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Fixing battery drain in Fender Ultra Jazz's

S

StompyJ

Feb 3, 2006
45
11
Northern NJ
#1
I know this has been talked about in other threads, but does anyone definitely know what is the issue with the battery drain in Fender Jazz Ultras? Is there a component I can replace to fix the issue. I had moved to rechargable batteries as someone else suggested, but I still need to swap them out every 2 weeks or so.

I bought a Sire P8 5-String and it also has active electronics and I've been playing hard on it for 2 months and the batteries are still going strong.

The battery drain is the only thing I don't like about the bass, so now I'm motivated to resolve it. I had no idea the difference in lifespan could be that large.

Any ideas / places I could look?
 
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#2
The signal most important thing you can do to extend battery life is to unplug the bass as soon as you stop playing. Every set break, every break in practice sessions, etc.

Get a voltmeter and measure the batteries often, before every gig if needed. I wish more basses would have low voltage LEDs like some pedals do.

Rechargeables have a shorter life because they start out at a lower voltage, typically 1.2V for “1.5V" cells and 7.2V for “9V" cells. For some preamps 7.2V is a dead battery! My NS Radius starts acting up if the batteries droop below 8V. Even if that means you have to recharge them before every gig, you’re saving significant money by doing it. The first Eneloop AA I ever used lasted over ten years before it wouldn't hold a charge any more. It came with a pocket recorder and I would recharge it as soon I got home after using the recorder at rehearsals and gigs. Literally hundreds of hours of recordings. Not bad for $3 :thumbsup:
 
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#3
I don’t have a specific answer for how to fix it but I play a Jazz Ultra every week for church and practice through the week. I unplug it between services and when I am not practicing at home. It is connected probably a few hours per week and my batteries last months. I change them at 3 month intervals. I tried going 6 but had them die on me somewhere around the 4-5 mark. I did leave the bass plugged in once for about 24 hours and that continuous drain killed the batteries.
 
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#9
As others have said, unplug when you’re not playing. BUT you should also know that the preamp is turned on whenever you plug in, whether in passive or active mode, so there is still a draw even when in passive.

My battery died after a year of playing in passive 85% of the time. It’ll still work in passive, but when you switch to active it’s dead.
 
#10
Chrisk-K said:
Not necessarily true. My Energizer rechargeables last noticeably longer than Duracell and Amazon batteries that they have replaced.
Click to expand...

Alkalines drop in voltage steadily as they discharge, here’s a chart from a Texas Instruments fact sheet. Notice that the voltage is steadily dropping. Although they start at a higher voltage than NiMH the voltage drops at a faster rate. At 40% charge left a 9V battery (6 cells) would be 6V.

Screen Shot 2024-06-13 at 7.10.08 AM.png


Here’s a graph from Energizer’s tech sheet. Notice that the curves all have a quick dropoff from the initial voltage then the voltage stays pretty much flat until it suddenly craters as almost all the charge is gone. A 9V at 1150mA or 2300mA draw would remain 7.2V or higher until it reaches about 25% charge left. They don’t reach 6.0V until at nearly 0% charge left.

Screen Shot 2024-06-13 at 7.15.37 AM.png


So whether a rechargeable lasts longer than an alkaline depends on the lowest voltage where the device will still operate properly. Some devices have a switch to set what type of battery is in use…my Zoom B3 is one. My Roland Cube Street EX spec sheet shows battery life of alkalines to be 20% less than NiMH which would be what ChrisK is observing.
 
#16
Well I guess I shouldn't assume but I figure everyone knows to unplug for Battery life. OP hasn't been back to confirm that they're doing that.
I have not heard of any general problem with Ultra Jazzes having a battery issue.

All that said, we need more input from OP.
 
#18
FunkHead said:
Well I guess I shouldn't assume but I figure everyone knows to unplug for Battery life. OP hasn't been back to confirm that they're doing that.
I have not heard of any general problem with Ultra Jazzes having a battery issue.

All that said, we need more input from OP.
Click to expand...
Actually, it has come up in other threads that the Fender Ultra has an unusually brief battery life. I'm curious as to whether a preamp change would be worthwhile. The batteries died in mine over a period when I wasn't even playing it and it was in its case. I've never had a problem with other active basses, including a Jazz Elite.
 
#19
StompyJ said:
I know this has been talked about in other threads, but does anyone definitely know what is the issue with the battery drain in Fender Jazz Ultras? Is there a component I can replace to fix the issue. I had moved to rechargable batteries as someone else suggested, but I still need to swap them out every 2 weeks or so.

I bought a Sire P8 5-String and it also has active electronics and I've been playing hard on it for 2 months and the batteries are still going strong.

The battery drain is the only thing I don't like about the bass, so now I'm motivated to resolve it. I had no idea the difference in lifespan could be that large.

Any ideas / places I could look?
Click to expand...
Did you make any headway?
 

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