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Gear / Technical Help => Battery Boxes, Preamps, Mixers, ADCs, and Processors => Topic started by: checht on March 11, 2025, 03:56:51 PM
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Aloha,
A couple battery questions:
1.
I use the 4-AA sled as backup for usb power for my mp6.. The last couple months there have been issues...
After a full discharge-charge cycle, my eneloop pros show 1/3 charged on the mp-3 meter. If I tput the batteries through a conditioning run on the powerx, they end up with a full charge. WTF?
Happens with both eneloop chargers and any combo of batts from my 12 eneloops. All were in fine shape a year ago. They're 7.
Any ideas?
2.
I was going to get another set, partially just to trouble shoot, but these new to me EBL lithium rechargableds stopped me cold:
ebl litium 3500 mAh
4 w usbc charger $16
25% more capacity
charger is all cable, so smaller for carrying on tour.
2 hour charge time
Anyone have experience with ebls? With lithium batts in an mp? With rechargeable lithium batts?
TIA
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1. Maybe time to replace the Eneloop NiMH AAs. They seem last a couple years, but even just one isn't bad.. as long as you catch it before it causes a problem with a recording. This option is assured to work and won't change anything in your regular working process, making it the least risk option, but also doesn't improve things. Does the same thing occur if you use the Powerex charger in place of the eneloop chargers except in normal charge mode rather than conditioning mode?
2. About 10 years ago I tried some EBL batteries that used a different chemistry than NiMH and promised some extra capacity. I can't recall what chemistry exactly, but the batteries used their own special charger. They weren't reliable. I don't think they were lithium. Of course my unrelated single anecdotal experience doesn't help you much other than as a reminder to thoroughly test any new battery setup, especially one that doesn't have a history of other tapers using it. The answer for me for rechargeable AAs and "9Vs" was to stick with good NiMH (such as Eneloop and Maha) and a good charger, and to get into the routine of testing after each use to catch and cycle out aging cells before they failed.
3. Have you considered replacing the 4-AA sled with a Talentcell lithium battery or some other similar "power brick"? Long and strong history of Talentcell working well for tapers. You are probably familiar with these, but if not, they are successors to the "9V DVD battery" that was a popular method of powering rigs a couple decades back after displacing SLAs. Built-in meter, simple on/off switch, and various voltage and capacity options depending on model. The ones I use feature a 12V port, 9V port, and 5V USB port. Comes with an AC wall-wart charger, but I find they can be charged from any ~12-15VDC source, and there is an inexpensive car cigarette lighter charger available. The one linked below has been very reliable for me, but if the capacity of your 4xAA sled has been sufficient, is bigger than you need with about 10X the capacity of 4xAAs. Nice to have the additional capacity if size and weight is not a problem though, so as to only run it part-way down in regular use. Last week over the course of an entire 3-day fest I used just two of those to power a Zoom F8 running 8 channels of phantom. Prior to the fest I picked up a 3rd as I was not sure I'd have the ability to recharge the two I already had, each of which I knew could comfortably run the rig for a day. The extra one insured I'd be good for all 3 days without recharging, including playback listening afterward and during the drive home, but I didn't even use it. The original one that I picked up in 2019 or so along with the F8 is still going strong, and the built-in meter makes it easy to keep a tab on state of charge. Here's the one I use: https://www.amazon.com/TalentCell-Rechargeable-11000mAh-14500mAh-26400mAh/dp/B016BJCRUO?ref_=ast_sto_dp (https://www.amazon.com/TalentCell-Rechargeable-11000mAh-14500mAh-26400mAh/dp/B016BJCRUO?ref_=ast_sto_dp) They offer various capacities in the same size "brick", and a few different "brick" sizes. You may be able to use one that's housed in the smaller brick size, which is about half as thick as the one linked and closer to the size of your 4xAA sled. Nice to not have to pop out and charge the individual batteries and to have the meter and a power switch on there. Note that over the course of full discharge, the voltage out of the 12V port drops to a minimum of around 9V or so.
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Thanks!! So much info...
I should have included that I use the 4aa sled as backup, powering off Anker 10kmAh usbc power banks.
I will test w powerx in charge mode next.
Might grab the ebls and test themm too, no shows for almost a month.
Cheers!
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When you say, "They're 7", does that mean seven years old?!? Definitely time for some new ones! I usually swap mine out every couple of years and relegate the older set to remote/flashlight/household duty. The oldest set goes off to recycling.
