What battery do you trust for your active?

[PazzoBasso]

I'm in the Lithium (non rechargeable) camp!

All my active basses (& smoke detectors) - Energizer's seem to be the easiest to find recently & the cost has come down somewhat as well.

They have a few benefits over alkaline:
last longer (maybe about 20%)
more consistent power output
nominally lighter in weight
internal short circuit protection (although they might get pretty hot before it kicks in)
work in lower/higher temps (not too critical in musical instrument applications)

a few drawbacks
More Expensive
When the power level does drop it happens quickly & they're done (measuring the voltage at any time during it's life will not indicate the remaining battery life)
dimensionally larger than alkaline - sometimes a tight squeeze

Here's an OLD link.... I started using Lithiums when I found one of these (POWER BUG) in a pre-owned bass that I purchased way back around 2009...

Review: PowerBug Lithium 9 Volt Battery

POWERBUG's weren't around too long, but I continued to buy ULTRALIFE 9V & now mostly Energizer

PS - disregard any of the article's hype - but they do last longer & I like em...

 

[beaglesandbass]

The duracell in my bass has lasted over a year so far and it's still in good shape. I test it before every show.

 

[devnulljp]

Anyone string a bunch of watch batteries together to get the correct voltage in a smaller package?
I have a box of CR2016s here ... was thinking of piling 3 of them together witth battery clip and slipping that in my jazz when the EMGs get here.

 

[line6man]

Anyone string a bunch of watch batteries together to get the correct voltage in a smaller package?
I have a box of CR2016s here ... was thinking of piling 3 of them together witth battery clip and slipping that in my jazz when the EMGs get here.

That works, but you might want to check into the capacity of the batteries. They may not last very long.

 

[1954bassman]

Why not stack 9 of them to get a 27 volt system? Might work. The last bass I owned that had EMG DC pickups I wired three 9V batteries to give me a 27V system. Worked great.

 

[line6man]

Why not stack 9 of them to get a 27 volt system? Might work. The last bass I owned that had EMG DC pickups I wired three 9V batteries to give me a 27V system. Worked great.

That causes a number of issues. Button cells may not be rated to handle that much voltage, and there is no way to ensure an equal drain from each battery. Some specialized power supply circuits use many low voltage supercapacitors chained in series, to produce the equivalent of a high capacity battery. These circuits rely on active voltage regulation to protect each capacitor. A similar setup may be advantageous here, to protect the button cell batteries. Of course, it would be needlessly overcomplicated, as there are better solutions available. (Namely, higher voltage batteries.)

Another consideration is the fact that 27V supplies simply are not necessary, for the vast majority of preamps. 18V is sufficient for optimum headroom.

 

[1954bassman]

That causes a number of issues. Button cells may not be rated to handle that much voltage, and there is no way to ensure an equal drain from each battery. Some specialized power supply circuits use many low voltage supercapacitors chained in series, to produce the equivalent of a high capacity battery. These circuits rely on active voltage regulation to protect each capacitor. A similar setup may be advantageous here, to protect the button cell batteries. Of course, it would be needlessly overcomplicated, as there are better solutions available. (Namely, higher voltage batteries.)

Another consideration is the fact that 27V supplies simply are not necessary, for the vast majority of preamps. 18V is sufficient for optimum headroom.

Yeah, I was kidding about stacking nine of them. But the three 9v system did work great for me.