Members Scodiddly Posted July 26, 2003 Members Share Posted July 26, 2003 Finally remembered this question that's been bugging me... A month or two ago I worked with a band which used a wireless IEM for the lead singer. Halfway through the battery runs out, and the sound guy starts bitching about Panasonic (or whatever they were) batteries. According to him, Duracell Procells not only last longer, but run at 9.4 volts. This got me curious, of course, so later on I checked Duracell's website. According to Duracell the Procell line is the same as regular, but in a more professional-looking package. Plus my college chemistry classes told me that there's a specific voltage you get out of voltaic cells depending on the two metals involved, so the Procells would have to be a much different chemistry than the regular battery. Anybody got the definitive answer? I'm guessing the answer is that these are regular batteries inside, but then I'm curious where that guy got the "9.4 volts" story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thunderpaw Posted July 26, 2003 Members Share Posted July 26, 2003 Mark, any idea how the Nimh rechargeables compare to the Procells? Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted July 27, 2003 Members Share Posted July 27, 2003 NiMH work quite well, they have a lot of amp-hour (or mA-hr as the case may be) capacity and a flat discharge curve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MrKnobs Posted July 27, 2003 Moderators Share Posted July 27, 2003 Originally posted by agedhorse NiMH work quite well, they have a lot of amp-hour (or mA-hr as the case may be) capacity and a flat discharge curve. But not as good as alkaline. Which is why everyone uses them. What's $2 for a reliable battery compared to the price of the show? Terry D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted July 27, 2003 Members Share Posted July 27, 2003 Originally posted by MrKnobs But not as good as alkaline.Which is why everyone uses them. What's $2 for a reliable battery compared to the price of the show?Terry D. This was with respect to the other common rechargable types (Ni-Cad) which has a lower A-H capacity per unit volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikey Lee Posted July 27, 2003 Members Share Posted July 27, 2003 Anyone tried the latest generation of 9v NiMH batteries? Most are rated at 120-170 mAh, but there are a few at 250 and 260 mAh. I've yet to try them but I'm wondering if these would have enough staying power to be a viable alternative. Anyone?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RickJ Posted July 28, 2003 Members Share Posted July 28, 2003 Check out BJ's & Sam's Clubs. Duracells as low as $1 each in six-packs, and the date is the freshest I've seen. (Probably because they blow through so many ...) I've tried all kinds of batteries in wireless units ranging from cheap guitar systems (mine) to top of the line Lectrosonics and Telex (my video production company). Nothing lasts like the Duracell. I was getting three nights of three one-hour sets out of one Duracell in my guitar wireless (turning it off during the breaks). And as Audiopile said, after the show you can use them in smoke detectors, digital answering machines, radar detectors, and many other low-draw applications. After doing three nights in the guitar system, they last for nearly six months in my smoke detectors. In the rechargeable line, Lion (Lithium Ion) batteries are a possible future contender, but not yet ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted July 28, 2003 Members Share Posted July 28, 2003 I like the Shure UHF (U-1, U2, U4D) systems. They get reliably 8 hours on a pair of AA's. Over the long run, I probably save $100/year on batteries per system. That's a lot of money, and when figured into the life-cycle cost of owning a lot of wireless, it really reduces the payback time. We expect 7 years minimum for this type of wireless. That's a $700 lifetime credit for battery savings FOR EACH CHANNEL! ... more savings than the cost of many other wireless systems themselves! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scodiddly Posted July 28, 2003 Author Members Share Posted July 28, 2003 I've been using NiMH batteries (9v and AA) for a couple years now and like them pretty well - pedals, tuners, the preamp in my bass, and the AAs in various CD and MD portables. Definitely better life than NiCds. They still have the lower voltage, 1.2 volts per cell and so "9v" is actually 7.2v. Probably would be a bigger issue in wireless, although I don't have any wireless stuff to compare against. But yeah, $2 is not a big price to pay for a solid show. Back when I worked as a local hand for big shows I'd carry a little roll of electrical tape to protect the contacts on the all the 9v batteries I'd pick up for home use. You can also make a little LED sculpture with a 9v clip and 5 assorted LEDs - you don't even need a current limiter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thunderpaw Posted July 29, 2003 Members Share Posted July 29, 2003 I like the AA idea (batteries, tho' the org's cool, too). Our singer uses a CM112 and Shure wireless (don't know the model-UHF true diversity) and has trouble getting fresh Duracells to last one night. They make it, barely. That's why I like her to find some rechargeables that would make it through the night(there's a song in there, somewhere...). Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scodiddly Posted July 29, 2003 Author Members Share Posted July 29, 2003 Originally posted by thunderpaw That's why I like her to find some rechargeables that would make it through the night(there's a song in there, somewhere...). Kim Perhaps an 80's power ballad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zeromus-X Posted July 29, 2003 Members Share Posted July 29, 2003 Because I never think about it in advance, I end up paying about four bucks at the nearest 7-11 for all my 9V batteries about ten minutes before a show. My Samson VHF-TD wireless took about fifteen hours on an Energizer E2 battery. The Sennheiser Digital 1000 I have now seems to last about two hours on one! I wonder how feasible it would be to rig up a small container for two rechargeable 9V batteries and a resistor, and wire it into the wireless to provide a bit more power while still allowing you to use rechargeables. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted July 29, 2003 Members Share Posted July 29, 2003 Originally posted by thunderpaw I like the AA idea (batteries, tho' the org's cool, too). Our singer uses a CM112 and Shure wireless (don't know the model-UHF true diversity) and has trouble getting fresh Duracells to last one night. They make it, barely. That's why I like her to find some rechargeables that would make it through the night(there's a song in there, somewhere...).Kim Sounds like one of the lower line wireless. They are much more battery hungry (less efficient transmitter circuitry) in my experience. If a fresh Duracell barely lasts one night, a rechargeable certainly won't since there's less net energy storage available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scodiddly Posted July 30, 2003 Author Members Share Posted July 30, 2003 NiMH rechargables are cheap enough to buy and try - you can use them in a tuner or something if they don't work out for the wireless. There's currently a discussion of rechargeables over on slashdot.org, and one common claim is that digital cameras work a lot better with NiMH batteries. Regular alkalines have a high internal resistance, so high-current loads don't work as well, and the alkalines don't last as long for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members abzurd Posted July 30, 2003 Members Share Posted July 30, 2003 NiMH will work IF you have one of the less hungry mics or IEM's. THe whole "no memory effect" thing is a crock though. The first time I used it in my AT condensor wireless it lasted the whole night. After ONE recharge (the full 15 hours it said it needed or something like that) it crapped out on the last song of the night. My wireless is a battery hog. A FULLY charged NiMH will last all night in my PSM200's. I see a lot of the newer and upscale wireless mics claim battery life of 8+, hours. While I doubt this, certainly a fully charged NiMH would last a 3 hour bar gig. That said - ALWAYS carry a few alkalines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted July 30, 2003 Members Share Posted July 30, 2003 Originally posted by abzurd I see a lot of the newer and upscale wireless mics claim battery life of 8+, hours. While I doubt this, certainly a fully charged NiMH would last a 3 hour bar gig. That said - ALWAYS carry a few alkalines. It's absolutely true with alkalines. I've got a bunch in my rental inventory and I get 8 hours no problem at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scodiddly Posted July 30, 2003 Author Members Share Posted July 30, 2003 Boy, now I wish I had some wireless stuff with a battery drain issue - I recently got a new scope (Fluke 123!) and it'll do day-long voltage plots. I could do a real scientific battery shootout! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thunderpaw Posted July 31, 2003 Members Share Posted July 31, 2003 I looked at the model number on the Shure wireless...UT4. Kim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted July 31, 2003 Members Share Posted July 31, 2003 Originally posted by thunderpaw I looked at the model number on the Shure wireless...UT4.Kim That's a lower end unit, so I would expect pretty poor battery life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thunderpaw Posted July 31, 2003 Members Share Posted July 31, 2003 That explains it, then! Glad I didn't buy it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ATOMICDOG1 Posted July 31, 2003 Members Share Posted July 31, 2003 Weird, I have a UT4 with a Beta 58 capsule, and the batteries (Pro Cells) usually last two gigs (almost 8 hours). The problem I have with them is the location of the switch, I really hate it on the side of the barrel, I'd much rather have on the bottom so that the singer can't inadvertaintly turn it off, and so that the switches dont go bad from having pressure applied to them all of the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.