A Bit OT: 12V adapter -> 12V battery?

[Woody Sound]

I have a theremin that runs off a 12VDC 250mA wall wart adapter. Can I rig up a 12V battery like these below, to the leads, to get rid of the adapter and cord? Thanks.



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A23 12V Battery for Garage Door Opener Remotes

[neatomic]

trouble with that is a battery will not provide consistent 12v...new they are often 13v+ and lessen from there with use...voltage change may make that theremin sound creepier than it already does!!! haha

cheers

[Jimmy blue note]

Should work just fine. You can also make yourself a little battery pack and put 8 D or C cells in a series. That'll give you a good amount of current and you can get rechargables. Never buy a battery again and it can go anywhere. I did this with my portable keyboard, my Roland Street amp and they go forever before a recharge.

[Danny W.]

Do you know how much current the theremin draws? That will determine how long a battery will last. The battery you posted has a capacity of 20 mAh, so a device that draws 20 mA will run about an hour.

Danny W.

[Woody Sound]

Do you know how much current the theremin draws? That will determine how long a battery will last. The battery you posted has a capacity of 20 mAh, so a device that draws 20 mA will run about an hour.

Danny W.

Thanks Danny (and everyone). I'm no electrician, but the adapter says 12VDC 250mA.

[Danny W.]

Thanks Danny (and everyone). I'm no electrician, but the adapter says 12VDC 250mA.

That's what the adapter can supply; you want to know what the theremin draws (or just sacrifice a battery to find out). You should be able to find out in the theremin specs.

Danny W.

[KirkP]

I doubt that little battery can provide anywhere near the current demanded by your theremin. I think you may need something more like 8 AA-cells in series or a small lithium power pack. For example this one, although it’s overkill as it’s primarily designed to jump start a car.

[sgosnell]

Devices can fiunction with a range of votages, not just the spec voltage. How they sound with different voltages is a different question. IME batteries work well enough, and will get you through the gig, and the sound will be near enough to the same as that provided by the AC adapter, with less chance for extraneous noise. I like batteries, because they don't need an AC outlet to work when they're in use. But have at least one, and preferably more, backup batteries available. Murphy was an optimist who wore rose-colored glasses, and defecation occurs. I have a somewhat similar battery pack which works well enough. It will power my wireless receiver and with a special cable, power my pedals at 9VDC for several hours. Lithium battery technology has come a very long way in the past few years.

[Woody Sound]

Allow me to elaborate. I have no need to gig with the theremin. I am a newbie/beginner, just learning for fun. (It's a lot harder than it looks!) But the adapter that came with it is just long enough to reach the floor below it, so I have to use an extension anyway to reach to the wall, and I am just trying to eliminate one more cord across my studio floor getting in the way.

[sgosnell]

The 12V batteries you linked are used in very low-current, very intermitent use situations. They aren't cheap, and I doubt that one would last more than a few minutes, perhaps an hour, although I have no idea how much current your theremin draws. It might work on 9V, which would be much more convenient, but maybe not. Experimentation would be required. I don't think anyone here has the experience or knowledge required to be able to say whether those batteries would work. About all I can suggest is to try it and see.