9-volt battery question

Greg Vincent · Post by **Greg Vincent** » 7 Feb 2003 9:15 am

Hi folks!

I was wondering if anyone has had this experience before:

My Boss TU-12H tuner was giving me erratic indications, so I pulled out the battery and did the ol' tongue-test to check it. It "zinged" me real good so I figured the battery was OK. Just to be sure I put a new battery in there and the tuner worked great.
So I'm guessing the first 9V was bad, but I've never gotten a "zing" like that out of a dead or dying battery. The tongue-test has never failed me before!

Is the tongue-test flawed? Or can some 9V batteries actually have power but produce an un-steady flow of it somehow?

-Confused in L.A.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 7 Feb 2003 9:34 am

The TU-12H will test its battery if you press the Pitch button. A blinking red LCD ("C") means OK.
If it blinks when you don't press the pitch button, it means the battery is too low.

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 7 Feb 2003 10:12 am

Maybe the battery contacts were dirty and just taking the old battery out and putting the new one in was enough to clean them.

Paul Osbty · Post by **Paul Osbty** » 7 Feb 2003 10:52 am

Batteries do have different internal resistances. This doesn't change the output voltage but can change the amount of current delivered. I have a clock radio that works the best on a certain brand that it was designed for (and actually noted in the directions).

Another effect is that some batteries will last shorter of longer. See if the manufacturer does specify a certain brand and try it. If the device came with a battery, try another one of those.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 7 Feb 2003 11:36 am

I got tired of buying 9 volt batteries a while back so decided to go the rechargable route. After investing in the batteries and the charger, I discovered that aren't even rated at 9 volts. Something like 8 and 1/2 volts or something like that. Maybe it doesn't make that much difference, but I went back to the disposable 9 volt models.
Uff-Da!

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 9 Feb 2003 7:15 pm

Could be that the battery would put out 9 volts, but only a a very low current. Good battery checkers have a load in them, and test the battery under actual operating conditions. A voltmeter check only gives you half of the story. Unfortunately, good batteries (Duracells or Energizers) are so cheap today that it's easier to throw them away than it is to bother checking them!

Mark van Allen · Post by **Mark van Allen** » 10 Feb 2003 5:58 pm

Greg, my guess is the "new" battery saw you licking the "old" one and figured it had better put out if it didn't want the same treatment...

Lynn Kasdorf · Post by **Lynn Kasdorf** » 10 Feb 2003 6:17 pm

try this: slightly bend the female contacts on the clip and the battery. I give each segment a small twist so that it resembles a saw blade. This will increase the tension on the connection, and scrape away oxides and sometimes correct flaky behavior. I just fixed a wah pedal this way.

It sold on ebay very cheaply, presumably because of the intermittency. 15 seconds with a needlenose and voila!

In my experience, a good tongue zing always means a good battery. A wet tongue seems to load the battery enough to do an accurate test.

You have an intermittent, i bet.

Greg Vincent · Post by **Greg Vincent** » 11 Feb 2003 8:50 am

Thanks everyone --good input! I will try all your suggestions.

-GV

George Kimery · Post by **George Kimery** » 12 Feb 2003 5:14 am

I had a custom made gizmo one time that would only work on an 9 v. alkaline battery, even though you could take a meter and get two batteries the same voltage, only the alkaline would work. Designer warned me about this in advance so it was never a problem.