like leave it plugged in for a month or whatever, no doubt (which is true of big brand batteries also).

They just last and last and last, as long as I don't forget to unplug them. I'm viligant about unplugging.... and want to put a power switch on my main basses actually because unplugging is a pain in the butt since you have to kill amp/mixer/live feed first... I'd rather just switch to passive mode and turn off the battery.

These are my own findings, not from research, just my own experiments.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

I was always a Duracell fan myself, but have recently had issues with both Duracell and Energizers leaking and causing corrosion.

It's worth pointing out that all of my leaky batteries were in low to very low current drawing devices, like remote controls, smoke detectors, etc... as opposed to higher drawing devices like wireless transmitters or handheld radios.

Our instruments are pretty low current draws, so it's worth keeping in mind and/or checking them regularily.

 

[equill]

Haven't read the whole thread

It shows.

1) Some folks are recommending rechargeables, and that's a Good Idea, environmentally. However, be aware that the standby charge loss is higher on rechargeables. If I don't play it much, an active bass battery may last a couple of years. A rechargeable battery will run down faster with the bass sitting in the case. Just something to plan around.

...unless you use the low self-discharge ones. They're the ones I recommend, including earlier in this thread.
They're a Good Idea financially, too, in the long run.

 

[brianrost]

Most rechargeable batteries put out 1.2V per cell. Alkaline puts out 1.5V per cell. So many "9V" rechargeables are only 7.2V, to get the 8.4 and 9.6V mentioned for some brands means more cells per battery (7 or 8 instead of 6). It seems to be there should be some tradeoff in maximum current. I would consider 9.6V rechargeables if they aren't too expensive. To be honest this is the first I've heard of them.

I get 6 months to a year out of Duracells that get used regularly on gigs so the extra up front cost of rechargeables has to be compared to the cost of how many batteries I go through per year. How many years before I break even and start saving money?

Until LSD batteries (in particular Enercells) came along, rechargeables seemed to fail after a low number of recharges and I wasn't convinced I was really saving any money. Then I had an Enercell that lasted 13 years before it wouldn't hold a full charge and I started rethinking it I now exclusively use Enercells for my electronic flashes, Yamaha pocket recorder, Zoom B3 pedal and Roland Street Cube amplifier. These all use either AA or AAA, though.

Followup to the post about Procells: the reason you don't see them in typical stores is they are sold into industrial and medical markets that go through lots of batteries. They are made by Duracell, how much they differ from the consumer coppertop versions I have no idea. I've used some of the AAs, they worked fine.

Followup to leakage compaints: Mfrs have been making thinner and thinner casings for batteries over the years so they can cram more chemicals inside and get longer life and higher current draw. At some point, thinner casings means more leakage potential. I never used to run into leaking batteries until maybe 20 years ago and then it became common when left for very long periods unused in devices like flashlights.