Topic: Leaving Batt's In?

[taperwheeler]

So have always heard in the past that it isn't good to leave batteries in electronic devices when they aren't being used.  I've had a lazy knack of leaving 9v's in my Church 9100 maybe a month longest between use.  Curious if anyone has any knowledge of how/why this may be a bad practice (drainage, corrosion).

[dmonkey]

I always thought it was because of possible corrosion -- if you forget about the batt and leave it in too long.

[page]

^ my thoughts as well.  I have noticed that my 9v Wally will drain eventually if I forget to unplug it from my UA5.  I attribute that to the battery circuits but don't know for sure.

The RC batteries I use in my fostex have the same effect (it's even in the manual).

[dgale]

Disposable batteries will leak and corrode if left unattended and in my experience it doesn't necessary mean they were left in there for years before it happens...I figure it's just good habitat to unload batteries after every use.  Most of my gear that will run on disposable batteries I only run those batteries once when I use them instead of SLA batteries (i.e. I don't try to milk a second show out of them - the price of batteries isn't worth having a recording tank on me), so there's really no need for me to leave them in there.  Way back in the day when I ran smaller mics (i.e. CSBs) that included a battery box that ran on a 9v, I did used to leave that in there as if I recall correctly it would last for a long time, but when it comes to my decks, pre-amp, SBM-1 etc., it's one use and out they go into a box to either reuse for household stuff or else go to the recycling center.

[yug du nord]

^ my thoughts as well.  I have noticed that my 9v Wally will drain eventually if I forget to unplug it from my UA5.  I attribute that to the battery circuits but don't know for sure.

The RC batteries I use in my fostex have the same effect (it's even in the manual).

I left a 9v Wally battery plugged into my HDP2 for too long I guess....  not sure how long....  but when I realized it and went to charge up the battery, it's dead.....  my L-ion DVD Wally World 9v battery does not charge any more....  any ideas about that one?

[flipp]

^ my thoughts as well.  I have noticed that my 9v Wally will drain eventually if I forget to unplug it from my UA5.  I attribute that to the battery circuits but don't know for sure.

The RC batteries I use in my fostex have the same effect (it's even in the manual).

I left a 9v Wally battery plugged into my HDP2 for too long I guess....  not sure how long....  but when I realized it and went to charge up the battery, it's dead.....  my L-ion DVD Wally World 9v battery does not charge any more....  any ideas about that one?

How old is it? How many charge cycles has it been through?

May be time to replace it with one of those inexpensive units from ebay.

[yug du nord]

^^^Not sure on the age of it....  got it used.....  I have a few others, so I'm not too worried about it....  til next festi season.  Do they actually crap out after a certain number of charges?  It worked great for me for about 6 months or so.

[page]

^^^Not sure on the age of it....  got it used.....  I have a few others, so I'm not too worried about it....  til next festi season.  Do they actually crap out after a certain number of charges?  It worked great for me for about 6 months or so.

Unfortunately yes, but thats mostly up past 300 charges.

You may have drained it past the point where there is any "safety charge" that allows the internal PCB to turn on and function. I've had one or two go that way as well. I try and keep my stuff at half charge when stored and store it seperately from the unit for that reason.

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-19.htm

[yawnfactory]

your best bet is to take out the batteries when you are done, then buy new ones for the next show.
its worth the extra money, just for peace of mind.

energizer ulrimate lithiums seem to be the best disposable batteries, at least on my experience.

[rastasean]

your best bet is to take out the batteries when you are done, then buy new ones for the next show.
its worth the extra money, just for peace of mind.

energizer ulrimate lithiums seem to be the best disposable batteries, at least on my experience.

why not just get a multimeter and test the voltage out before the show?

[sevenxbb]

I use energizer ultimate lithiums in my DR-100 as a backup to the internal lion battery.  I had to ditch early the other day and had a friend breakdown my gear for me.  When I picked it up the next day I found that he'd stopped it but hadn't powered it down.  It had gone through the lion and then switched to the energizers.  The power draw was so low (because it was stopped) that it was still on when I checked it.  The battery indicator for the AA's showed it to be a fresh set/all bars.  I did a record test and the draw was too much and it shut down.  I didn't have a volt meter handy but gotta figure that the voltage from the energizer lithiums was still about 1.5 each even though they were drained.  With a load on them they couldn't provide enough amperage to power the unit.  My point is that I don't think you can rely on a volt meter to test the energizer lithiums.

YMMV