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500mAh 9v batteries?! - Page 2

post #16 of 29
6/24/06 at 12:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Romanee
The 500mAh iPower 9V Li-Po batteries do not fit into the Headroom MicroAmp or DAC with some minor mods... filed... ... long-nosed pliers... strong grip... sanding... obstacles... cut... mutilating... extract...
That sucks. If I have to drill, file, and hack...
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=185626
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post #17 of 29
6/24/06 at 1:59am

batty - batty - batty.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SiBurning
That sucks. If I have to drill, file, and hack...
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=185626
Hmmm. Still scary -- but taking shape!

BTW -- the 500mAh Li-Po 9V iPower rechargeables lasted 12 hours in the MicroAmp, and at around 13.5 hours the MicroDAC is still going. The 500mAh Li-Po in the Portaphile PV2^2/LT1210 Maxxed with Class A and High Bandwidth ON lasted 9.5 hours (after the first charge cycle).
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post #18 of 29
6/24/06 at 3:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Romanee
Nah... reference was to "baited breath". (yuk).

Just received six iPower 500mAh 9v Li-Po from Thomas Distributing -- and the good news is that, as Brent Thomas said, the 500mAh do not have the awful problems that the 400mAh iPowers had.

4 charged normally and perfectly, and last 2 are charging. I think these will probably be good. I'll test them tomorrow.
Will they perform exactly like other rechargables? Would there be any issues with recharging them in a pint amp or putting them in series?
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post #19 of 29
6/24/06 at 4:09am

WHOA, Nelly! HALT! Hands Up Where I Can See 'Em!

Quote:
Originally Posted by threEchelon
Will they perform exactly like other rechargables? Would there be any issues with recharging them in a pint amp or putting them in series?
Yikes! STOP!

Lithium-Polymer rechargeables are NOT the same as Nickel Metal Hydride rechargeables. "Performance" is one thing, but charging issues are very sensitive.

I have no expertise with Lithium-Polymer rechargeables, but I do know that they need a special charger, and I would think a PINT amp would only charge NIMH batteries. Putting one of these in might likely cause an explosion or fire. Likewise, do not put one of these into a Hornet, or any other amp with a charging circuit meant for NIMH batteries. Well, you can put a Li-Po battery in for playing purposes only, but NEVER charge it in such a device, just as you should never charge a disposable battery in one of these circuits.

Performance is still related to voltage, charging capacity rated in milliamp hours (mAh), charging behavior may be different....

Let's hear from some Li-Po experts, please!
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post #20 of 29
6/30/06 at 12:36pm

More on 500mAh Li-Po 9V...

I've been using the new iPower 500mAh Li-Po 9V rechargeables all week, in transit and all day(s) at work.

They definitely do NOT fit the Headroom Coda/Overture cases (though they do fit snugly the MicroAmp/DAC after filing off the extended top plate edges).

They definitely do NOT fit the SR-71.

They DO fit the Hornet -- but one must NEVER NEVER NEVER charge them in the Hornet. MUST use the dedicated iPower standalone charger (switchable Li-Po/NIMH).

I'll be testing them in the Hornet (inflight) later today.

They seem to be generally good, but I've had a few glitches that I haven't pinned down yet. Portaphile PV2^2-LT1210 Maxxed gets about 9-9.5 hours with Class-A/Hi-Bandwidth ON. I haven't yet tested with those options off since I'd rather listen with those on, and they're the power eaters.
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post #21 of 29
7/3/06 at 5:21pm

Surprising incompatibilities!

I'll have to find the answer to this, but the iPower 500mAh LI-Po 9V rechargeables do NOT work with the R.S. Hornet! Every fully charged 500mAh battery I tried fails to work in the Hornet. When switched on, the power light shows briefly and immediately goes out, with no sound audible. The same batteries then work perfectly in the Portaphile amp. I'll have to ask Ray what causes the batteries to shut down.

So, sadly, despite fitting nicely in the Hornet they can't be used.

The Ultralife 9V (disposable) Lithium batteries fit in the Hornet and do work. I haven't yet measured their always-on playtime in the Hornet.

I suspect that the HR MIcroAmp may also have some incompatibility with the 500mAh iPower 9V. The first pair I tried did well, but 2 other pairs were drained very quickly. They do, however, keep the MicroDAC running for a very long time. The one test I did worked through 15.5 hours, and discharged sometimes during the night. I no longer have the DAC to try further. However, the top edges must be filed off, and the fit is too snug for comfort.
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post #22 of 29
7/6/06 at 5:12am
I built my own charger, and have no problems at all. I just leave my 2 9V 500mA batteries in the amp, and charge them through the night for about 12 hours (the charger delivers about 40 mA/hour), they last about 10 hours. I'm not very fund of charging batteries quickly, and in the end they last longer.

