Test 9V Battery While It's in the Instrument

saddleboogie · **Joined:** Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:32 pm **Posts:** 35

There is an accessory available that you plug into an active bass/guitar to test the 9V battery. I read, and lost, a while back how to modify a multimeter to do the trick by adding a 1/4 inch plug. Any suggestions? Thanks

JACSTRAT · **Posted:** Mon May 21, 2012 9:16 pm

saddleboogie wrote:

There is an accessory available that you plug into an active bass/guitar to test the 9V battery. I read, and lost, a while back how to modify a multimeter to do the trick by adding a 1/4 inch plug. Any suggestions? Thanks

Dude, It would be way easier just to pull the battery out and then check it with your meter! Don't mess up your meter with some strange mod, really! You probably won't get an accurate reading the way that goofy article told you.

bluesky636 · **Posted:** Mon May 21, 2012 9:52 pm

Actually, what saddleboogie suggests is the best and most accurate way to do it. That way the battery circuit is turned on and you test the battery under load. A good mechanic will test your car battery under load. They don't pull it out of the car or disconnect the terminals.

All you have to do is clip the probes off each DVM lead and solder the red lead to the center conductor of a phone plug and solder the black lead to the ground terminal of the phone plug. Set the DVM to DC volts and test away.

JACSTRAT · **Posted:** Mon May 21, 2012 10:03 pm

bluesky636 wrote:

Actually, what saddleboogie suggests is the best and most accurate way to do it. That way the battery circuit is turned on and you test the battery under load. A good mechanic will test your car battery under load. They don't pull it out of the car or disconnect the terminals.

All you have to do is clip the probes off each DVM lead and solder the red lead to the center conductor of a phone plug and solder the black lead to the ground terminal of the phone plug. Set the DVM to DC volts and test away.

I guess I'm just an idiot and a bad mechanic! I mean it is a nine volt battery, correct! Go ahead and do what he says! A dummy like me would just check the battery out of the unit and toss it if it was too low!

Arc-n-spark · **Joined:** Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:38 am **Posts:** 593

bluesky636 wrote:

Actually, what saddleboogie suggests is the best and most accurate way to do it. That way the battery circuit is turned on and you test the battery under load. A good mechanic will test your car battery under load. They don't pull it out of the car or disconnect the terminals.

All you have to do is clip the probes off each DVM lead and solder the red lead to the center conductor of a phone plug and solder the black lead to the ground terminal of the phone plug. Set the DVM to DC volts and test away.

I would do the mod but I would make a cable that would jack into the guitar on one end and have test point jacks on the other end for my meter leads to attach to. I like my meter leads in one piece.

Arc

bluesky636 · **Posted:** Tue May 22, 2012 6:36 am

JACSTRAT wrote:

bluesky636 wrote:

Actually, what saddleboogie suggests is the best and most accurate way to do it. That way the battery circuit is turned on and you test the battery under load. A good mechanic will test your car battery under load. They don't pull it out of the car or disconnect the terminals.

All you have to do is clip the probes off each DVM lead and solder the red lead to the center conductor of a phone plug and solder the black lead to the ground terminal of the phone plug. Set the DVM to DC volts and test away.

I guess I'm just an idiot and a bad mechanic! I mean it is a nine volt battery, correct! Go ahead and do what he says! A dummy like me would just check the battery out of the unit and toss it if it was too low!

The point is, unless a battery is measured under load, it could actually measure good out of the circuit and not work in the circuit. Why you are making such a big deal about such a simple concept is beyond me. :roll:

BTW, I have an electrical engineering degree. :wink:

bluesky636 · **Posted:** Tue May 22, 2012 6:38 am

Arc-n-spark wrote:

bluesky636 wrote:

Actually, what saddleboogie suggests is the best and most accurate way to do it. That way the battery circuit is turned on and you test the battery under load. A good mechanic will test your car battery under load. They don't pull it out of the car or disconnect the terminals.

All you have to do is clip the probes off each DVM lead and solder the red lead to the center conductor of a phone plug and solder the black lead to the ground terminal of the phone plug. Set the DVM to DC volts and test away.

