So I just noted a story over at Pro Sound Web by “The” Church Sound Guy (See Here) and it reminded me… I have something to share about this.
I use rechargeable’s on Tour. AA’s and AAA’s. Not 9V’s, because rechargeable 9v’s aren’t 9v’s, but i’ll go over that in a minute.
Now, you can’t use just any battery… Cheap rechargeable’s are the same as cheap any other batteries, they’re shit. Plain and simple.
What Batteries?
I use NiMH Sanyo Eneloop. Why? Because a friend or two had used them on tour, and loved them. No math can beat a straight recommendation.
Next Step: The Charger
Two important things to look out here for… You’re going to want a charger that’s computer controlled (smart charger) with metering… And also, you want a “refresh” function.
Computer controlled charging will keep you form putting a battery in backwards and frying anything, or a battery being over charged.
The “Refresh” Function is Key. It will do a FULL drain on a battery, and then recharge. This maximizes your rechargeable battery’s life…. I do it once a week.
Use Case
7 weeks of 6/7 nights a week. Thats what I just got done with, and the Batteries preformed flawlessly. I had 32 Batteries, and 8 assorted wireless units (5 x IEMs, 2 x Hand Held RF and 1 x Beltpack RF)… That’s 16 Batteries in the units to run everything, which leaves 16 to charge. Redundancy.
Batteries would last me a show, and a sound check (changing batteries after sound check every day)… The only way a battery would go dead with this schedule is if a unit got left on over night… Period. Keep in mind, this is an hour+ sound check every day, and all together 2 hours show time.
Once a week I’d refresh the batteries… It takes 6+ hours just to fully drain, so make sure you leave time…
Why Not 9V’s?
Typical NiMH battery cells are 1.2 V, rather than an alkaline battery’s cell which is 1.5V… This means that you CAN NOT make a NiMH battery that is truly 9V, and this could cause issues… when something is expensive, I’d rather not stick a wrong voltage battery in it. Oh yea, and Shure says don’t do it.
My Reference
Here’s exactly what I own, and can vouch for.
