cestjeffici
Active member
I will be away for 8 or 9 weeks. Should I remove the battery from my Roland FR8 while I'm away?
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FR8 Battery Storage
- Thread starter cestjeffici
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- fr8 fr8x roland fr8x
Dingo40
Been here for ages!
Whenever I leave the house overnight, I always turn off to the water at the main supply. (Water pipes are prone to bursting unpredictability)
I imagine similar precautions would be appropriate for your accordion battery?
It's not difficult and is cheap security, so I say sure, go for it. When you get back, install it and charge it fully before first use.
Chris Laarman
Active member
Wow! I do appreciate precautions, but removing the batteries from a musical instrument looks like overdoing it to me. (Yes, I may be mistaken.) I may not have touched my FR-1xb for a year now, and it has a set of rechargeable batteries inside. - I am one who disconnects anything from the power grid unless in use, though.
Ventura
Been here for ages!
some things you can count on with batteries
a depleted battery will die much faster than a battery that
is cycled and kept charged
all NiCad and alkaline and Carbon based batteries will eventually corrode through
their metal electrode on one end or the other and ruin all metal in it's vicinity
so in the case of the FR1, storage over a years time in the battery chamber
with the batteries connected to each other
(not isolated as they would each be in a simple plastic storage tray)
is not good practice
all models FR1 through 4 are not designed to have batteries inside
EXCEPT whern they are run on battery power.. they cannot be charged
while inside, and the only thing protecting them/the circuit is a tiny and
feeble cut-off switch inside the power supply socket on the bottom of the box
the big NiMh battery packs introduced with the FR7 are robust and can
be charged in or out of the accordion. It is better to charge them out
because occasionally an overheated cell can cause a problem
(there is a thermistor protection circuit in the pack)
and it is easier for the pack to stay cool during charge outside
of the tight, enclosed chamber (obviously)
the big battery is also composed of the best cells available and is
quite long-lived and forgiving, and some owners have left them
inside for years really and always used their Power cable instead,
not realizing how the power circuits work, then wondered why the
battery pack was dead the one time they wanted to use it
personally, my use of the FR7 and 7x was/is ALWAYS on battery power,
i platoon 5 battery packs in rotation and keep them all charged
and ready to go.. never used the weird cable thing except to save/load
programming on the original FR7 series
and finally since this is an overall look, newbies should be advised
Roland's have a hidden switch pressed when the battery chamber COVER
is in place, so don't drop it or step on it or lose it
a depleted battery will die much faster than a battery that
is cycled and kept charged
all NiCad and alkaline and Carbon based batteries will eventually corrode through
their metal electrode on one end or the other and ruin all metal in it's vicinity
so in the case of the FR1, storage over a years time in the battery chamber
with the batteries connected to each other
(not isolated as they would each be in a simple plastic storage tray)
is not good practice
all models FR1 through 4 are not designed to have batteries inside
EXCEPT whern they are run on battery power.. they cannot be charged
while inside, and the only thing protecting them/the circuit is a tiny and
feeble cut-off switch inside the power supply socket on the bottom of the box
the big NiMh battery packs introduced with the FR7 are robust and can
be charged in or out of the accordion. It is better to charge them out
because occasionally an overheated cell can cause a problem
(there is a thermistor protection circuit in the pack)
and it is easier for the pack to stay cool during charge outside
of the tight, enclosed chamber (obviously)
the big battery is also composed of the best cells available and is
quite long-lived and forgiving, and some owners have left them
inside for years really and always used their Power cable instead,
not realizing how the power circuits work, then wondered why the
battery pack was dead the one time they wanted to use it
personally, my use of the FR7 and 7x was/is ALWAYS on battery power,
i platoon 5 battery packs in rotation and keep them all charged
and ready to go.. never used the weird cable thing except to save/load
programming on the original FR7 series
and finally since this is an overall look, newbies should be advised
Roland's have a hidden switch pressed when the battery chamber COVER
is in place, so don't drop it or step on it or lose it
During the 8 years, did you play it on battery power, A.C. power, or a combination of the two?
**ANY** battery can leak if left unattended for longer periods of time (and just a note, its not just the acid that does the damage, but the acid fumes which can permeate a much larger area and cause all kinds of issues, both permanent and random) . I've seen the damage that a leaking battery can make.
On an 8X, that could easily could be thousands of dollars of damage, so its definitely no trouble to take 5-10 minutes and remove the battery from it if you are planning on not using it for a couple weeks or more.
But you are someone that uses their 8X a lot... almost everyday if I recall you mentioning?
Are you assuming that an 8X battery always has acid fumes emitted when the accordion is stored for a few weeks? I would think, for a good battery, it wouldn't make any difference.
If I remember, Thomas N plays his 8X every day for several hours. This means he is charging it very often. Unless, he "rigged up" a charging station and removed the battery, I would expect more acid fumes would be released during the charging cycle (with the battery in the 8X) than from a good battery, left in the 8X, that is not used for a couple of weeks.
You are all correct. I play for probably an average of an hour a day. I occasionally miss days and also occasionally play for longer so it all averages out.
I only charged the FR-8X battery when the icon turned red. I believe towards the end it only lasted around a couple of hours of playing time. I was charging it a couple times a week at least.
An important note is probably 85-90% of my playing is with headphones and not the FR-8X internal speakers. That obviously has a huge impact on battery depletion.
I don't think too much about battery explosions. If I did, I'd never get any sleep. Two Teslas in the garage under our bedroom for the past 10 years, two electric bikes with huge 52A batteries in that same garage, every yard appliance (blowers, mowers, edgers) are all battery powered. I don't think I've used any gasoline since 2012. Everything is electric and battery powered.