I would do the mod but I would make a cable that would jack into the guitar on one end and have test point jacks on the other end for my meter leads to attach to. I like my meter leads in one piece.

Arc

Every DVM I have owned has removable leads. Easy to have one set of leads for normal voltage/resistance measurements and another set of leads for something else. Not that big a deal.

saddleboogie · **Joined:** Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:32 pm **Posts:** 35

Hi bluesky636. That will do the trick - just what I'm looking for. I wanted to be able to test the battery without unscrewing the cover; "under load" was not something I was thinking about, makes sense. I can get another cheap tester at Harbor Freight for $5,00, snip the ends, solder and I'm hooked up for $8.00 as opposed to the 29.99 unit. First I'll see if I can get another set of leads and go that route. Thanks for all the help on this forum.

Arc-n-spark · **Joined:** Sat Mar 31, 2012 6:38 am **Posts:** 593

saddleboogie wrote:

I can get another cheap tester at Harbor Freight for $5,00, snip the ends, solder and I'm hooked up for $8.00 as opposed to the 29.99 unit. First I'll see if I can get another set of leads and go that route. Thanks for all the help on this forum.

$5 ?! Go for it!

saddleboogie · **Joined:** Sat Aug 04, 2007 1:32 pm **Posts:** 35

$5.00; It's Worth Every Penney ;>}. But the one I have seems to measure stuff for me accurately -- I A/B'd it with my son's Fluke. I'm not going to build a rocket soon!!!http://www.fender.com/community/forums/posting.php?mode=reply&f=2&t=71236&sid=dce305d76dc1740c2b2c147cf7aaae00#

JACSTRAT · **Posted:** Tue May 22, 2012 1:16 pm

For the record I'm not making a big deal out of it. Two, my point is, we are talking about a nine volt battery! When a nine volt is going bad it shows it everytime I pull it out and check with my meter! I will read for example on my wireless mouse right now the right light is going off on it indicating it does not have a 1.5 volt charge on the AA battery inside. Just for poops and giggles I will pull it out and check with a meter. Be right back. Oh boy! It only read .98 volt instead of 1.5 volts. Gee, should I put it under a load on my mouse to make sure that it is only getting .98 volts!. Nah! I'll just toss it and put in a new AA 1.5 volts battery. Done! Look Ma! No electrical engineering degree!

bluesky636 · **Posted:** Tue May 22, 2012 2:02 pm

JACSTRAT wrote:

For the record I'm not making a big deal out of it. Two, my point is, we are talking about a nine volt battery! When a nine volt is going bad it shows it everytime I pull it out and check with my meter! I will read for example on my wireless mouse right now the right light is going off on it indicating it does not have a 1.5 volt charge on the AA battery inside. Just for poops and giggles I will pull it out and check with a meter. Be right back. Oh boy! It only read .98 volt instead of 1.5 volts. Gee, should I put it under a load on my mouse to make sure that it is only getting .98 volts!. Nah! I'll just toss it and put in a new AA 1.5 volts battery. Done! Look Ma! No electrical engineering degree!

Three posts criticising a simple idea, because you see no use in it. Yeah, I'd call that making a big deal out of it. Why did you even bother responding if you weren't going to help answer the OP's question?Why do you even care if the OP wants to do it? You described yourself perfectly in the first six words of your second post. :lol:

tbazzone · **Posted:** Tue May 22, 2012 2:09 pm

Why not pull it out and put it on your tongue. :mrgreen:

bluesky636 · **Posted:** Tue May 22, 2012 2:11 pm

tbazzone wrote:

Why not pull it out and put it on your tongue. :mrgreen:

You might get the polarity wrong and zap your fillings. :lol:

bluesky636 · **Posted:** Tue May 22, 2012 2:14 pm

saddleboogie wrote:

$5.00; It's Worth Every Penney ;>}. But the one I have seems to measure stuff for me accurately -- I A/B'd it with my son's Fluke. I'm not going to build a rocket soon!!!

Have fun.

BTW, I run my pedals off a 9/18 volt power supply. Don't need to worry about batteries dieing. :mrgreen:

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