Radio Mic Batteries

[Ynot]

I voted "before every show" but that is for one off corporate events not theatre type shows, I dont often have any involvment with such, but when I do I would certainly not risk my reputation for £2 worth of battery.

 

In the case of venues that use large numbers of batteries and replace them frequently I would hope that the many nearly new batteries resulting are not wasted but given away to someone who wants them.

With respect, the, yours is perhaps indeed one that might queer the result a littel.

You're right and proper that changing before every 'show' in the corporate world is necessary. a) because you may not be working with 'performers' on a nightly/daily basis and b) there's a chance that some 'shows' may last significantly longer between when you hand the mic out and take it back in and c) as you say, you're not working with nearly as many mics/batteries.

 

We can use up to 14 mics in our venue, and the vast majority of companies are am-dram with limited budgets. Therefore any reductions on costs, however small, are appreciated. However I wouldn't be happy compromising the performance if I felt as an experienced tech that batteries weren't being changed JUST on the basis of cost. But as I KNOW that our kit will easily get 2 shows or more out of the batts, I have absolutely no worries on doing so.

[Rob_Beech]

Did you think (like me at first) that Zaxcom were a brand of battery?

I have actually heard the name before and its association, but had fogotten what it was and on the subject of batteries I did indeed assume it was a manufacturer of batteries.

 

Clearly not broken through just yet.

[soundo26]

I do mainly corporate & events which are usually whole day jobs and I work with the premise that a battery change will last a minimum of 6-7 hours so for the main lapels I change before each show. The handhelds and standby mics get much less usage so depending on that they get changed ad-hoc. We use mainly Sony mics which have in-built timers which you can re-set when you change batteries, so provided that you remember to do this you get to know exactly how much usage the batteries have had.

 

I use Procell alkalines, don't like using rechargeables as they don't last as long and drop much quicker. I can however see the use for these in a theatre situation where the performance time is much shorter and they can easily be recharged between those performances but don't trust them in longer usage situations for the reasons given above.

 

On a side note, is anyone aware of any re-cycling schemes where a collection box is supplied where the used batteries can be collected for recycling as we (as an industry)tend to throw away loads of batteries after shows which should really be disposed of properly due to the heavy chemicals in them!

[cedd]

On a side note, is anyone aware of any re-cycling schemes where a collection box is supplied where the used batteries can be collected for recycling as we (as an industry)tend to throw away loads of batteries after shows which should really be disposed of properly due to the heavy chemicals in them!

I tend to recycle mine to cast members. They still do fine for mp3 players and the like.

My SK2012's won't quite hack 2 performances comfortably enough for me to be happy, so they're a new set per show (three AAA's - can be quite costly when you add it up). I'm not quite confident enough with the metering on my JTS receivers to trust them, but I can normally get 2 shows quite happily out of them. The metering seems to be very dependent on signal strength and you often have to second guess where a performer is before you trust their battery level. On stage seems fine, backstage and the level drops of along with the RF level.

 

I personally go for the GK alkaline's from CPC, and tend to buy in bulk whenever they end up on special order. I have used duracell procell's but had a dodgy battery lead to dropout on more than one occasion. Never had it with the GP's.

I've currently got a load of panasonic batteries - not my choice but a friend who borrowed my mics thought he'd pay me back for the favour by including 2 boxes of 40 AAA's in the returned flightcase - very nice of him!

[Silvershads]

I tried one of the suggestions here, last night. OOPS! Although the Shure radio unit said the battery was fine when we started the evening, by the time we were half way through, I had to stop to replace the batteries! :(

 

I'm going back to the old "new batteries every show" process! :D

 

Cheers

Chris

[JMackenzie]

I like to use rechargeable NiMH (2700mahr)AA 's in my EW100 g2's , 1500mahr AAA's for my SK2012's,for everyday use, and for Show rehearsals/soundchecks. I always put Procell Alkalines in for each night of a show.

I have tested these rechargeables batteries out, just leaving the transmitter on until they run out. That seems to take about 8 hrs. What I dont know is whether the lower voltage I am running on has any other effects, such as reducing signal strength or Quality of Audio. I would welcome any opinions on that !! I dont like starting a 3 hour show on two bars! I much prefer the security of a new Procell set.

I do the same with my condensors, unless running on phantom power.

It seems to me that we could save a whole load of environmental/disposal problems if these gadgets were designed to run on rechargeables, at the lower voltage. I can always make use of the "half full "batteries in other gadgets, like torches , multimeters etc. I never know what to do with them at the end of their lives, they normally go in the bin, but I do feel a bit uneasy about doing that.

[drsound]

I think a more relevant question might be "What safety factor do you allow before replacing batteries?" since the regime will be determined by the duration and importance of the show, the budget and maybe also the conscientiousness of the operators if you're putting in place a policy for others to follow.

 

Our batteries last 9 - 10 hours depending on use and we allow a safety factor of 1.5 so they're replaced after 6 hours' use. If the show will take them over that time they're replaced beforehand and chucked into a box for use in less critical applications. This allows for the odd less-than-perfect batch that might catch us out and also gives an endless stream of spares for TV remotes and whatnot.

 

Our recommendation to all dry hirers is to replace them prior to the show and use the old ones for rehearsals. This is mainly because they will often refuse to buy Procells and stick with standard Duracell or something similar 'to save money'.

