Topic: Powering an M-audio Firewire 410 ?'s

[tim in jersey]

First and simplest question, what is the approximate draw in amphours? I'll be using almost strictly as a s/pdif>FW device, and perhaps use the line-in in conjunction every once in a blue moon.

second question. I'm pretty handy w/ a soldering iron and plan to build my own battery. I just want to do a quick idiot check before I go and wire this up and fry something. If I take 2 battery packs and wire them in parallel (pos. terminal of battery A connected to pos. terminal of battery B. same for neg. terminals) this will increase the maximum amphours but not affect overall voltage, no?

third question. I'd like to use a PTC resettable fuse on the battery like I do on my SLA's. Just need the math for figuring out what type of fuse to use.

[leegeddy]

First and simplest question, what is the approximate draw in amphours? I'll be using almost strictly as a s/pdif>FW device, and perhaps use the line-in in conjunction every once in a blue moon.

second question. I'm pretty handy w/ a soldering iron and plan to build my own battery. I just want to do a quick idiot check before I go and wire this up and fry something. If I take 2 battery packs and wire them in parallel (pos. terminal of battery A connected to pos. terminal of battery B. same for neg. terminals) this will increase the maximum amphours but not affect overall voltage, no?

third question. I'd like to use a PTC resettable fuse on the battery like I do on my SLA's. Just need the math for figuring out what type of fuse to use.

according to the online manual...........

15. POWER SUPPLY CONNECTOR – Connect the 12VDC 1A power supply here when using the FireWire 410 with a four-pin FireWire connection. Use only the power supply provided with the unit or a power supply with an equivalent value.

Q1:  according to the manual, the device's current draw will not exceed 1A.

Q2:  yes. parallel voltage is equal to each of the 2 identical voltage source. your current draw is halved from each battery.

Q3:  a fuse closest to, but not under, the max current draw will work

marc

[caymanreview]

i just got my 410 a few days ago, and dont know what the power draw is yet

im not sure if you would just want a fix-all solution for powering the 410, but this thing is hands down the best option, and comes with the correct power plug that is even right angle

i have been doing some testing, running phantom to my 480s and have gotten 6+ hours from this pack. it is 4000mah

http://batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=172

i personally have 2 of these babies

[tim in jersey]

Q3:  a fuse closest to, but not under, the max current draw will work

marc

thanks for the help, marc and cayman.

Marc- I'm still a bit in the dark concerning the fuse. When you say current draw, is that in amperage? Is voltage even a consideration when selecting a fuse?

Would I be looking for a fuse that is equal to and/or slightly higher than the max current draw?

Sorry if I come off sounding a bit ignorant, but frankly, I am. Most of my battery-building experience comes from making extra/replacement 6v Oade batt. systems for myself where I simply reproduced their work.


Peace.

[leegeddy]

Q3:  a fuse closest to, but not under, the max current draw will work

marc

thanks for the help, marc and cayman.

Marc- I'm still a bit in the dark concerning the fuse. When you say current draw, is that in amperage? Is voltage even a consideration when selecting a fuse?

Would I be looking for a fuse that is equal to and/or slightly higher than the max current draw?

Sorry if I come off sounding a bit ignorant, but frankly, I am. Most of my battery-building experience comes from making extra/replacement 6v Oade batt. systems for myself where I simply reproduced their work.

Peace.

>>I'm still a bit in the dark concerning the fuse. When you say current draw, is that in amperage?

yes. current is measured in Amperes or amp. not amp-hour.  in most of our cases, it's measured in miliamperes (mA).  

>>Is voltage even a consideration when selecting a fuse?

in the context of what we do, the answer is no.

>>Would I be looking for a fuse that is equal to and/or slightly higher than the max current draw?

yes. i always use the lowest fuse value as possible.

>>Sorry if I come off sounding a bit ignorant, but frankly, I am.

no worries  it's better to ask many questions than seeing smoke signals from your gear.

marc

[tim in jersey]

Thanks again, guys. A quick update. I ended up getting the battery caymanreview suggested, which is pre-wired w/ a self-resetting,  thermal fuse.

I run my gear upright in my bag, so it's a pain in the ass to get to the back of the FW410 to plug in the battery, so I lopped the cable in half and added a male and female mini XLR connectors so I can leave the power cord permanently affixed to the back of the 410.

Charged up the battery and sent an analog signal to the front panel and got 10+ hours @ 24/48. Nice.

[caymanreview]

this pack is definantly the best option for the 410!

il be using a WARM mod 410 this week if i get a chance to tape.... not sure how this will affect the power draw, not much im sure

i will also be running all my gear permanantly in a bag from now on, and will be adding xlr connections to the cable so i can leave it plugged all the time

[tim in jersey]

FYI, the stock battery, as provided,  is coaxial. Wired like this: Black outer insulation>ground shield>white inner insulation>positive lead.

Cutting the cable can be tricky because of the coax cable. It's easy to short out when cutting the cable. Use a really sharp pair of scissors or a brand new straight-edge razor. In addition, it's really easy to short out the battery side of the cable when trying to strip the outer layer of insulation. There is no way around this unless you are willing to open the pack itself and break the circuit.  It has a built-in resettable, thermal fuse, but it's probably a good idea to run the battery dead first.

Bear in mind that if you add XLR between the batt and the power cord, and you want to leave the power cable connected to the FW 410 in your bag while you charge the batt, you will need to lop off the proprietary connector on the charger's wall wart.

The charger is pretty well marked. It indicates which wire is positive (mine was the one w/ a white stripe) and which is ground. I suggest using a continuity tester just to confirm.

Unfortunately, the lead on the wall-wart is *very* short. What I did was to cut the wire as close to the proprietary "adapt-a-plug" as possible and soldered a 2 or 3 foot length of wire to the charger, shrink wrapped each lead individually to avoid a short , and then terminated it with a mini-XLR (M) plug.

BTW, I suggest using Switchcraft mini XLR connectors if you want to mod the charger. Standard sized XLR are probably too big for the ridiculously short amount of wire provided on the charger...

[Morphius]

I'm resurrecting this thread rather than starting a new one.

http://batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=172

On the charger linked above, it says to charge the battery for 10 hours for a full charge.  That leads me to believe it isn't a "smart" charger.  If I buy this pack, how will I recharge it if it isn't dead?  Do I have to guess at the battery life and do a fraction of that time?  It is a trickle charger where it won't overcharge the battery?

Sorry for all the 410 questions, but I'm terrified of breaking this thing.