Quote:
Originally Posted by firefox360
Too low or too high of a charge and make everything go wrong with them. They also need specialized chargers that are catered to lithium polymers and are able to accurately maintain them and prevent overcharging.
Both statements are wrong, except for the overcharging. A battery that is undercharged will NOT malfuntion (it's just the same as when a battery was fully charged at first, and at half way half depleted).
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post #23 of 29
7/6/06 at 5:25am
Sidewinder - what discharge protection circuitry and charge circuit did you use?
nvm.. I'm guessing you neglected hte discharge protection because it's built in on the battery?

Also.. why not charge at somewhere around .2C? charging too slowly could be worse for the battery.. I'm not sure what cells the iPower uses, but I've never heard of charging lipos at .1C..

Also how do you do the cutoff? if you continue at .1C you'll pretty quickly burn out your cells..
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post #24 of 29
7/7/06 at 12:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Romanee
I'll have to find the answer to this, but the iPower 500mAh LI-Po 9V rechargeables do NOT work with the R.S. Hornet! Every fully charged 500mAh battery I tried fails to work in the Hornet. When switched on, the power light shows briefly and immediately goes out, with no sound audible. The same batteries then work perfectly in the Portaphile amp. I'll have to ask Ray what causes the batteries to shut down.
From my experience with the 400mAh iPower LiPo 9V batteries:
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=181453

A friend tested a battery in his Hornet, he had a similar problem. He found that if he flicked the power switch on and off quickly enough times (20 or so), he could eventually get it to stay on. Our supposition was that the Hornet has a capacitor with a large enough inrush current that it's tripping the overload protection circuit in the battery. Flicking the switch on/off gradually charged the capacitor enough that at some point, the inrush current was low enough for the battery to deal with.

(Edited for typo)
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post #25 of 29
7/7/06 at 6:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ATAT
Sidewinder - what discharge protection circuitry and charge circuit did you use?
nvm.. I'm guessing you neglected hte discharge protection because it's built in on the battery?

Also.. why not charge at somewhere around .2C? charging too slowly could be worse for the battery.. I'm not sure what cells the iPower uses, but I've never heard of charging lipos at .1C..

Also how do you do the cutoff? if you continue at .1C you'll pretty quickly burn out your cells..
Why do I need to discharge? Why do I need a protection circuit if it charges through the night for 12 hours (I have all the time to pull the plug out)? I never ever had problems with my own charger unit. It's a simple device that has a connector which I can hook up to the amp, and thus recharge the batteries. I do not change batteries. I'm wondering on how you handle rechargeables...
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post #26 of 29
8/18/06 at 12:03pm
Lemme tell ya folks - 200mah does NOT cut it. These NiMh 200mah Powerex batts that came with The Hornet die on me in a day or two, even after charging overnight in the Hornet. I'm popping this amp in and out of my bag so many times, it's almost as bad as when I had the AE-1 with the powerswitch in the back - and even then the AE-1 popped right back in the bag, unlike the Hornet where I take it all the way out to charge and so on!

So I'm going the SR71 route like I did in the past - buy those Lithium disposables - called Ultralifes? Anyhow I'll let you know how long they last. In the SR71, two of em lived for about a month in my amp before dying. This is gonna get pricey. I already miss the batt life of the AE-1 - I never ever ever charged that thing because the amp died on me. I mean, I would take it out every few months to charge it for a few hours just out of paranoia, hehe.
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post #27 of 29
8/18/06 at 12:44pm
How many hours do you get when using 200mA with the Hornet?
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post #28 of 29
8/18/06 at 11:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sidewinder
How many hours do you get when using 200mA with the Hornet?
it felt like an hour lol. i do use high gain tho - low and medium start getting thin or hissy on me when i crank it, but high stays nice and beefy, even below 9 o'clock. must kill those batts tho. i have an alky in there now, let's see if it can hold up until the liths can get here.
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post #29 of 29
8/19/06 at 1:43am

Tysonic 250 seems okay...

Too bad the Hornet can't use the 500mAh Li-Po 9v rechargeables.

The Tysonic 250mAh 9v rechargeable seems pretty good ("average 9.2v"). I the "M" Hornet running on it all day at work today and it didn't poop out.

I haven't tried accurate time tests yet, but I'll try this coming week.

(The "burn in" routine should be nearing completion within a few days -- so we should compare the Tube-y-Big-Bassy Hornet with the High-Wide-n-Punchy Hornet .)
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