dfahrner Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 I notice that my MZ-X500 has a battery compartment on the bottom for installation of six D-size 1.5V cells, but there are no electrical connections for the batteries. Has something changed from the original design so that battery operation is not possible ? Maybe batteries simply don't have the capacity to run the power amplifiers for very long, although at 9V / low volume D cells should be adequate (assuming that some higher internal voltage is not needed). But headphone operation should be OK - what is the actual power requirement with the speakers turned off? It's certainly not anywhere close to the 60W that the Casio power supply puts out... df Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted October 21, 2016 Share Posted October 21, 2016 Looks like the bottom panel mould is also used to make other models that can be battery powered like the XW and CTK series. Unlike those, the MZ-X series needs 24 volts rather than 9. My guess is covering the compartment ends up being more efficient for production rather than creating another part number. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Stirling Posted October 22, 2016 Share Posted October 22, 2016 I use two 12v 7AH gel cells in series for portable power. Works great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfahrner Posted October 22, 2016 Author Share Posted October 22, 2016 6 hours ago, BradMZ said: Looks like the bottom panel mould is also used to make other models that can be battery powered like the XW and CTK series. Unlike those, the MZ-X series needs 24 volts rather than 9. My guess is covering the compartment ends up being more efficient for production rather than creating another part number. I didn't think about that, but that's probably the reason, since the MZ-X has the same 5-octave keyboard assembly (mounted to the bottom panel) as some other Casio instruments. Still, I wonder what the actual current draw of the MZ-X500 is with the speakers turned off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfahrner Posted November 3, 2016 Author Share Posted November 3, 2016 On 10/21/2016 at 4:12 PM, Rick Sterling said: I use two 12v 7AH gel cells in series for portable power. Works great Rick - what kind of DC power connector did you use to connect the batteries to the MZX? I'm trying to find out what industry standard type (EIAJ-?), or manufacturers part numbers, are used for the MZX power connections...??? df Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Stirling Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 1 hour ago, dfahrner said: Rick - what kind of DC power connector did you use to connect the batteries to the MZX? I'm trying to find out what industry standard type (EIAJ-?), or manufacturers part numbers, are used for the MZX power connections...??? df I have no idea. As an amateur radio operator I have boxes filled with all sorts of electronic parts. One large box was just old power supply bricks and I found one with the right plug on it. Looking at the plug I would think Radio Shack would have an DC Adaptaplug that would work. It looks like the outer diameter is 6.9mm ... that would probably be an Adaptaplug R You can see the Adaptaplug specs here ... http://support.radioshack.com/support_tutorials/batteries/pwrgde-2H.htm good luck! If the outside diameter is 6.5mm then it's probably a 'T' plug seen here ... https://www.radioshack.com/products/radioshack-adaptaplug-t?variant=20331678085 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Display Name Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Just be aware: using anything other than the provided adapter is done at your own risk. Maybe nothing will happen using something else, maybe you could fry your MZ beyond repair. Be careful, Casio brothers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Stirling Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 13 hours ago, Scott Hamlin said: Just be aware: using anything other than the provided adapter is done at your own risk. Maybe nothing will happen using something else, maybe you could fry your MZ beyond repair. Be careful, Casio brothers! Very true ... If you are at all concerned about this, just use a beefy 12v DC battery with a >= 100 watt DC to AC sine wave inverter and plug your factory power brick into the inverter. It will cost a LOT more to do it this way but if you're not an electrical engineer (I am) you wont have to worry about blowing up your keyboard. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfahrner Posted November 5, 2016 Author Share Posted November 5, 2016 Scott and Rick are right, of course: unless you're sure that you know what you're doing, you shouldn't be doing this kind of electronics work...still, volts are volts, amps are amps, etc., so if you do have the knowledge, and are a careful worker, there's almost zero risk of frying your MZX....and as an engineer myself, I just want to be sure that I'm using correctly specified parts when I do this kind of work - so what are the manufacturers part numbers and/or industry standard specs for those DC power connectors? df Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudolph R-N R Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 Rick, Have been researching battery power, there's lots to know! ? How long can you play using the internal speakers at 3/4 to full volume? ? Are these deep cycle motorcycle style batteries that you've taped together? If it's not deep cycle then I imagine they wouldn't last very long. ? Pics? ? Where you bought your batteries? I haven't found many deep cycle batteries that are on the smaller side like 7ah. ? Have been considering battery packs up to 20ah each, but they're li-ion so much pricier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Stirling Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 4 hours ago, Randelph said: Rick, Have been researching battery power, there's lots to know! ? How long can you play using the internal speakers at 3/4 to full volume? ? Are these deep cycle motorcycle style batteries that you've taped together? If it's not deep cycle then I imagine they wouldn't last very long. ? Pics? ? Where you bought your batteries? I haven't found many deep cycle batteries that are on the smaller side like 7ah. ? Have been considering battery packs up to 20ah each, but they're li-ion so much pricier I retired my home brew solution and am using a 300W inverter with my car's 12 volt system. The inverter can be used with a standard deep cycle 12v battery too. Now I just run the keyboard with its own AC adapter plugged into the inverter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudolph R-N R Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 Rick, this is a case of bait and switch! You originally said you ran the MZ off of dc power directly, now you're using an inverter. I was curious about your direct from battery solution. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Stirling Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 10 hours ago, Randelph said: Rick, this is a case of bait and switch! You originally said you ran the MZ off of dc power directly, now you're using an inverter. I was curious about your direct from battery solution. Thanks Yes, I know. Turns out dealing with charging 2 batteries was more trouble than it was worth for me. One larger 12V or my car is easier to deal with and using the factory power adapter has its advantages. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudolph R-N R Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 Rick, thanks for getting back. I'm still curious regarding my original questions. Yes, I can see, especially if you have multiple items to run, that simply using an inverter is overall simpler. But in my case I've got enough items that already run on (rechargeable) batteries that being able to use smaller batteries and no inverter would be sweet. I've got a 100ah deep cycle battery that I use sometimes, but would love to be able to have alternatives to that 70 pound behemoth. Did you ever check out the running time at 3/4 to full volume using the onboard speakers? I'm really curious what 7ah in series would give you. What is the make and brand, like I said, deep cycle batteries that small are hard to come by and the Li-ions are pricey. Thanks, Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Stirling Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 19 minutes ago, Randelph said: Rick, thanks for getting back. I'm still curious regarding my original questions. Yes, I can see, especially if you have multiple items to run, that simply using an inverter is overall simpler. But in my case I've got enough items that already run on (rechargeable) batteries that being able to use smaller batteries and no inverter would be sweet. I've got a 100ah deep cycle battery that I use sometimes, but would love to be able to have alternatives to that 70 pound behemoth. Did you ever check out the running time at 3/4 to full volume using the onboard speakers? I'm really curious what 7ah in series would give you. What is the make and brand, like I said, deep cycle batteries that small are hard to come by and the Li-ions are pricey. Thanks, Randy I only ran mine max for about 45 minutes. I would guess that by the numbers you might get 1 1/2 to 2 hours + it's a question of voltage drop and where the keyboard stops working because of the reduced voltage. This is a spec that is hard to come by from the battery manufacturers. They tend to use a very low cut-off voltage in order to maximize the amp-hour specification. The batteries I have are APC RBC9 AP600RM UPS 12V 7.5Ah SLA Sealed Lead Acid AGM Deep Cycle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudolph R-N R Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 Thanks, sounds like you were maybe hesitant to run the keyboard until the battery ran out of juice. I wonder if it's any safer to run sensitive electronic equipment using an inverter for reasons I don't comprehend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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