What is battery life expectancy on the PC-1 Sustainer?

[Bryan]

I'm asking because it seems like my batteries are dying kinda on the fast side.

But I could be mistaken.

I do gig every weekend and my guitar stays plugged into a wireless pack the entire show.

Right now it seems like my batteries are lasting 3-4 months under these circumstances.

Does this seem about right?

[catzodellamarina]

I do not own a PC-1 but your battery life seems reasonable, especially since you are leaving a cable plugged in. It must not drain all that much. When I was a kid, I think I left a pedal plugged in all day & night and the 9-volt was dead next time I tried to use it.

[neilli]

yeah, that's not too horrible.

[Vass]

I would uneducatedly assume that a sustainer when engaged would eat a heck of
alot more juice than other guitar/9v combos.

[Bryan]

Ok. Then I'm good. But for some reason I'm getting a ton of corrosion on the positive terminal. I'm switching to Lithium batteries instead of Alkaline to see if that helps.

Maybe it will improve battery life also......

[rjohnstone]

3-4 months with regular gigging is pretty good.
It does draw power whenever the cable is plugged in even if the unit itself is off.

There are some rechargeable lithium 9v batteries that last a lot longer, but you have to be careful of the size.

These are great and I know they fit.

https://www.amazon.com/EBL-Battery-Lithium-ion-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B072ND49S9/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1520614960&sr=8-18&keywords=lithium%209v%20battery

Some other brands are sightly fatter than others and don't fit in the battery box.

[Bryan]

Thanks! I'm definitely ordering those.

$8.00 a battery twice every few months is gonna get expensive in a hurry!!!

[EightmanVT]

Came across this thread since I’ve started playing my PC-1 custom again. My batteries die in less than a week. Seems silly not to be able to turn the power completely off to the sustainer.

[rjohnstone]

Came across this thread since I’ve started playing my PC-1 custom again. My batteries die in less than a week. Seems silly not to be able to turn the power completely off to the sustainer.

Do you leave your guitar plugged in all the time?
If so, unplug it.
The jack is the power switch.

[Bryan]

I have found another remedy. I bought rechargeable 9 volts and haven't looked back.

And yes, definitely unplug the guitar when you don't use it. Just like any other guitar with active electronics.

[hazar]

3-4 months with regular gigging is pretty good.
It does draw power whenever the cable is plugged in even if the unit itself is off.

There are some rechargeable lithium 9v batteries that last a lot longer, but you have to be careful of the size.

These are great and I know they fit.

https://www.amazon.com/EBL-Battery-Lithium-ion-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B072ND49S9/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1520614960&sr=8-18&keywords=lithium%209v%20battery

Some other brands are sightly fatter than others and don't fit in the battery box.

Thanks Brother!

[Raoul Duke]

Hi Folks,
Bringing this thread back because I just acquired a 1997 PC1 and it works as advertised with the exception that even with the sustainer switch off and cable unplugged, I am forced to replace the two 9v batteries every 48 hours regardless of actual playing time. It’s a Rev B board with no modifications to anything. Sounds great with fresh batteries, but taking them out and putting them back in to play is a bit of a PITA.

Am I stuck with this or can I fix this problem? Any thoughts or suggestions are very much appreciated!

Thanks!