In my very limited opinion, if you don't make any alterations to your battery or chargers and purchase reputable products you can control most of the variables for issues. I say most because, of course, things can still happen - and they do!
I still have the original FR-8X battery. It would be interesting to see how many cycles it has been through. I use MacBook Pros and use Coconut Battery to show me the number of cycles and battery health at each stage of ownership. I'd love to see that on an 8 year old FR-8X battery under constant use.
I only charged the FR-8X battery when the icon turned red. I believe towards the end it only lasted around a couple of hours of playing time. I was charging it a couple times a week at least.
An important note is probably 85-90% of my playing is with headphones and not the FR-8X internal speakers. That obviously has a huge impact on battery depletion.
I don't think too much about battery explosions. If I did, I'd never get any sleep. Two Teslas in the garage under our bedroom for the past 10 years, two electric bikes with huge 52A batteries in that same garage, every yard appliance (blowers, mowers, edgers) are all battery powered. I don't think I've used any gasoline since 2012. Everything is electric and battery powered.
In my very limited opinion, if you don't make any alterations to your battery or chargers and purchase reputable products you can control most of the variables for issues. I say most because, of course, things can still happen - and they do!
I still have the original FR-8X battery. It would be interesting to see how many cycles it has been through. I use MacBook Pros and use Coconut Battery to show me the number of cycles and battery health at each stage of ownership. I'd love to see that on an 8 year old FR-8X battery under constant use.
Dingo40
Been here for ages!
I'm not assuming anything, I am going off years of dealing with all kinds of batteries, mostly as a photographer, but the battery technology is identical to what is in the 8X... and to help clarify, a battery in good condition and has a charge will not normally fail nor exude acid fumes, this happens when the battery fails. Letting the battery discharge and leaving it in such a state for a prolonged time is what will cause this.
This also happens a lot in car batteries and with more dramatic results. Example, on my Corvette, I need to use an AGM battery (AGM means absorbent glass mat and refers to the fine glass fiber separator between the positive and negative plates that helps absorb all the battery acid. AGM Batteries are advanced lead-acid batteries.), that means a battery that WHEN it leaks acid (note I did not say when), it leaks straight down, on to the main powertrain control module and all related wiring... an easy $3500+ issue to resolve if you are not careful.
Like my 8X, in the winter, I remove the battery from the car and place it on a battery tender. I use ONLY an AGM battery so if it does leak acid, it is better contained in the battery case, but as mentioned, if not used for extended periods of time, the battery is pulled out of the car and placed on a battery tender. The battery tender part for our 8X accordions is not really needed.
A v-accordion battery is less dramatic but does contain batteries that can fail, leak battery acid fumes or worse, battery acid. It is super easy to avoid... charge the battery to full and remove the battery until you next need your 8X.
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cestjeffici
Active member
This is a great decision making exercise! I've heard several opinions and they all make sense. Based on the relative ease of charging and removing the battery as opposed to the fairly low but very expensive possibility of leakage: I am going to charge the battery and take it out of the FR8 while I am away in Paris for 10 weeks.
I've rented a Hohner Bravo III 96 bass accordion in Paris because I own one here and have rented one before in Paris. I am reluctant to trust an accordion to an airline.
I appreciate all the attention I got from this group.
I've rented a Hohner Bravo III 96 bass accordion in Paris because I own one here and have rented one before in Paris. I am reluctant to trust an accordion to an airline.
I appreciate all the attention I got from this group.
Ventura
Been here for ages!
ahh yes, the new type AGM auto battery
they can also simply go totally dead without notice or errant behavior
as usual, i overdo preventative maintenance here too.. i pre-emptively swap out
the AGM battery in Cindy's T&C every 2 years
(i then use it on one of my Solar charging systems, which i use to power various 12 volt stuff
at halloween and the rest of the year use for charging cell phones tablets and 5 volt portable packs
they can also simply go totally dead without notice or errant behavior
as usual, i overdo preventative maintenance here too.. i pre-emptively swap out
the AGM battery in Cindy's T&C every 2 years
(i then use it on one of my Solar charging systems, which i use to power various 12 volt stuff
at halloween and the rest of the year use for charging cell phones tablets and 5 volt portable packs
Research my friend... research!
Optima batteries used to be made in the USA and were one of the best AGM batteries on the market with an average lifespan of around 10 years or so. Then production moved to Mexico and quality dropped along with getting the added "feature" of dying without any warning. The better batteries cost more, but don't show such behavior and back it up with a 2, 5 or even a 7 year warranty.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I use my 8X on Battery only and then when I have access to my charger I use the A.C. power.
For those of you that use battery, do you do memory Backups on battery only power? I don't, even if I know my battery is charged. The "Export" of all the UPG's on an 8X takes a little time. With my luck, I would lose battery power some how (Murphy's law) in the middle of a download -- That wouldn't be good.
For those of you that use battery, do you do memory Backups on battery only power? I don't, even if I know my battery is charged. The "Export" of all the UPG's on an 8X takes a little time. With my luck, I would lose battery power some how (Murphy's law) in the middle of a download -- That wouldn't be good.
Well, you mention a good point. If you are doing ANY kind of restore or backup operation, make as sure as possible that you have a full battery or are running on AC (though I always say to never do both at the same time). Having a battery die in the middle of a restore is almost a guarantee of you needing to reset everything back to factory and then adding back any special programming you may have.
Jerry, I think you meant this relative to charging the battery. As you mentioned in a previous post not be "Charging" the battery and "Power" on at the same time. It is a large current load and can destroy the power circuit board.
In normal operation when you plug in the AC adapter, the 8X automatically switches from battery to AC converted (DC) power.
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