Bottlebatt switch settings

[Doc B.]

Here's the rundown on how to most effectively use the Bottlebatt battery supply -

Left "CHG ONLY" is the full charge setting. It will turn the DAC off. The battery is fully charged when the LED turns off. It is the most efficient charging mode if the battery is deeply discharged. This is not a fast charge mode. It may take 24 hours or more to fully recharge the battery from a full discharge.
 
Center "BAT/CHG" is trickle charge while running from battery - this mode keeps the battery topped up while you run the DAC and also when the DAC is idle. I tend to use this mode most of the time, while playing the DAC and also when not using it. It sounds noticeably better than the stock line lump.

Right "BAT ONLY" is battery only - this is intended for critical listening, theoretically the cleanest possible supply. In practice I find it very hard to discern between this setting and the middle setting. In this mode the DAC will run for about 8 hours from a full charge. The downside is it can take over 24 hours to recharge a fully exhausted battery in full charge only mode. So I usually switch into this mode only for critical listening for an hour or two and switch back to the middle setting when I am done to keep the DAC warmed up while it trickle charges, rather than running the battery all the way down and having to wait many hours for it to fully recharge.

Bottlebatts should arrive very close to fully charged. However when you first get your Bottlebatt it is probably worthwhile to plug it in to power and let it charge in CHG ONLY mode up to 36 hours or until the LED is off in CHG mode, to be sure the battery is at full potential when you start using it. From there leave the Bottlebatt in BAT/CHG mode unless you wish to do some critical listening. Be sure to switch the Bottlebatt back to BAT/CHG mode when you are done with the critical listening session.

A completely dark LED charging indicator in CHG ONLY or BAT/CHG mode means the battery is fully charged. A bright LED will show in BAT/CHG mode as the battery starts getting used, and when the battery is charging in CHG ONLY mode it will start bright and get progressively more dim until it turns off when fully charged. The LED will never glow in BAT ONLY mode, since the charger is not functioning in this mode.