Topic: since I got my new V3 I get the low battery light after about 2- 2 1/2 hours

[Gordon]

first of all wasn't sure where to post this.  move to remote power if need be.  I'm using 6volt eco's (bp50)  I've had the batterys for 2 and half years.  used them with my p1 and the v3 I had since aug.  I've never ran them all the way down.  with the old v3 I NEVER saw the battery light flash ever.  now with the new one it goes on after 2 to 2 and 1/2 hours.  the v3 is supposed to be 6 volt.  any chance it's 12?  would it work with 6 if it was 12??  I know my batterys could be loosing juice but I never had an issue untill the new v3. happens almost every show now.  I thought it was only one battery but it's not.  happened with the "good one" last night/

[nickgregory]

the low battery light may not be calibrated correctlly

see the bottom here..

http://www.sonicsense.com/V3.htm

[ethan]

first of all wasn't sure where to post this.  move to remote power if need be.  I'm using 6volt eco's (bp50)  I've had the batterys for 2 and half years.  used them with my p1 and the v3 I had since aug.  I've never ran them all the way down.  with the old v3 I NEVER saw the battery light flash ever.  now with the new one it goes on after 2 to 2 and 1/2 hours.  the v3 is supposed to be 6 volt.  any chance it's 12?  would it work with 6 if it was 12??  I know my batterys could be loosing juice but I never had an issue untill the new v3. happens almost every show now.  I thought it was only one battery but it's not.  happened with the "good one" last night/

A 12 volt unit won't work with a six volt battery because of the auto power down ciruitry in the V3. A 6 V unit can always be used with 12V you just won't know when the battery is too low.

Sounds to me like the battery is going. How many charge cycles do you think you've put on that battery? or like others said it's just not calibrated right. Only way to know for sure is to run the unit till it runs out of power.

-e

[Brian Skalinder]

I don't believe a V3 calibrated for 12v would even run on a 6v batt.  What serial # is your V3?  Some of the early units shipped mis-calibrated:  the low batt light was calibrated at too high a voltage so it would trigger too early, say 6v (under load) instead of 5.8v.  The auto-shutoff was still properly calibrated for a 6v SLA (at whatever voltage that is, don't recall off-hand).

There are instructions for re-calibrating on the Grace Design page, or you can ship it in and I believe they'll do it at no cost.  Also, if it's an early serial # (1-100, I think), you may want to check to see if it has a DC offset.  I think the first 100 units shipped with a DC offset.  This, too, they'll "fix" at no cost.

Here's a post from Michael Grace re the DC offest issue on the Oade Bros board.

first of all wasn't sure where to post this. move to remote power if need be. I'm using 6volt eco's (bp50) I've had the batterys for 2 and half years. used them with my p1 and the v3 I had since aug. I've never ran them all the way down. with the old v3 I NEVER saw the battery light flash ever. now with the new one it goes on after 2 to 2 and 1/2 hours. the v3 is supposed to be 6 volt. any chance it's 12? would it work with 6 if it was 12?? I know my batterys could be loosing juice but I never had an issue untill the new v3. happens almost every show now. I thought it was only one battery but it's not. happened with the "good one" last night/

[Gordon]

it's brand new.  so I guess my battery's are dying.  time to look up some info on the walmart battary.

[F.O.Bean]

try testing at home gordon, my v3 lights used to come on after 3-4 hrs, which was extremely early IMO, and afetr is ent it back to get modded, it hasnt come on once, i KNOW the v3 w/ my mics/bp-50, can easily get about 9 HRS so...... 3 hrs into recording is early, prolly just needs calibrated, doubt its the batts

i ahve a few IFFY bp-50's, and they get warm and all when they charge, but the still power the v3 for about 9 HRS

YMMV

[Gordon]

9 hours?!  on a 6volt??  yea I knid of don't think it's the batterys.  like I said I never saw the light on the old v3 with the same battery's.  it happened the first time with the new v3 on a full charge.  that was at about 2 hours tops.

[Brian Skalinder]

9 hours?! on a 6volt?? yea I knid of don't think it's the batterys. like I said I never saw the light on the old v3 with the same battery's. it happened the first time with the new v3 on a full charge. that was at about 2 hours tops.

Have you checked at what voltage - under load - the V3 low batt light triggers?  For 6v config, the low batt light should trigger at 5.75v and auto-shutoff at 5.0v.  I wonder if even though yours is new it's miscalibrated.

[ethan]

9 hours?! on a 6volt?? yea I knid of don't think it's the batterys. like I said I never saw the light on the old v3 with the same battery's. it happened the first time with the new v3 on a full charge. that was at about 2 hours tops.

Have you checked at what voltage - under load - the V3 low batt light triggers?  For 6v config, the low batt light should trigger at 5.75v and auto-shutoff at 5.0v.  I wonder if even though yours is new it's miscalibrated.

Yep only way to know this without any testing equipment is to run the V3 until it the light comes on then time how long till it auto shutdowns.

