Battery out, or bass just dead?

[Cederick]

I got a free Ibanez bass for free a while ago, and I made a basic setup and put new batteries in it.
Worked perfectly, I really needed my own bass for recordings so I was really happy!

But last day it simply didn't work!!! I never leave a cable plugged in one a bass with battery, I know that so that issue is out of question.

I even tried another battery and STILL didn't work! But I don't know if that battery was out or not either, so both my batteries at home may be empty.

So the actual question is: can a battery die out by not turning the pots down?! If that's the case then I might buy a new battery and try.  :tard:

 

[JimBeed]

I got a free Ibanez bass for free a while ago,

So the actual question is: can a battery die out by not turning the pots down?! If that's the case then I might buy a new battery and try.  :tard:

Active basses just need the jack plug out for them to not loose battery power AFAIK

The free part makes me think there was something wrong with the electrics themselves in some part of the circuit that the giver didn't tell you about maybe. maybe an idea to open the bonnet (So to Speak) and have a check for loose wires etc. Or the pre-amp might be dead itself.

No proper experience with active basses yet untill my jazz bass is finished and built and gets a warmoth neck but These are just the ideas that pop into my head that could be problems.

 

[AutoBat]

There's a really easy way to find out if a 9 volt battery has juice in it.

I'm not the only one that does this, right?

 

[Pelagaard]

Anyone who doesn't do that is some kinda jerk.

 

[line6man]

So the actual question is: can a battery die out by not turning the pots down?! If that's the case then I might buy a new battery and try.  :tard:

The average capacity for a 9V battery is 500mAh. That being said, the average FET based preamp will draw a couple of milliAmps, and preamps with low-power opamps can draw as little as 85uA (Millionths of an Ampere.) Fussing over current consumption with the bands of EQ boosted, cut or flat is basically the equivalent of questioning the effect of a bumper sticker on your gas mileage. In any case, questioning current consumption to begin with is silly. I believe that the early MM Stingray basses did not have any means of switching the battery off, because at the time, no one believed the current consumption significant enough to even be bothered to turn the preamp off. Those preamps were on 24/7.

 

[stubhead]

Do you know anyone with a good battery? Or can you take out a loan and buy one?

 

[Cederick]

So the actual question is: can a battery die out by not turning the pots down?! If that's the case then I might buy a new battery and try.  :tard:

The average capacity for a 9V battery is 500mAh. That being said, the average FET based preamp will draw a couple of milliAmps, and preamps with low-power opamps can draw as little as 85uA (Millionths of an Ampere.) Fussing over current consumption with the bands of EQ boosted, cut or flat is basically the equivalent of questioning the effect of a bumper sticker on your gas mileage. In any case, questioning current consumption to begin with is silly. I believe that the early MM Stingray basses did not have any means of switching the battery off, because at the time, no one believed the current consumption significant enough to even be bothered to turn the preamp off. Those preamps were on 24/7.

Thanks for the answer but I don't get it. Haha :glasses10:

If I leave the volume knobs on, will the battery drain even if I have the cable out... That's the question.


And yes it was a free bass for free by the way... I didn't see I wrote it wrong, but it's basically true 
The guy before me got it for free, then I got it so it's double free!

 

[line6man]

So the actual question is: can a battery die out by not turning the pots down?! If that's the case then I might buy a new battery and try.  :tard:

The average capacity for a 9V battery is 500mAh. That being said, the average FET based preamp will draw a couple of milliAmps, and preamps with low-power opamps can draw as little as 85uA (Millionths of an Ampere.) Fussing over current consumption with the bands of EQ boosted, cut or flat is basically the equivalent of questioning the effect of a bumper sticker on your gas mileage. In any case, questioning current consumption to begin with is silly. I believe that the early MM Stingray basses did not have any means of switching the battery off, because at the time, no one believed the current consumption significant enough to even be bothered to turn the preamp off. Those preamps were on 24/7.

Thanks for the answer but I don't get it. Haha :glasses10:

If I leave the volume knobs on, will the battery drain even if I have the cable out... That's the question.


And yes it was a free bass for free by the way... I didn't see I wrote it wrong, but it's basically true 
The guy before me got it for free, then I got it so it's double free!

The short answer is, volume pots do not affect current draw, they vary signal impedance. Again, bumper stickers sabotaging your gas mileage... But if the bass in unplugged, there is no current draw.

The technical answer is: If you have a volume pot before the preamp input, rolling it all the way down will allow a zero Ohm input impedance, so the transistors will pretty much only require quiescent current. As the input impedance rises, the transistors can begin to conduct a signal and require more current. If you have a volume pot after the preamp output, it will vary the load at the output. The higher the impedance (Volume turned up.), the less load, and thus, the less current. Conversely, rolling the volume down will decrease the output impedance to increase the current at the output.

 

[Cederick]

I have no experience in this type of stuff and also need very basic answers to understand... I'm sorry but I work that way :dontknow:

Does a volume pot turned up drain the battery when a cable is unplugged? Yes or no  :toothy11:

 

[line6man]

I have no experience in this type of stuff and also need very basic answers to understand... I'm sorry but I work that way :dontknow:

Does a volume pot turned up drain the battery when a cable is unplugged? Yes or no  :toothy11:

There is no current draw when the bass is unplugged, unless the bass is miswired.
The volume pot has no significant effect on current consumption when the preamp is on, either.

 

[Cagey]

The long and short of it is there are three possibilities:

1. You've had some bum batteries. Next step: Get a known good part, and go from there.
2. The thing is wired wrong somehow, so it's killing batteries for sport. Next step: take it to someone who knows how such things work and have them review the installation.
3. The electronics are hosed, so it's eating batteries. Next step: Take it to someone who knows how such things work and have them make a determination and quote a repair cost.

Steps 2 and 3 can almost certainly be combined. If you can't/won't/don't want to pay someone to do something for you that can't do yourself, then you can either live with the problem or pass it along to someone else, which may be what's happened here.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I've had bad luck with batteries from big box stores that buy in bulk, Wal-Mart, Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.  Even when a name brand and 5 year shelf life, if 2 of those years were spent on the top shelf of a warehouse at 120 degrees +, by the time they get to you, they're gassed.

And no, the volume won't drain the batteries.  The (-) terminal is disconnected when you unplug the cable.  Does turning your radio off with a disconnected (-) terminal drain your car battery?

 

[Cederick]

Ok it works now, new battery. Hope it lasts a while

 

[Jumble Jumble]

Unplug it when you're not using it. Don't worry about the position of the knobs - the answer to your above question is NO. As long as it's unplugged, the battery cannot drain as the circuit is incomplete.

 

[Cederick]

Ok... We'll see about that. I used the bass with new battery for a new album recording for about three hours today without problem.

I'll go away for a week and then I will try the bass again to see if it's still alive 

 

[Jumble Jumble]

If it has died after the week then probably your battery is connected at all times. It's quite an easy fix though.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

My guess is there is a wiring gremlin in there somewhere.  Unless the battery you put in was a lemon, it should take quite a while for it to drain.  The way active basses are wired is that a stereo plug is used as a connection for the preamp's power.  With out the cord in the bass, the connection is not there, so it is exactly like not connecting one of the terminals on the battery.  The battery should last like it was sitting in it's package if there is no cord in the bass.  For the battery to be used up that quickly you have three basic options, it was used up already, bad, or something in the bass is still connected and using a lot of it's power (The gremlin I mentioned initially, they use an incredible amount of power annoying people)
Patrick

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

With batteries lasting months to years, it is already considered an inconvenience to some.  If batteries only lasted days or weeks, no one would own active anything.