Gear / Technical Help > Recording Gear

Korg MR1 - Battery replace

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inkyblackness:
Hi, I need to replace the battery in a dead MR1 but info is scarce.
Any input greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

guysonic:
While not a low cost solution, my company makes a very, very long running series of portable deck powering solutions. 

So, if your deck still has a still working, but old and now way too low capacity internal rechargeable battery, THEN always using an external battery capable of both internal battery recharging while also fully running the deck is an option.

Then no need to replace the internal battery, just always use a reliable external power source having large capacity.

See these powering solutions at: http://www.sonicstudios.com/batsys98.htm#bcmr1

tedyun:
I think the "official" answer is to contact Korg to replace the battery. I have opened up my MR-1 and if I remember correctly, the battery is plugged in there pretty securely. I'm not sure if it's glued or something, but because it didn't come out with a firm tug, I didn't want to chance it.

Having technical service replace it will probably be costly. If space is not a problem, you can get away with an external battery pack. Korg was supplying a battery pack for free for a while there, but you can get one for about $14 I think. It simply takes 4 AA batteries and it is pretty tiny.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/543019-REG/Korg_BATPACKMR1_4_AA_External_Battery_Pack.html

If you want something that lasts longer and is rechargeable, you can get a USB LiIon battery, but you have to make sure the one you get can supply 5V, and 1 A (most ipod packs supply around 500 mA).

I use this one:

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/macally-ip-a481-external-li-ion-battery-for-ipod/

and it works well. It is not in production anymore, but you can find them on eBay for about $20-30. You will need a cable to link it to the MR-1. You can either make one yourself, or this one is cheap and fits:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8693
(The company is in China, and it takes about 1-2 wk for shipment, but they are reliable and CHEAP!).



--- Quote from: inkyblackness on April 01, 2010, 03:34:26 PM ---Hi, I need to replace the battery in a dead MR1 but info is scarce.
Any input greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

--- End quote ---

it-goes-to-eleven:
The MR1 is "futureproof" - the internal battery eventually fails, so it won't work in the future ;)

If the internal battery has failed (as you describe) it is a bad idea to try and force charge it by feeding the unit external power.   That assumes that the power connector also feeds the charging circuit and that it cannot be disabled (as it does on the microtrack - I don't know if that is the case on the mr1).

First, you would lose a lot of your external power driving the charging circuit.  Second, you risk a lithium battery malfunction that could be dramatic.

Ideally, send it to Korg for service.   Or at least disconnect the internal battery.

Not surprisingly, Korg doesn't seem to mention battery replacement on their website... I did find this bleak post:

http://www.korgforums.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=43691&sid=29cc2888310b3366ab761a8b04e7b98b

On March 26, 2009, I sent my MR-1 recorder in to have the internal lithium battery replaced. On May 12, 2009, the service center completed the battery replacement. Korg Parts was unable to ship the replacement battery to the service center for installation into the MR-1 recorder any sooner. It cost $68.95 for the internal lithium battery only (I did not include the labor cost to replace the battery).

There was a sudden diminishing of the charge capacity of my MR-1 after the PC board failed. I would avoid using the external battery pack (containing 4 AA batteries) with this recorder as much as possible. If the internal battery runs down completely during extended operation with the external battery pack, the MR-1 stops recording (thus, causing you to lose the file being recorded) and the MR-1 then remains in a state of suspended operation. This remaining on by the MR-1 could cause damage to its PC board (that is, failure by your PC to recognize your MR-1 through the USB) and dimished life of MR-1's internal lithium battery (the recorder becomes noticibly warm to the touch during this state of suspended operation). It is my opinion that that is what happened to my MR-1 recorder, that is, use of the external battery pack prevented the MR-1 from shutting down properly after the internal battery lost its charge (for example, proper shut down would be to not lose the recorded file and to protect both the PC board and internal battery from damage).

guysonic:
Most times the internal lithium battery has not failed, but has lost enough capacity to not be useful for even 1 hour or less recording time.  So recharging/runtime both lasts for shorter time, and connecting up an external portable battery to run the deck and keep the internal battery at whatever is possible charge is not a liability in this case.

I have at times detractors of my external battery solutions with way too often post self-serving comments bogging down a discussion thread.

For those who wish to add any type of commentary about my powering products suggest a better place than an inquiry thread named "HIGHWAY ROBBERY" found in the TS Retail Section at: http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=83618.0

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