Also, have you ever considered getting the 8AA sled? I do the same as you (with an Anker 10000 and the AAs as backup), but the 8AA sled will run DPA4015s and a stereo board feed for around five hours with Eneloop Pros. The 4AA sled won't go the distance if you're Anker fails...
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Yep, 7 years old, all of 'em
Powerx regular cycle is very informative: first batch of 8 has 6 batts w +- 150mAh and 2 with 2150. Running second batch of 8 now.
I tend to use the 4 batt sled b/c these are just for backup, and if they're in use, I'll figure out where the cable from the wall wort got kicked out, or what's up w the 10k batt. I carry a spake 10k, so that mostly covers things. It's a mophie that's lighter than 4 Aas and only 2 years old.
Thanks for all the help!
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“ebl litium 3500 mAh
4 w usbc charger $16
25% more capacity
charger is all cable, so smaller for carrying on tour.
2 hour charge time“
Just a note about how these newer Lithium rechargeable AA batteries are labeled for capacity. It’s misleading, at best, and deceptive, at worst. They use a milliWATThour capacity label rather than a milliAMPhour rating common to NiMH AACells. If you do the math (assuming a 1.5volt output), a 3500mWhr cell is 2333mAhr. Not terrible, but also no better than a good quality NiMh cell. Also, the lithium rechargeables us an internal DC/DC converter, so their output voltage remains a constant 1.5 volts throughout their discharge curve until just before shutting down with a short voltage dip warning. You have to be aware of that as your battery level meter will not give you a true remaining charge reading. I’m sticking with NiMH cells for now.
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7 years is a long time! You definitely got your money's worth out of them and now time to replace. I generally swap out my NiMH AA's and 9.6V's after about 3 years or so. They get less reliable after that. One thing that happens as they age is the internal resistance through the cell increases, limiting current delivery, at some point internal resistance will get so high the charger will be unable to charge it. Them lasting that long is a strong testament for use of the conditioning cycle on the Powerex charger.
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I should have included that I use the 4aa sled as backup, powering off Anker 10kmAh usbc power banks.
I will test w powerx in charge mode next.
Might grab the ebls and test them too, no shows for almost a month.
Cheers!
I'm in the same boat running the 4AA sled as a backup to those tiny 10k Anker USB-C batteries. I've never borked a recording with this setup because of power but I think the many years old Eneloops I use are getting risky so I bought a 8 pack of Powerex 2650 AAs. At least if the USB power cable were to get jangled loose I can get through a (short) set on the backups. The Mixpre6 really gobbles up the AAs.
I used to have a pile of those blue Eneloop 1900 but I sold someone here a Wendt X5 and shipped it with 8 of them in the battery tube :facepalm:
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^ sounds familiar.
My second set of 8 pros averaged 249, so I too ordered 9 new ones.
Gonna test the ebls just for fun...
Thank you everyone for helping me sort this out.
My biggest issue is drummers kicking out the usbc cable (happened twice) so not much to complain about.
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You already wring a lot of life out of your NiMH AAs, and may already be doing this, but if not its good procedure..
Run the new ones through the Break-In mode in the Powerex charger - this can take a while. Write down the tested capacity of each cell and split them into groups of four (or however many you use each time as a group) based on closest capacities. Mark the cells of each group as a set and use them that way, keeping those together through all charge/use cycles. Doing this more closely matches the cells in each group, so one outlier doesn't drag down the others in the group as they discharge, maximizing capacity and lifespan.
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Thanks, that's how I use 'em.
I put a piece of painter's tape on each and write the tested value to make it easy to group. Do this twice a year or so...
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Addendum: SD tech support prefers alkaline over NiMh, though I wasn't able to determine why.
Time to test...
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Probably because NIMH batteries are lower peak voltage.
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Thanks, that's how I use 'em.
I put a piece of painter's tape on each and write the tested value to make it easy to group. Do this twice a year or so...
Smart tip
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Saw this and figured I'd toss out my EBL battery experience from ~8 years ago. Didn't use them with taping gear, but felt like they didn't last very long just with use in kids toys. I was trying to stop buying AA batteries for all the damn toys and decided after a while it was way less hassle to just buy a pack of Costco AA batteries and not have to charge the things every couple days. If I recall, I'd have to charge batteries after like 2-3 days of use in a Thomas the train battery powered set, where a standard Costco non-rechargeable battery would run for like 2 weeks before a swap. Felt like I always had a charger full of batteries and not enough to run the toys.
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EBL update:
They're Li-Om chemistry in fancy packaging.
In 3 rounds of testing, they haven't lasted an hour running 4 x schoeps actives.
They're going back to Amazon, eneloop pros ftw.