-e

[F.O.Bean]

9 hours?! on a 6volt?? yea I knid of don't think it's the batterys. like I said I never saw the light on the old v3 with the same battery's. it happened the first time with the new v3 on a full charge. that was at about 2 hours tops.

9 hrs running 480>v3>jb3 w/ a coax out ALWAYS ready to go, permantently connected and thats also running the aes out back in the day too

how much runtime do you think you get

[Brian Skalinder]

I never saw the light on the old v3 with the same battery's

Just a thought - are you using the same cable(s) between the V3 and SLA?

[Gordon]

yep.  same everything except the v3.  gonna call grace on monday.

[creekfreak]

9 hours bean on a 6 volt BP-50? wow, never heard of that...I am lucky to get 5 on mine...tend to use my big 12volt since I can get aroud 10 if I am lucky

[F.O.Bean]

9 hours bean on a 6 volt BP-50? wow, never heard of that...I am lucky to get 5 on mine...tend to use my big 12volt since I can get aroud 10 if I am lucky

yep, easily, its all about the current draw of the mics

6v 7.2a bp-50

thats what im saying, i have 3 bp50's(well 2 now that one died) and i could easily get moedown on 3 of them

ive tested numerous times too

[Brian Skalinder]

9 hours bean on a 6 volt BP-50?  I am lucky to get 5 on mine

Ditto on my 7.2 AH hack job - no more than 5 hrs.  So I usually schlep around a 10AH SLA to ensure I can catch opener 1 and/or 2 + headliner.  I keep telling myself:  one of these days I'll pick up a DVD LiIOn battery.

[F.O.Bean]

9 hours bean on a 6 volt BP-50? I am lucky to get 5 on mine

Ditto on my 7.2 AH hack job - no more than 5 hrs. So I usually schlep around a 10AH SLA to ensure I can catch opener 1 and/or 2 + headliner. I keep telling myself: one of these days I'll pick up a DVD LiIOn battery.

damn, thats crazy this has def been discussed before, im gonna look up schoeps vs. akg currewnt draw, i didnt think the schempz were THAT much higher

i am gonna get some rc batts+ leegeddy's VR box as soon as i can afford it

[Brian Skalinder]

im gonna look up schoeps vs. akg currewnt draw, i didnt think the schempz were THAT much higher

2 mA | AKG 480
4 mA | Schoeps CMC6

[F.O.Bean]

im gonna look up schoeps vs. akg currewnt draw, i didnt think the schempz were THAT much higher

2 mA | AKG 480
4 mA | Schoeps CMC6

+T, that sounds about right then, cause if i had to push a fully charged batt, i could prolly get close to 10hrs, your current draw is double, so it would be about half the runtime, about 5 hrs

[dklein]

Don't forget about gain levels - more gain takes more power.  So a high sensitivity mic will naturally output more and require less gain.  If you monitor current draw you can watch the meter bounce along with the music when you crank the gain!

[Kevin Straker]

yep.  same everything except the v3.  gonna call grace on monday.

LMK what you find out about this. I have the same problem sort of. My batteries should seem to go much longer based on the current draw and the amp hours of the battery. How long does your V3 last after the lights come on?  I get about 20 minutes if I'm lucky?

[F.O.Bean]

yep. same everything except the v3. gonna call grace on monday.

LMK what you find out about this. I have the same problem sort of. My batteries should seem to go much longer based on the current draw and the amp hours of the battery. How long does your V3 last after the lights come on? I get about 20 minutes if I'm lucky?

now THAT sounds mesed up

[creekfreak]

im gonna look up schoeps vs. akg currewnt draw, i didnt think the schempz were THAT much higher

2 mA | AKG 480
4 mA | Schoeps CMC6

+T, that sounds about right then, cause if i had to push a fully charged batt, i could prolly get close to 10hrs, your current draw is double, so it would be about half the runtime, about 5 hrs

that explains it nicely...need more power to push the mud through 

[F.O.Bean]

im gonna look up schoeps vs. akg currewnt draw, i didnt think the schempz were THAT much higher

2 mA | AKG 480
4 mA | Schoeps CMC6

+T, that sounds about right then, cause if i had to push a fully charged batt, i could prolly get close to 10hrs, your current draw is double, so it would be about half the runtime, about 5 hrs

that explains it nicely...need more power to push the mud through

you got it d00d

[Kevin Straker]

[LMK what you find out about this. I have the same problem sort of. My batteries should seem to go much longer based on the current draw and the amp hours of the battery. How long does your V3 last after the lights come on? I get about 20 minutes if I'm lucky?

now THAT sounds mesed up

That was with an old ecocharge 6/7.2 AH. I made several new batteries (6/12AH) that will go much further. I'm running schempz cmc6 so I guess part of my power draw is an offering to the dark side. These 6/12's are heavy as hell. If I could push a smaller battery a little further into the red zone I would be happy. I still think I should be able to get more time out of the batteries that I'm using, but with the 6/12's I can get to the 6 hour shut off time.

[Kindguy]

Bush had the same problem with his V3. It was the calabration in the end.