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Author Topic: Line Six battery life decline  (Read 5439 times)

Stephen Swaffer

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Line Six battery life decline
« on: December 11, 2013, 11:01:23 AM »

About a year and a half ago we purchased 5 Line Six XD75 Transmitters and matching receivers.  We have been happy with them-really like the feature that allows me to "lock" the transmitter on so a vocalist can't shut it off on me.

They have a battery meter that gives time remaining-obviously a guideline and not a hard timer, my rule of thumb has been anything under 3 hours for 90 min event is a no go.  When we first got these, battery life always started at 8 hours-and was usually very accurate.  For the last several months this has been erratic-more so on some mics than others.  By that I mean starting at 8 hours or maybe 7 hrs 20 min (timers increment at 20 min intervals)-and at times showing little or no time remaining after only 4 to 5 hours.

More frequent battery changes are annoying and nickels and dimes do add up, but my main concern is the change in performance.  I am starting to lose confidence in a mic lasting through a 3 or 4 hours event.  Mic has 2 power settings-all are still set on low power.  Batteries have always been Procells or recently Ray-o-Vac Pros due to a supplier having stocking issues-but battery type doesn't seem to affect things-and I have more than one mic that is being erratic.

Any thoughts as to what could be affecting things?  Anyone else facing similar issues? 
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: Line Six battery life decline
« Reply #1 on: December 11, 2013, 11:59:14 AM »

About a year and a half ago we purchased 5 Line Six XD75 Transmitters and matching receivers.  We have been happy with them-really like the feature that allows me to "lock" the transmitter on so a vocalist can't shut it off on me.

They have a battery meter that gives time remaining-obviously a guideline and not a hard timer, my rule of thumb has been anything under 3 hours for 90 min event is a no go.  When we first got these, battery life always started at 8 hours-and was usually very accurate.  For the last several months this has been erratic-more so on some mics than others.  By that I mean starting at 8 hours or maybe 7 hrs 20 min (timers increment at 20 min intervals)-and at times showing little or no time remaining after only 4 to 5 hours.

More frequent battery changes are annoying and nickels and dimes do add up, but my main concern is the change in performance.  I am starting to lose confidence in a mic lasting through a 3 or 4 hours event.  Mic has 2 power settings-all are still set on low power.  Batteries have always been Procells or recently Ray-o-Vac Pros due to a supplier having stocking issues-but battery type doesn't seem to affect things-and I have more than one mic that is being erratic.

Any thoughts as to what could be affecting things?  Anyone else facing similar issues?

What does Line6 say?  Don Boomer is pretty good about returning phone calls and emails...
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Re: Line Six battery life decline
« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2013, 01:45:40 PM »

What does Line6 say?  Don Boomer is pretty good about returning phone calls and emails...

Plus there's a "pipeline" from manufacturer to end user.  The flow of goods through the pipeline is not a constant rate, so the freshness of the stock might possibly be an issue.  Changing brands is also suspect.

Are there manufacture dates on the product to tell how long it's been sitting before use?  Get a magnifying glass for the small print...
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Bob Leonard

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Re: Line Six battery life decline
« Reply #3 on: December 11, 2013, 03:31:39 PM »

Some years ago I raced radio control cars nationally for a sponsor with some deep pockets. The cars were battery powered and the battery packs were matched cells and more than $100 each. To compete you needed a minimum of 12 packs. The cars were 1/10 scale NASCAR, worth a couple of grand each, and on the right track would run in excess of 80mph.

The whole point here is that I learned how to care for rechargeable batteries from experts. The one point that was made over and over was simply this. Run the battery until fully discharged, then when ready to be used, fully charge the battery. All rechargeable batteries will develop a "memory" caused by a crystallization which occurs over time. eventually the cells will only charge to their last highest charge, which in your case is being measured by time.

There are specialized pulse chargers available which can fix the problem with a couple of charges and discharges of the battery. I haven't used one in years, but I know they still exist. You might try one on your batteries.
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TJ (Tom) Cornish

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Re: Line Six battery life decline
« Reply #4 on: December 11, 2013, 03:51:27 PM »

Some years ago I raced radio control cars nationally for a sponsor with some deep pockets. The cars were battery powered and the battery packs were matched cells and more than $100 each. To compete you needed a minimum of 12 packs. The cars were 1/10 scale NASCAR, worth a couple of grand each, and on the right track would run in excess of 80mph.

The whole point here is that I learned how to care for rechargeable batteries from experts. The one point that was made over and over was simply this. Run the battery until fully discharged, then when ready to be used, fully charge the battery. All rechargeable batteries will develop a "memory" caused by a crystallization which occurs over time. eventually the cells will only charge to their last highest charge, which in your case is being measured by time.

