9V batteries don't leak?

**Woody Sound** · 09-02-2021, 05:45 PM

We've all opened up devices with AA or AAA batteries to find they have leaked/corroded and probably even ruined the device. But I have never had that happen with a 9V in my active guitars. WHICH IS A GOOD THING. I'd hate to have a $3k-$4k guitar ruined because of a $4 battery.

**Danny W.** · 09-02-2021, 06:43 PM

I have used DeoxIT D5 to clean up many electronic devices that have been messed up by AA batteries. Haven't had to write one off yet.

9V batteries consist of individual cells with a wrapper inside, unlike AA batteries which are a single cell, but they still can leak.

I avoid guitars with batteries inside them!

Danny W.

**Litterick** · 09-03-2021, 06:08 AM

Eric Johnson is obsessed by batteries, I have heard.

**Woody Sound** · 09-03-2021, 06:22 AM

Originally Posted by Danny W.

I have used DeoxIT D5 to clean up many electronic devices that have been messed up by AA batteries. Haven't had to write one off yet.

9V batteries consist of individual cells with a wrapper inside, unlike AA batteries which are a single cell, but they still can leak.

I avoid guitars with batteries inside them!

Danny W.

Thanks for the DeoxIT tip, will try that next time. It never really bothered me much, because it's usually small trinkets, toys, etc.

But I have several acoustic-electric guitars with 9v batteries.

Just an interesting point: Rick Turner's guitars take (2) 9v batteries for a glorious 18v output.

Guitars | RICK TURNER GUITARS

Always desired one of these:

Renaissance Nylon String | RICK TURNER GUITARS

**jazzkritter** · 09-03-2021, 08:15 AM

They do. Had one leak in a old tuner.

**aborodya** · 09-03-2021, 08:23 AM

Had one leaked in my nylon acoustic preamp. Doesn’t look too bad but definitely done some damage

**marcwhy** · 09-03-2021, 08:37 AM

Originally Posted by Woody Sound

I'd hate to have a $3k-$4k guitar ruined because of a $4 battery.

Wait -- our guitars are supposed to have batteries?! No wonder I never sound good!

**Woody Sound** · 09-03-2021, 10:00 AM

FWIW, I check all my guitar batteries (I think now I have six preamp guitars) twice a year, turn of the year and Jun/Jul, at the same time I do our home filters. It's an easy schedule to remember, seems to have worked out and then I don't have to think about it again. (Unless I accidentally leave one plugged in for a few days

)

**jim777** · 09-03-2021, 10:05 AM

I've only got a bass with a 9v in it, but I change that yearly as well. I've had other basses and one Jackson with EMGs that had a battery, but I can't remember every having an issue with one. My XBox addicted son forced us to switch entirely to rechargeables some years ago, so the 9V in the bass (and the 3 in the smoke detectors) are the only batteries we have anymore. The small number of pedals I have that could use them are all wired now.

**brad4d8** · 09-03-2021, 10:07 AM

Originally Posted by Danny W.

I have used DeoxIT D5 to clean up many electronic devices that have been messed up by AA batteries. Haven't had to write one off yet.

9V batteries consist of individual cells with a wrapper inside, unlike AA batteries which are a single cell, but they still can leak.

I avoid guitars with batteries inside them!

Danny W.

I've used vinegar and a q-tip with success. I guess if I need something stronger I'll try Deoxit.

**sgosnell** · 09-03-2021, 10:08 AM

I have one guitar that needs a battery, a ~1972 Ovation Legend, and it has never had a leak. But then it rarely has a battery installed, because I don't often play it. I used it a lot back in the years after I bought it, but little in the past 35 years or so. I would sell it, but vintage Ovations are not worth the effort to try to sell and ship them.

**Woody Sound** · 09-03-2021, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by brad4d8

I've used vinegar and a q-tip with success. I guess if I need something stronger I'll try Deoxit.

Yeah I've tried alcohol, but Deacon's deoxit idea makes more sense, will give it a try. Just by chance I have one of those electric bug-swatters that had a battery leak, now does not work, so it will be a good test.

**sgosnell** · 09-03-2021, 04:40 PM

FWIW, you can get rechargeable 9V batteries. I have a couple that I use for pedals, recharged many times, and still work fine. They seem to last at least as often as alkaline before needing a charge.

**pcjazz** · 09-03-2021, 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by sgosnell

FWIW, you can get rechargeable 9V batteries. I have a couple that I use for pedals, recharged many times, and still work fine. They seem to last at least as often as alkaline before needing a charge.

Rechargeable 9-volts don’t work in my Kirk Sand, but 9-volt lithium batteries do, and last much longer than alkalines. But I remove the battery if I am not amplifying the guitar for a while.

**Woody Sound** · 09-03-2021, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by pcjazz

Rechargeable 9-volts don’t work in my Kirk Sand, but 9-volt lithium batteries do, and last much longer than alkalines. But I remove the battery if I am not amplifying the guitar for a while.

Ah, Sand is another electric nylon I'd love to try out.

**sgosnell** · 09-03-2021, 04:57 PM

Why would they not work? A guitar has no way of knowing what a battery is made from. Volts is volts.

**pcjazz** · 09-03-2021, 06:19 PM

Originally Posted by sgosnell

Why would they not work? A guitar has no way of knowing what a battery is made from. Volts is volts.

The (fully-charged) rechargeables produce the same screeching sound as a near-dead alkaline. I guess they don’t deliver the volts the preamp is looking for. Alkalines work fine but have a very short life. Kirk recommended I try the lithiums and they have been a significant improvement. A good thing too, because changing batteries on this guitar involves removing two tiny screws and prying off a mahogany cover plate, not something you’d want to attempt on a dark stage.

**pcjazz** · 09-03-2021, 06:22 PM

Originally Posted by Woody Sound

Ah, Sand is another electric nylon I'd love to try out.

Yes, it’s a lovely guitar, a high-A 7-string with a slightly shorter scale (for nylon). RMC transducers, hence the 9-volt.

**starjasmine** · 09-03-2021, 08:36 PM

Originally Posted by pcjazz

RMC transducers, hence the 9-volt.

PSA: a dying 9v batt killed the preamp chip in my Charvel Model 6; a very well-documented problem that I was unaware of till it affected me. Instead of just wiring up the existing PUPs as passive, I hunted down an exact replacement chip and had it installed by a pro. Met the Craigslist seller in a restaurant parking lot and basically just took his word that the parts were good. They were. I paid cash, $60 IIRC for the wiring harness with PC board, so it was a pretty easy install but I didn't want to screw it up given the difficulty of finding this once, much less twice...

Now I change out the batts in my active electronics guitars every Summer, whether I've played them much or not. I look at it as care and feeding...

I have seen some user manuals that specifically recommend not using rechargeables. Like the crappy sprinkler timers I bought that died a few years later anyway. I have something else that I can't use rechargeables in, either, but I don't remember what it is offhand.