On Wed, 2009-01-07 at 04:39 +0000, Brian Rost wrote:
> First question on the Mk1.
>
> How long should I expect a fresh set of Duracells to maintain the patch memory if I'm always
> running the 800 from AC?
As the main batteries? Shouldn't make a difference. If you've got the
mains adaptor plugged in, the batteries are disconnected.
> If I do the watch battery mod, how long will ∗∗that∗∗ battery last?
Depends how big the watch battery is. The Poly-800 has a coin cell
battery on the motherboard already, which looks like it could be a nicad
(although mine hasn't started leaking corrosive gunk yet). There's also
a crude trickle charger in the power supply stage. What I tend to do is
replace the coin cell or lithium cell batteries in old synths with a
couple of AA batteries - alkalines have a long shelf-life, so they're
ideal for this because you're only drawing a few microamps with the
power off. You do need to check the circuit diagram to make sure that
there isn't a nicad charger trying to charge them up though!
Gordon