Any way to "measure" remaining life of the battery?

Dpoirier

Dpoirier

Fractal Fanatic
I have an XL and don't really remember the last time I changed the battery (though I *do* remember the original factory battery lasted a very short time, much less than 3 years). I have an upcoming gig, and am worried that Murphy's law will apply and my battery risks dying at exactly the wrong moment.

If I open up my XL, can I measure the battery's voltage and guesstimate how good it is? What would be the "safe" voltage for a battery that still has plenty of life left?

By the way, what I worry about the most is that my XL will boot, but my presets will be borked or totally absent because of the dead battery...
 
Yes, you should be able to measure the battery voltage. Measure it, it ought to be pretty close to 3V.

"Safe" voltage, depends on how Axe-Fx is designed, what their acceptable "3V" range is. I dunno if anyone would know, or would want to put in the work to find out. If you're worried, just change the battery. It's like $1.

Just for fun, looked up Energizer's CR2450 datasheet.
This doesn't help you practically at all, but fun to look at lol:
upload_2017-5-23_18-11-44.png
 
The XL and XL+ both use non-volatile flash memory (like in a USB thumb drive or SD card) for their storage, so you should not lose your presets if the battery dies. They can also backup the system settings to flash memory in the Utility menu Preset page, so those could be recovered without a computer in case the battery dies as well.

Mark I and II units use volatile memory that is cleared if battery power is lost. The Mark II version does have some slower flash memory used for manually backing up the presets and system settings without a computer. The XL and XL+ flash memory is fast enough to function as primary storage so there's no option to backup presets internally. They're essentially already backed up.
 
In the Mark I and II, everything. It's used because it's fast. Downside is you need power to retain the data. Flash memory speed has gone way up and price has gone way down, so the newer XL and XL+ use that instead.
 
Oops, using mark I since 2012....maybe do a fresh backup and change the battery. Is it difficult to access ?
 
yeah, my MK1 is cracking on as well...anybody got a link to the correct replacement, or even just the battery specs?
 
i think i remember reading somewhere ages ago that you can leave the power on while you do it, so whatever is in memory is preserved. i'd wanna check that though, cos if you touch something you're not supposed to, you might...you know...die an' tha'
 
Even if it isn't wiped clean you should assume it will be and do a full (system, presets and user cabs) backup and also make note of any custom non default Global EQ settings you might have.

I would take exactly the same precautions even if I owned an XL or XL+ too.

Also ensure you still have the relevant FW update installer on hand to match your backed up system for the restore process.

simeon said:
i think i remember reading somewhere ages ago that you can leave the power on while you do it, so whatever is in memory is preserved. i'd wanna check that though, cos if you touch something you're not supposed to, you might...you know...die an' tha'
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Could be expensive fun if you fumbled the battery removal and dropped it across some live components on the main board .....

Power cable will definitely be removed when I do it
 
Well really the power cable should be connected BUT OFF so that the unit is grounded. Make sure you have earthed yourself by touching an exposed piece of chassis and then proceed.
 
I replace all my household batteries every 4th of July. Smoke detectors, alarm clock backups, guitar synth, and Axe FXII. I have done it with the power off and never lost a thing. I do it quickly and with a "vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people in this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in their mythology".
 
simonp54 said:
Well really the power cable should be connected BUT OFF so that the unit is grounded. Make sure you have earthed yourself by touching an exposed piece of chassis and then proceed.
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Doesn't this seem like important information to add to the wiki??

The wiki just says replace it and replacing it won't void the warranty. No protocol there at all actually.
 
Same with the fan, I wish I could read the procedure on some of these probably really simple tasks before I really fuck something up. Opening the lid frightens me!
 
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