[dewar]

Can anyone quantify the loss of longevity to SLA batteries if one forgets to turn off ones amp for a day, or three?

cheers

B.

[denjo]

Deep draining practically killed my SLA battery! Now it does not hold a charge for long! 

Best Regards
Dennis

[Vinnie R.]

Can anyone quantify the loss of longevity to SLA batteries if one forgets to turn off ones amp for a day, or three?

cheers

B.

Hi dewar,

In general, deep-cycling an SLA battery will significantly reduce its lifespan. 

When a 12V SLA battery voltage drops to 10.5V, this is considered as 100% DOD (Depth of Discharge) and I never recommend discharging the battery below 12V. 

When you ask what will happen as the amp is left on for 1 day, 2 days, etc... it depends on the capacity of the battery and the load. 

Careful charging habits are very important.  When you are finished playing, flip the switch and let the battery charge.  Don't play longer than the recommended play time (depends on the product, the size of the battery in the product, etc).  Other than that, it is really simple. 

Best regards,

Vinnie

[zeke]

Hello Vinnie

another related question if i may .......

how long will a fully charged sla battery hold charge if disconnected from power ?

is this detrimental to the life of the sla battery ?

for example --- if i disconnect the power supply, and 3 or 4 days later take the sig 30 to a friends house for a listen ------   is this "hard" on the sla battery(s) ?

[Vinnie R.]

Hello Vinnie

another related question if i may .......

how long will a fully charged sla battery hold charge if disconnected from power ?

is this detrimental to the life of the sla battery ?

for example --- if i disconnect the power supply, and 3 or 4 days later take the sig 30 to a friends house for a listen ------   is this "hard" on the sla battery(s) ?

Hi Zeke,

Good question:

If you fully charge an SLA battery and disconnect it from a load, it will be fine but I recommend that you "top it off" after6 months of not using it. 

for example --- if i disconnect the power supply, and 3 or 4 days later take the sig 30 to a friends house for a listen ------   is this "hard" on the sla battery(s) ?

This is totally fine.  Just remember... if you are going to store your amplifier or not use it for a while, fully charge it and disconnect the charger from the charger jack on the back panel of the amplifier.  Top it off after 6 months of not using it.

If you do this, the batteries will not be harmed at all.

Best regards,

Vinnie

[bgavinski]

All,

Is the shortening of battery life the only symptom of dying SLAs in the Olive and Sig 30? Is there a degradation is sound quality as the battery dies? (Am I hearing things?)

BG
 

[Vinnie R.]

All,

Is the shortening of battery life the only symptom of dying SLAs in the Olive and Sig 30? Is there a degradation is sound quality as the battery dies? (Am I hearing things?)

BG
 

Hi BG,

With the modded Olive, if the voltage gets too low, the unit will probably just stop operating.  The sound quality will not change.  If the voltage were to ever get this low, it is safe to say that it is time to replace that battery.  You never want to play longer than the specified play time.

With the Sig 30, if the voltage drops low, you'll hear clipping (if the volume is up loud enough) and the voltage rails drops lower and lower.  If it gets very low, you can expect the sound to cut out.  You may even also hear some strange sounds (like a loud high freq noise) as the chipset is no longer operating in the specified voltage range, so it isn't properly amplifying. 

As always, avoid deep discharging!


AN EASY WAY TO TEST THE VOLTAGE

On the back of the 1000mA charger than comes with the Sig 30, you'll see a (+) and (-) screw terminal (where the charger cord is connected).  You need a voltmeter (a digital multimeter has the option to measure DC volts).  After playing music for a while, unplug the charger from the AC outlet.  It should still be plugged into your Sig 30.  Measure the voltage across the charger's + and - terminals immediately as you flip the switch on the amp to OFF (charge)... the battery voltage (of the two 12V batteries connected in parallel) will now show across the charger terminals.  This voltage should not be lower than 12V...even after listening to the amplifier all day. 

If you don't have the 1000mA charger with the exposed (+) and (-) terminals, you can measure across the charger jack's center pin (+) and a GND... such as the RCA jacks outer conductor.  Again, you need to measure this immediately as you flip the switch on the amp (or Olive) to OFF (charge).  If measuring it this way, be careful not to accidentally short out the charger jack's center pin to GND. 

BTW, if you don't measure the voltage immediately, the unloaded battery's voltage ("open circuit voltage) will begin to rise quickly and this will give you a false reading.

Best regards,

Vinnie

[bgavinski]

Vinnie,

Thanks for the info on care and feeding. It sounds like periodic testing with a multimeter would be  a good idea.

BG