LOL!
Indeed Scott, we recharge our worn-out batteries, thus the snoring sound eminating from our vent.... and don't you even try to turn that into something dirty in reference to eating beans or burritos!
I remember, long long time ago, I used to have AudioSource (? not sure the model) amplifier, which I used to power the open baffle subwoofer. Amp had the feature to go to standby on its own if not audio signal received. Useful feature. I never bother to turn it off for years. I used open baffle Lowthers that time powered by Son of Zen by Nelson. I need to build that amp again, it was magical.
You'd be surprised at some of those subwoofer amps, particularly the ones using a power transformer, not those crappy SMPS types.
Because even in standby, not activated, those transformer-powered amps are drawing something in the 50 Watt range!
It's like leaving an incandescent lamp on all the time!
Screw that!
So....
What I did was......
I built a "secondary" standby board with a tiny transformer/IC/etc, (2 to 3 watt) to power a relay used as a "kill switch".
It's triggered the same way (sound/audio activated) to turn on the sub system.
This neat little addition came about from Rob Elliot's website, he's got loads of cool things to build to make people happy. (Project 38)
Thanks Rob!
I'd rather it draw 3 watts than 50 watts when not in use.... wouldn't you?
Because even in standby, not activated, those transformer-powered amps are drawing something in the 50 Watt range!
It's like leaving an incandescent lamp on all the time!
Screw that!
So....
What I did was......
I built a "secondary" standby board with a tiny transformer/IC/etc, (2 to 3 watt) to power a relay used as a "kill switch".
It's triggered the same way (sound/audio activated) to turn on the sub system.
This neat little addition came about from Rob Elliot's website, he's got loads of cool things to build to make people happy. (Project 38)
Thanks Rob!
I'd rather it draw 3 watts than 50 watts when not in use.... wouldn't you?
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You chose a very poor and quite unrelated example here.
Hair thin tungsten wires, heated as close as possible to *melting* temperature are not a very good representation of any Electronic component.
Not even tube filaments, go figure, and to boot those wear out by the minute, not good leaving them needlessly on.
yet leaving them on the charger 24/7 is actually very damaging to them, go figure, and manufacturers strongly recommend against it.
again, MECHANICAL devices and with a HUGE working-to-stopped temperature differential.
Did I say unrelated to what we are talking about?
Yes, mechanical devices again, with contacts subject to pitting.
Anyway , suppose they have 3000 cycle life and I turn them ON-OFF every day: 8 years life.
Turning them ON-OFF once a Month: 250 YEARS life.
You are right, you convinced me, I´ll turn my amp OFF-ON once a Month, clear advantages here.
I was working on a low voltage valve headphone amp.
The B+ was 12 volts.
It was struggling to work that low.
So I increased the B+ from 12 volts to 30 volts.
I then noticed very bright heater !
I had forgotten the heater was also 12 volts off the same supply.
Luckily the heater survived the 30v shock.
The B+ was 12 volts.
It was struggling to work that low.
So I increased the B+ from 12 volts to 30 volts.
I then noticed very bright heater !
I had forgotten the heater was also 12 volts off the same supply.
Luckily the heater survived the 30v shock.
Looking in Varta application notes and the manual of my partner's electric bicycle, I see that it is recommended to store lithium batteries about half charged rather than fully charged. That means that for equipment that is often used on mains power but that also has a lithium battery, it would be very useful if it had a half charge feature: normally the charging electronics continually keep the batteries fully or almost fully charged, but you might as well add a user-selectable mode that keeps the charge near 50 % to extend the battery life.
I guess we should first determine what kind of lithium batteries are used and then find out the possible differences in charging regime for Li-ion, Li-poly (LiCoO2 or LiMn2O4), lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (LiNiMnCoO
2) and LiFePO4.
As said before: the cells used in phones are not the same kind of cells as used in electrical vehicles.
2) and LiFePO4.
As said before: the cells used in phones are not the same kind of cells as used in electrical vehicles.
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I'll be honest, there are some real benefits to phones. You know, like being able to take a picture of a part that blew up so I can source a replacement later. I'm also not very good at remembering every single unit conversion factor. Also kind of nice to have a proper scientific calculator in my pocket at all times.
I also like the fact that I can suddenly be productive where I'd otherwise be sitting and waiting, since I can reply to emails.
As for my equipment... I have what I call the six-hour rule for SS power amps. If I'm planning to use it again in the next six hours, leave it on. If not, power it down. That minimizes unnecessary power cycles. For analog mixing consoles I increase that number to 24 hours since the EQ section does tend to drift with temperature on most desks, and it can take many hours for a console to reach operating temperature.
This is only for equipment that I trust, however. I would not leave a Phase Linear 700 or a 1980s Crest amplifier running unattended, for example. Something like an MC2 or early-2000s QSC amp tends to look after itself, however.
Test equipment is a whole different ball game, since there's a lot of gear that won't be accurate until it has properly warmed up.
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What I wrote is for lithium-ion, no idea if it is the same or different for other types of lithium batteries or what the physical or chemical reason is. All Varta CellPac LITE Technical Handbook revision 1.3 says about it is (page 35): "CellPac LITE batteries are shipped in a state of charge of approx. 30-50 % of their full capacity. This enables the best conditions for storage. Where possible, storage under fully charged state (CC/CV 4.2V, 3h) should be avoided to maximize longevity." The battery of my partner's electric bike is also a lithium-ion battery.
Sometimes, occasionally, a thread wanders.
This is actually normal, just like two people discussing something, and the human mind brings to the table some unrelated topic for whatever reason.
I wouldn't get too stressed over it, because usually the topic goes back to its original state.
Patience.
We were discussing the effect of leaving equipment on or switching it on and off or leaving it off permanently on the reliability of the components. Some equipment has built-in lithium-ion batteries, hence the discussion about those. Still, it's indeed getting a bit off topic, as solid-state audio amplifiers do not usually contain any lithium-ion batteries.
LOL!
Can never have too many batteries!
I contacted Energizer Holdings a while back, due to bad batchs of Energizer Max that I purchased. (AA and AAA)
Darn things leaked in a radio, and some even still in the package, only 2 years sitting on a shelf.
They warranty them for "10 years" you know.
So, they sent me 2 coupons, $15.00 each, how nice.
I redeemed them at Lowes for 2 packs of 24 batteries, 1-AA, 1AAA.
Each cost $16.48 - minus my $15.00 coupon. - I paid $1.48+tax........YEE HAWW!
Forty-Eight batteries for about $3!
Can't beat THAT deal!
Can never have too many batteries!
I contacted Energizer Holdings a while back, due to bad batchs of Energizer Max that I purchased. (AA and AAA)
Darn things leaked in a radio, and some even still in the package, only 2 years sitting on a shelf.
They warranty them for "10 years" you know.
So, they sent me 2 coupons, $15.00 each, how nice.
I redeemed them at Lowes for 2 packs of 24 batteries, 1-AA, 1AAA.
Each cost $16.48 - minus my $15.00 coupon. - I paid $1.48+tax........YEE HAWW!
Forty-Eight batteries for about $3!
Can't beat THAT deal!
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