There are specialized pulse chargers available which can fix the problem with a couple of charges and discharges of the battery. I haven't used one in years, but I know they still exist. You might try one on your batteries.
I think he's referring to standard batteries - not rechargeable.
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TJ (Tom) Cornish

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Re: Line Six battery life decline
« Reply #5 on: December 11, 2013, 03:55:05 PM »

About a year and a half ago we purchased 5 Line Six XD75 Transmitters and matching receivers.  We have been happy with them-really like the feature that allows me to "lock" the transmitter on so a vocalist can't shut it off on me.

They have a battery meter that gives time remaining-obviously a guideline and not a hard timer, my rule of thumb has been anything under 3 hours for 90 min event is a no go.  When we first got these, battery life always started at 8 hours-and was usually very accurate.  For the last several months this has been erratic-more so on some mics than others.  By that I mean starting at 8 hours or maybe 7 hrs 20 min (timers increment at 20 min intervals)-and at times showing little or no time remaining after only 4 to 5 hours.

More frequent battery changes are annoying and nickels and dimes do add up, but my main concern is the change in performance.  I am starting to lose confidence in a mic lasting through a 3 or 4 hours event.  Mic has 2 power settings-all are still set on low power.  Batteries have always been Procells or recently Ray-o-Vac Pros due to a supplier having stocking issues-but battery type doesn't seem to affect things-and I have more than one mic that is being erratic.

Any thoughts as to what could be affecting things?  Anyone else facing similar issues?
I have had similar issues with mine, though I haven't necessarily observed the behavior changing over time.  I think it was a questionable decision on Line6's part to put any kind of time indicator on the mics - most other manufacturers use bars or percent, which is probably no more or less accurate than the Line6 meters, but doesn't over-promise.

For a 3-hour meeting with any wireless system, I'd put new batteries in.  Normally mine are used for 1 1/2 hours or so each, so I replace every 2 shows or so, just to be safe.

It does seem that the clock moves a little slower as it gets closer to zero - you may have the same usable life left, but perhaps the voltage reference is just a hair off, and is reading cell voltages a little lower than previously.  You may want to do a rundown test and see what life you can actually get.
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Brian Jojade

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Re: Line Six battery life decline
« Reply #6 on: December 11, 2013, 04:23:14 PM »

The concern I see is that the behavior of the device appears to have changed.  If you were using rechargeable batteries, it could easily be explained that the batteries are wearing out.  But since you're using regular batteries, something else has to be the culprit.  It could be that the batteries are somehow different now than they were a year ago, but that seems fairly unlikely.  That points to something different in the mic itself.

It could be that over time, some components inside the mic have deteriorated in some way, thus becoming less power efficient.  The other scenario is that the time indicator never really was accurate to begin with, and you're just noticing it now after more careful observation.  Calculating remaining time on a battery without knowing the exact make and condition of the battery to start with is at best a guessing game.  It's never going to be extremely accurate.
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Brian Jojade

Tim McCulloch

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Re: Line Six battery life decline
« Reply #7 on: December 11, 2013, 05:46:38 PM »

The concern I see is that the behavior of the device appears to have changed.  If you were using rechargeable batteries, it could easily be explained that the batteries are wearing out.  But since you're using regular batteries, something else has to be the culprit.  It could be that the batteries are somehow different now than they were a year ago, but that seems fairly unlikely.  That points to something different in the mic itself.

It could be that over time, some components inside the mic have deteriorated in some way, thus becoming less power efficient.  The other scenario is that the time indicator never really was accurate to begin with, and you're just noticing it now after more careful observation.  Calculating remaining time on a battery without knowing the exact make and condition of the battery to start with is at best a guessing game.  It's never going to be extremely accurate.

That is my take, too... that Stephen has seen all of the units changed, and in a relatively uniform fashion.
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Cameron Stuckey

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Re: Line Six battery life decline
« Reply #8 on: December 11, 2013, 06:39:59 PM »

Run the battery until fully discharged, then when ready to be used, fully charge the battery. All rechargeable batteries will develop a "memory" caused by a crystallization which occurs over time. eventually the cells will only charge to their last highest charge, which in your case is being measured by time.

Side-bar: Bob, what was the chemical composition of those rechargeable batteries? I ask because for Lithium-Ion polymer batteries you never actually want to hit 0% or 100% of a charge, they have zero memory. The ideal scenario for polymer battery's longevity is to cycle between 40% and 80%. In fact my Lenovo has battery settings that when plugged into the wall charger will do exactly that and run off of battery power from 80% down to 40% and the recharge back. I've never heard any specific advice for another composition. NiMH, lead acid and NiCd being the other options.
« Last Edit: December 12, 2013, 12:34:20 AM by Cameron Stuckey »
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John Roberts {JR}

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Re: Line Six battery life decline
« Reply #9 on: December 11, 2013, 06:59:42 PM »

Sometimes new batteries suck...

I just bought a pair of those outdoor solar powered night lights that charge up a ni-cad AA cell in the day time then shine a LED lamp part way through the night. One goes dark hours before the other... both new.

JR
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Re: Line Six battery life decline
« Reply #9 on: December 11, 2013, 06:59:42 PM »


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