Bottlehead Forum
Bottlehead Kits => Legacy Kit Products => Quickie => Topic started by: jcastellano131514 on June 16, 2013, 12:12:47 PM
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Hi,
I have a quickie 1.1 for some time and I am very satisfied with it. A little time ago, I installed the PJCCS upgrade and I think maybe I have something wrong. I have checked the voltages and it seems ok. The problem is battery drain, I feel very sure that the batts drain faster with the PJCCS than without it. Or the quickie drains more batt if you gear up the volume? I am using a diy phono stage that needs to gear up the volume to get some nice sound. I have tried with a solid state preamp and I do not have to gear up the volume as up as withe the quickie. Can the gain of the quickie be increased?
Regards,
Jorge
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Jorge,
The gain is set by the tube. Any Phono stage I know of has two amplifying stages. The Quickie has only one. So it can't even be modified for use with a magnetic cartridge.
This has been asked before. And if you search Quickie and phono you might find a much better explanation.
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The batteries will drain a little bit more quickly with the PJCCS, as there is some biasing current in addition to the plate current.
-PB
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I would go with rechargeables. Get much more play time and drive. Curious about what you think of the sound?
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I have a Quickie 1.1 and find I go through the 9v in about 35 hours. I have the PJCCS.
Eric brand of rechargeable are you using? I am looking at getting some
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Yep, with PJCCS the 9V's go quicker. This was my solution and I don't regret it one bit. ;D It's been almost a year and I've only had to charge them once.
(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi576.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fss207%2Fcorndog642%2FBottlehead%2520Quickie%2Faf3ade1f.jpg&hash=5a18e46b55a9a0bdb22c20b5e0e2cac2c799e433)
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Yep, lead acids are one way to go.
The other is with NiMH. You can get 37V in a number of different ways. You can combine in series a shit load of AA 1.2V into packs - you can buy AA battery holders at Radio Shack that hold 8 AA each. Four of those, wire the packs in series and you are set. I went with 5 7.2V 3000mah packs that are used in RC cars. with 12V SLAB's (sealed lead acid battery) you only need 3. Like Rob said, they last for quite a while. While you are at it, you can use AA rechargeables for the heater batteries. One you get comfortable with using rechargeables, dont be surprised if you start using batteries for some of your other kit (ex. wall wart power supplies). Of course you have to get a decent charger. Its worth it though.
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I have a Quickie 1.1 and find I go through the 9v in about 35 hours. I have the PJCCS.
They should last a good bit longer than that. Are the fresh? Are they really alkalines? There are still a lot of carbon-zinc batteries around, sold as "long life" or "heavy duty" - apparently because they aren't either one.
Buy from a place that has a lot of turnover. From the specs, an alkaline in perfect condition should last around 200 hours. Most people seem to get more like 120 hours, presumably because the batteries have suffered in storage or in transit - excessive heat, for too long, kills them.
The PJCCS should cut the life something like 15%-20%, no more.
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Thanks Paul for the feedback.
That is funny because they were brand new Duracell alkaline batteries. I have since replaced them with Energizer alkaline.
I came to the 35hour mark by counting sides of albums. 20 minutes per side. Maybe it is a little more than 35 hours considering there are the batteries for testing the build but I definitely didn't get 100 hours out of them.
I will chalk up these batteries to transit/storage/heat times and hope for better with the Energizer.
Dave
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What are the specs on your SLABs?
Yep, with PJCCS the 9V's go quicker. This was my solution and I don't regret it one bit. ;D It's been almost a year and I've only had to charge them once.
(https://forum.bottlehead.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi576.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fss207%2Fcorndog642%2FBottlehead%2520Quickie%2Faf3ade1f.jpg&hash=5a18e46b55a9a0bdb22c20b5e0e2cac2c799e433)
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What are the specs on your SLABs?
They are Power Sonic 12V 5AHr SLA. I bought them on Amazon for about $18ea plus shipping.
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Great! What charger are you using?
What are the specs on your SLABs?
They are Power Sonic 12V 5AHr SLA. I bought them on Amazon for about $18ea plus shipping.
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CTEK US 800 12V charger
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Are Sunbeam heavy duty batteries carbon-zinc?
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Are Sunbeam heavy duty batteries carbon-zinc?
I have used the Sunbeams - cheapies from the Dollar Store, yes?
They work but don't expect long life. I suspect they are carbon zinc but don't know. Sounded fine while they lasted but did not record how long they held up. I have not done the math on how long they last versus cost.
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They were from the dollar store. The 9 volts and d's lasted about 3 months, but didn't get used too heavily. I recently added the pjccs, so it might be time to check out some new options. Seems like the battery life wasnt the greatest, but for $3 to change the batteries, maybe it doesnt matter?
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If it doesn't say "ALKALINE" then it isn't. Nobody wants to admit their batteries are carbon zinc, so they call them "heavy duty" meaning they have 14% more power than a 1940s regular carbon-zinc, a.k.a. "general-purpose". Nobody (AFAIK) makes regular ones anymore, presumably because nobody will buy them willingly.
It's like organic food. Nobody wants to buy inorganic or industrial or imitation food, so they invent terms like "natural" which have no legal meaning, in the hopes that you will mistake it for organic which does have legal requirements.
I think I forgot to mention that carbon-zinc cells have a very short shelf life - never buy them as surplus no matter how cheap!! - and they leak gooey corrosive paste eventually. Oh, and did I mention I think they are obsolete crap?
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If it doesn't say "ALKALINE" then it isn't. Nobody wants to admit their batteries are carbon zinc, so they call them "heavy duty" meaning they have 14% more power than a 1940s regular carbon-zinc, a.k.a. "general-purpose". Nobody (AFAIK) makes regular ones anymore, presumably because nobody will buy them willingly.
It's like organic food. Nobody wants to buy inorganic or industrial or imitation food, so they invent terms like "natural" which have no legal meaning, in the hopes that you will mistake it for organic which does have legal requirements.
I think I forgot to mention that carbon-zinc cells have a very short shelf life - never buy them as surplus no matter how cheap!! - and they leak gooey corrosive paste eventually. Oh, and did I mention I think they are obsolete crap?
Come'on Paul! Quit wimping out. Tell us what you really think! ;) I loaned my camera flash to a buddy. He put in 4 cheapy AA's. They leaked before they died. F'in mess to clean up, but luckily I caught it early. I wouldn't put carbon zinc cells in anything!!
Yeah and the "Natural" B.S, really pi$$e$ me off! Pay extra to get nothing but the same processed crap!!
Cheers,
Geary
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LOL. Maybe next time around i'll try something different. Where is a good place to buy inexpensive alkaline batteries?
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LOL. Maybe next time around i'll try something different. Where is a good place to buy inexpensive alkaline batteries?
www.cheapbatteries.com (http://www.cheapbatteries.com)
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LOL. Maybe next time around i'll try something different. Where is a good place to buy inexpensive alkaline batteries?
I was at Costco today. Eight 9-v for $16, 14 D-cells for $15.