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Lithium rechargeable practical uses

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Ventura

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single cell Lithium Ion batteries are nominal 3.7 Volts,
when fully freshly charged can be as high as 4.2 volts for a brief period of use

they are becoming more available in common sizes both as Button Top
and as Flat top individual cells for making battery packs

one way i have used these is to retrofit a small, portable PA system i
put together many years ago. Housed in a Bell and Howell Mash unit
cabinet with a battery powered Amplifier. I use this for Vocals, and have
a Wireless Mic, a TC harmonics Reverb, and the Amp built into the cabinet
powering a co-ax 12" Wolverine electrovoice speaker
I use 3 LiPo cells filtered through a 9 Volt voltage regulator for the Reverb and Power amp
2 LiPo cells with a 5 Volt regulator for the Wireless reciever
one LiPo cell in the hand held Vocal Mic

LiPo are a power reservoir many times beyond earlier battery tech,
and they hold their charge much better between gigs, so i can breeze through
hours and hours of use without swapping out batteries and with peace of mind..
(though i still bring spare cells, i leave them in the Van with the extra cables and such)

in the FR4 i also use 8 LiPo AA imitation cells VS the original 10 NiMh AA cells
the accordion was designed for, and am happy with their performance and reliability

i will probably retrofit some of my Mic systems to use LiPo, now that i have
lots of extra cells and holders and chargers. Modern chargers can regulate and
recharge up to 10 LiPo batteries at a time, of varying capacity, without any noticeable
excess heat (as is common with NiMh batteries while charging) Some LiPo chargers
just use any 5 volt common power source (the same as your Cell phone uses)
Most LiPo batteries are chubby compared to AA, but not as fat as a C cell, while
they come in several different lengths.. 18650 is the most common size, 18500
is also popular as it is the same length as aa or aaa, (but fatter of course) and so with
a sleeve one LiPo 18500 can handily replace a 3 cell AAA battery pack in your little
LED flashlight and save you money while doing a better job. 18500 is common
in many outdoor Solar lighting devices of recent design

some of the new Wireless Audio systems, while you can easily swap out the
button top LiPo battery, also have a micro USB charging port built in so
you can leave the battery in for easy recharge.

i feel LiPo tech is maturing nicely

just sayin'
 
for Tom

yes, you just buy a couple 8 cell battery holders from Amazon


that deal is cool because they give you a couple extra snaps, which the wires
on the snap in the FR4/fr3 battery compartment are thin and you might pull one off
someday, it's good to have a spare ready to go anyhow (do you have a soldering iron ?)


it is just a MOLEX 4 pin, you can also salvage one off of a dead Computer Power supply,
then solder the snap and molex the same as your original, which is easy, then
after use a Voltmeter to MAKE SURE YOU GOT THE POLARITY RIGHT

lol


i got these last time, they go on serious sale occasionally, there are
other brands and combinations too

each LiPo aa simulator cell is 1.5 Volts
each NiMh cell is 1.2 volts
thats why you need 10 (factory holder) = 12 volts
while
8 (LiPo holder) = 12 volts


i got deleepow the first time, also because of a sale

this is the key reason: NiMh cells can drop voltage significantly as
they deplete, weaker cells can lower the total voltage of a pack of 10
below the THRESHOLD voltage the Rolands (think) they need, and so
the battery death light flashes and the accordion turns itself off

these LiPo aa simulators hold their voltage at 1.5 each cell until nearly depleted,
and so the practical result is, the Roland will run a lot longer even if the
cells are equal on paper (2600 MaH) because of the NiMh voltage drop gotcha
 
Ventura said:
for Tom

yes, you just buy a couple 8 cell battery holders from Amazon


that deal is cool because they give you a couple extra snaps, which the wires
on the snap in the FR4/fr3 battery compartment are thin and you might pull one off
someday, it's good to have a spare ready to go anyhow (do you have a soldering iron ?)


it is just a MOLEX 4 pin, you can also salvage one off of a dead Computer Power supply,
then solder the snap and molex the same as your original, which is easy, then
after use a Voltmeter to MAKE SURE YOU GOT THE POLARITY RIGHT

lol


i got these last time, they go on serious sale occasionally, there are
other brands and combinations too

each LiPo aa simulator cell is 1.5 Volts
each NiMh cell is 1.2 volts
thats why you need 10 (factory holder) = 12 volts
while
8 (LiPo holder) = 12 volts


i got deleepow the first time, also because of a sale

this is the key reason: NiMh cells can drop voltage significantly as
they deplete, weaker cells can lower the total voltage of a pack of 10
below the THRESHOLD voltage the Rolands (think) they need, and so
the battery death light flashes and the accordion turns itself off

these LiPo aa simulators hold their voltage at 1.5 each cell until nearly depleted,
and so the practical result is, the Roland will run a lot longer even if the
cells are equal on paper (2600 MaH) because of the NiMh voltage drop gotcha
Click to expand...
Wow, thanks Ventura! Does this holder fit, and replace the one in the fr4x directly (the first one, with 8 batteries)? Even though the accordion says “do not use carbon, alkaline or lithium batteries”?
 
yes it fits directly.. as you see it has 2 less battery spaces
so it is 80% as long as the original 10 space holder

i have extra thin velcro i loop around it so it is easy
to pull back out, similar to the original

carbon, alkaline, and (non-rechargeable) lithium AA batteries are also 1.5 volt

you could use them in an 8 battery holder, but that is cost prohibitive,

12 volts is 12 volts.. doesn't matter where it comes from.. you
could hotwire a car battery to anything that takes 12 volts to run
same as you can put (8) eight 1.5 volt batteries together = 12 volts
in an emergency anything will do as long as you do not exceed 12 volts

since the original battery holder has 10 spaces for 10 batteries, people
like those Photographers might stick (10) 1.5 volt cells in there anyway and end up with
1.5 x 10 = 15 Volts so Roland says “do not use..." because they have me to explain it in detail

NiMh cells are 1.2 volts each,
Carbon, Alkaline, Lithium and virtual AA rechargeable cells are 1.5 Volts each
 
I’ve been telling anyone who would listen about the dangers of overvoltage caused by alkaline, etc., cells. I’ve also, from practical experience, told people about a failing NiMh cell or two in a pack of ten causing a 4x to lock up and what to do about it. The problem is that not all “frozen” 4x accordions exhibit the same set of symptoms and that recovery time after removing all power from the 4x can vary from minutes to days.

As new battery technologies emerge, it’s very important to read up on each one’s characteristics before using them in a V-accordion.

Thanks, Ventura!
 
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