Topic: Battery life for the AD20?

[Unitmonster]

Has anyone tested what the actual life of a standard 9v is for the AD20?  Going to be running it for the first time at two shows this week and don't know whether I'll need two batteries or just one.  The box says it runs for 9.5 hours or something like that but I don't know how accurate that is.

Thanks for any help!

[Sean Gallemore]

use 2 just in case

I wouldn't push it past 5 hours

[dnsacks]

A few thoughts --

1) my experience has been that 9 volt batteries can vary rather significantly power-wise from battery to battery

2) the battery life in the PS2 is the real question mark as hungry mics (like mbho 603a) will drain a good 9 volt in under 2 hours, while a ps2 battery will last a LOT longer with more furgal mics.

If I were you, I'd sacrifice a few batteries and perform at least 2 tests with the whole setup running and recording music (from speakers) to see how long each of your components will last before running out of juice.

(also, I presume the PS2 has not yet shown up)

Darrin

[Zaphod]

For the AD20, I'd say that as long as it is a fresh 9v you'll be fine running the same battery for two shows (2, two hour sets?)

I'm not sure about the battery for the PS2, but I don't think the 853s would kill the 9v too fast.

[John Kelly]

I always switched out my 9v after every show.  The one time I tried to push it for two shows it died on me.  I'd say it lasts around ~4 hours.

[Unitmonster]

Darrin, the ps-2 arrived yesterday.  Thanks!

It's going to be a bit sketchy, 'cause I'm taping 3 bands (Scofield, Herbie Hancock and a huge Carlos Santana & Friends show) tomorrow and thursday.  I'm assuming that the Sco' and Herbie sets will be under 2 hours each, but I have NO idea how long the Santana show will last.  I don't even know if it will be one set or two.

I imagine that I'll run one batt per night for the ad-20, and maybe run two duracell regular batts for the Sco'/Herbie show, and then one extra strength for the Santana soiree in the PS-2.  I assume the PS-2 sucks more power than the AD-20...
 It's 100% stealth, so I don't want to be playing with the rig too much, but if I miss a minute of this bad boy I'll be kicking myself for months:

The extraordinary guitar player Carlos Santana is the guest of honour of this 38th edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival. For a start, he will be performing as the Special Guest for the «Blues Summit» on 12th July with Buddy Guy, Clarence «Gatemouth» Brown and Otis Rush who will each be playing with their own bands. Then, on 13th July, Carlos Santana and his band will take the audience on a musical trip throughout the guitarist's past career from his first band, the «Santana Blues Band», to today. His son, Salvador, will also be performing with his band that same night. Carlos Santana will finally be playing for the «Hymns For Peace» evening on 15th July along with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, Angélique Kidjo, Chick Corea, Idrissa Diop, Steve Winwood and others. They will all interpret classics on the theme of peace by authors like Bob Marley, John Lennon and Bob Dylan.

The only catch (preventing me from extensive testing) is that the AT853s seem to be stuck in Customs in germany.  They were shipped ages ago, and everything else has arrived except them.  Starting to stress me out. 

Thanks for all the help there guys.  If all goes well I'll offer up some copies on the board for all the "tech support" I've recieved over the last month or so.

[keepongoin]

if in doubt, by an extra pack of 9 volts at the store and change them out.  better safe than sorry.  Once you run these a couple times, you will realize the advantage of building an external power source with a 9.6v battery.  I used taped all weekend on 2, 3000 mAh batteries at NWSS.  I did have an extra 3 of them with me, but didn't even touch them.

Also, the batteries can be changed out really fast between songs, if you notice that red light come on.  I changed one out on the PS-2 between songs at yonder in April (my first time with these things) and didn't even notice a drop-out.

[Nick Graham]

I once ran the same 9v in an AD20 for 3 Derek Trucks shows...about 6 and a half hours total counting setbreak, pre-show, etc. Luckily not a single problem, but I wouldn't suggest trying it...

[Unitmonster]

thanks for the input guys!  I didn't end up taping the first show because my mics were stuck in customs  , but I used one 9v for the AD-20 and two for the PS-2 (changed at setbreak) for the second show.   Worked like a charm, except when I put the 9v in the PS-2 backward and nearly missed the start of the first set.  Fortunately I recovered and didn't miss a note of the show.