will using a 9v battery cause my drumkat components to fail

[davejoy2008]

Hello all,please help me know the truth in this matter!
I play an electronic drum controller called a drumkat.It is powered by a plug in
ac adapter rated at 9v 500ma.One day my power supply died and in a pinch i
wired a 9v square battery to the drumkat... it worked perfectly,i used it like
that for a long time (months).Eventually i got tired of seeing the makeshift
battery taped to the Kat and went back to using the company sold ac adapter.
Recently i went on the drumkats user forum and read a post from a guy who
hated the cheap company ac adapters. So i posted my experience using a
common 9v battery and how well it worked....(it never did run down). Well
the owner of the company posted a warning of sorts saying that He would
not recommend doing what i did, because starving a circuit could lead to
premature component failure. IS THIS TRUE?... I should also note that the
company sells a very expensive ($500) portable battery supply to users who
need to use their drumkats Sans ac power...such as football marching bands. So please share your wisdom, is the owner lying to protect his pocket
or is he telling the truth and protecting us from ruining our Drumkat....
Thanks so much.... dave

 

[Ubergeek63]

that's a no brainer once you said he sells a battery for $500-his pocket... unless you are trying to drive a power output there is no problem starving a circuit, it just won't perform as well if at all. Even if you were driving out power a 9V does can not supply enough current to over heat out a power circuit.

The only thing you need to worry about is battery life. Personally I would recommend a set of 3 LiFePO4 batteries, but you might as well use 6 NiMH AAs.

That jerk is begging to have someone come out with a $500 drum system. There's nothing to it!

 

[flat5]

If you are using something like a motorcycle or car battery it would be a good idea to use an inline fuse in series just at the battery. The battery can supply so much current for a short while that there is danger of fire or burning up your Drumkat if something goes very wrong.

 

[davejoy2008]

9v battery type

The battery i was using was a square 9v like those used in a transistor radio.
(I know nothing about electronics myself so i appreciate your answering
my basic questions). The main reason i suspected the owners answer was
bogus,was because if using a battery would starve a circuit when it grew
weak,causing premature component failure,then would'nt that be the same
problem for any battery operated electronic device?...Please help me get this,
If the factory ac adapter is rated at 9v 500 ma.and i'm substituting a 9v dc
battery... would it matter what the current output of the 9v dc was?. in other
words does it put out 500ma?.Put another way,could my Drumkat require
a steady current output greater then a 9v transister battery is capable of
supplying (even when fresh),thus starving the circuit? How would i know?
Since the Drumkat worked perfectly for months on that 9v battery is that
the proof i need that it's safe to use? If the Drumkat is receiving adequate
power from the battery,then is the only other issue that matters as far as
i should be concerned is the length of time it will power my unit?
thank you again for you time and my gain from all your expertise!!!
DAVE.

 

[audioguru]

The circuit works perfectly for months from a weak little 9V battery. Then the current is only a few mA.
The factory used a 500mA adapter because it is common and cheap.

The 9V battery could cause the circuit to blow up if the battery is accidently installed backwards.

 

[Mikebits]

Hello all,please help me know the truth in this matter!
I play an electronic drum controller called a drumkat.It is powered by a plug in
ac adapter rated at 9v 500ma.One day my power supply died and in a pinch i
wired a 9v square battery to the drumkat... it worked perfectly,i used it like
that for a long time (months).Eventually i got tired of seeing the makeshift
battery taped to the Kat and went back to using the company sold ac adapter.
Recently i went on the drumkats user forum and read a post from a guy who
hated the cheap company ac adapters. So i posted my experience using a
common 9v battery and how well it worked....(it never did run down). Well
the owner of the company posted a warning of sorts saying that He would
not recommend doing what i did, because starving a circuit could lead to
premature component failure. IS THIS TRUE?... I should also note that the
company sells a very expensive ($500) portable battery supply to users who
need to use their drumkats Sans ac power...such as football marching bands. So please share your wisdom, is the owner lying to protect his pocket
or is he telling the truth and protecting us from ruining our Drumkat....
Thanks so much.... dave

Could you post the link where the owner told you this?

 

[davejoy2008]

The owner of Drumkat and moderators site

The company name is "alternate mode".click forum icon....my post appears
under "general discussion of Kat percussion products"....my post was
"dk-10 powered by a 9v battery" This should be interesting!
Dave.

 

[Mikebits]

Okay, I found the link.
**broken link removed**

 

[Ubergeek63]

Okay, I found the link.
**broken link removed**

shall we beat him up for being a money grubbing lier?

 

[Ubergeek63]

Okay, I found the link.
**broken link removed**

MarioKat: administrator and Kat Deity? sounds more like a brain dead shill to me!

 

[flat5]

"I would not recommend starving the circuit board. This will eventually lead to component failure"

More technical explanation: The circuit starts to eat itself, after awhile, it can not perform adequately.

 

[Ubergeek63]

"I would not recommend starving the circuit board. This will eventually lead to component failure"

More technical explanation: The circuit starts to eat itself, after awhile, it can not perform adequately.

perhaps, but the fact remains that it is not the way things happen in electronics, even if it is a realistic statement for biology where muscles are sacrificed for the sake of the organism.

 

[picbits]

If the kit was performing an eeprom update or write at the time the battery died then it could cause permanent damage (albeit software related).

On the other hand, if you had a power cut during an eeprom write then you could say the same thing ...........

I think he's talking out of his back bottom.

 

[audioguru]

I think he is talking about a dead battery leaking its chemicals all over the circuit.

 

[Hero999]

If the battery is external and a large enough distance away then leakage won't be a problem.

 

[RadioRon]

Is it possible that the product uses a switching voltage converter and that input current at 9V is reasonable, but as voltage drops very low the input current goes up so much that he is afraid it will damage some series element in or before the switcher? Is this what is meant by "starving"?

 

[Hero999]

It's possible but I think it's total nonsense, the same thing would happen during a brownout.

I think he just wants to make more money from selling an overpriced battery holder.

 

[RadioRon]

Yes, I agree that is most likely. I have not heard the term "starve" used in this context before.