 

Procells are fine batteries and one thing you are paying for is consistency of lifespan between batches. You'll find cheapie budget brands that might offer better value for money but I'm probably not the only one to have opened a new pack of batteries at home that have either been DOA or only lived a short time.

 

Just one more thing... I never, never take anyone else's word for how much use the batteries have had. Unless I witnessed them going in and know how much use they've had I assume they're at the end of their life. I'm not risking an irate client just because the work experience boy forgot to turn a mic off.

[Ynot]

I tried one of the suggestions here, last night. OOPS! Although the Shure radio unit said the battery was fine when we started the evening, by the time we were half way through, I had to stop to replace the batteries! :D

Well, that goes back to part of my first response here - it all depends on the tools/mics being used.

 

We're never going to get like for like comparison between different sets of mic transmitters for very obvious reasons. Similarly there is a world of difference between theatre and corporate gigs. However, there does seem to be a trend of EW users, G2 in particular, who agree that 2 theatre shows per set of batts is more than achievable.

 

I base my own opinions on having used radio mics for over 20 years, and the EW series for getting on 15. And in all those years I've never failed to see 2 shows out with either 9v or AAs, assuming the batteries were good to start. There have been the odd 'bad' batt, but too few to mention - and a bad batt can rear up ten mins into a show or half way through day 2, so that's academic.

[Bobbsy]

Ynot's point is spot on. It's fairly useless to have a flat "new battery always" or "two shows always" rule unless you know exactly what to expect of the gear you use.

 

It's not brain surgery to test a transmitter/battery combination "to the death" a few times. If your experience is anything like mine, the battery life you see will be very similar every time. Once you have this information, you can make an informed choice based on the type of show you're doing. As I said earlier, I treat unpredictable corporate stuff very differently to 60 or 70 performances of the same panto.

 

...one caveat on the above: stick to the same brand of battery and don't assume that other manufacturers will perform the same.

 

Bob

[waster]

Does anyone have any expereince of using the sennheiser rechargable battery packs?

[Ynot]

Does anyone have any expereince of using the sennheiser rechargable battery packs?

Not personally, but that's really a bit off topic on this thread...

As are discussions on rechargeable batts in any way, to be frank.

[Pyramid]

This is mainly because they will often refuse to buy Procells and stick with standard Duracell or something similar 'to save money'.

 

I may be wrong but I am sure that I read somewhere, years ago that Procell are the same as Duracell batteries. Procell just have different packaging for commercial use to make them less attractive to nasty thieves.

 

In my experience Procell are normally not as expensive as 'consumer' Duracell as there is less packaging, sold more in bulk etc.

 

Andy

 

PS Found it now:

 

PROCELL© Batteries are dependable, long-lasting Duracell Batteries that are specially labelled and packaged for end users and distributors in the professional/industrial market place. They are manufactured to the same high standards as the famous 'Copper and Black' products.

 

PROCELL© Batteries are not available in any high street outlet and are available exclusively to industrial users.

[neilalexrose]

The touring musical I was on last year we had to use one set of batteries to do 2 shows. The production manager simply refused to spend the money on new batteries for every show. Kit was sennheiser SK50s with duracell procell AA's. The procells would last for give or take around 8 hours (I did some tests during tech rehearsals where performance wasn't as vital and the mics were constantly on), which on a 3 hour show with mics dished out from an hour before the show, was pushing it quite a bit.

I flatly refused to send the leading characters on without new batteries in, and as most of the chorus didn't say or sing anything after a certain point in act 2 (About 1/2 hour before the end), I was able to get away with some stock rotation, whereby the leading 12 characters got new batteries every show, and the remaining 12 chorus packs got the half used batteries from the leading characters packs from the show before. Bit of a long winded turnaround in between shows on matinee days, but it worked well. I never had to change the leading man or leading lady's batteries, and the chorus packs that did sometimes run out, were not vital so that I could just mute at the receiver until the next show.

 

I've also used the same system on two pantos. There's no way I'm sending someone to interrupt a dames quick change because of battery failure!

 

Neil

[mr_towers]

Very big shows - Change before performance. As has been said, ruining a show for thousands of people (and loosing thousands of potential pounds) for the sake of a battery is pointless. Normally use the UHF/UHF-R big pack, with procells.

 

Smaller shows/am dram, I tend to do every 2 shows (EW300s, with Procells).

 

Gigs, normally make an assesment on the day. All depends really!

 

Completely dead batteries end up in a persil tablet bag and are recycled, barely used ones end up in my electric toothbrush :D (or maglite, depending how things are going)

[jonr]

Did a show in January and was running only 4 radio mics. Managed to get 5 shows out of them and they still had life left in them! :)

I was using some Trantec headsets powered by 9v batteries. (Can't remeber what model as we hired in)

 

I a show last October using 16 radio mics. They had to have them changed each night, some every other night. They were Sennhesier digital ones I think and agin with headsets powered by 9v's.

 

From my expereince never, ever use rechanrable batteries beacuase they never work properly even when they say their fully charged.

 

Generally it depends on which mics they are to how often you need to change them.

 

Forgot to add that the battereis for both were your standard Duaracell ones :)