dfahrner02 Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 Using commercially available Ni-MH batteries (2500 mAh or more) in my CT-S1, I haven't been able to get anywhere close to 3 hours' use out of them as per Casio's specs...I've tried different brands, all fully charged, and they all seem to last about an hour before the LEDs start blinking, indicating low battery voltage...the other night when this happened, I checked to make sure the battery type was set to "Ni-MH", and it was, so I changed the setting to "Alkaline" and the LED flashing stopped - then I was able to use the CT-S1 for another hour-and-a-half before the LEDs started to flash again...during this time, I tried resetting the battery type to "Ni-MH" again a couple of times, and when I did the LEDs would start flashing... Could the Quick Start guide and User's Guide have the battery type settings reversed, so that "1 tone" actually indicates the setting for "Ni-MH", and 2 tones for "Alkaline"?...looking at typical discharge curves for the two types, I see that while alkaline batteries have a higher initial voltage, their discharge curve is steeper than Ni-MH's...so presumably if set for "Alkaline" and Ni-MH batteries are used, the CT-S1 (after an hour or so) would interpret the lower Ni-MH voltage as nearly discharged...??? df Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 Battery life can vary depending on battery quality and how the keyboard is used. For example, adding the Bluetooth adapter and streaming audio from a smartphone through the keyboard speakers, and doing that at higher volume levels, will drain batteries significantly faster than without the adapter connected and simply playing piano through headphones. My first experience with the CT-S1 using Ni-MH batteries was only playing piano through the speakers at medium volume, no Bluetooth adapter connected. I was able to play for almost 3 hours before the flashing light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfahrner02 Posted August 3, 2021 Author Share Posted August 3, 2021 Brad, that's pretty much what I'm doing, too: no Bluetooth or smart phone connected, and low volume levels...the default CT-S1 setting for battery type is "1 tone", which the User's Guide says means alkaline; did you change that when you installed the Ni-MHs?...and what brand of battery did you use? - I've tried Rayovac, EBL, and Kastar brands, and they're all about the same as described above with respect to battery life ... The User's Guide says "Use commercially available AA-size alkaline batteries or AA-size rechargeable nickel metal hydride batteries", and then a little farther down, "Use only Panasonic Group AA-size eneloop rechargeable batteries. Do not use any other type of batteries"...hmmm, Panansonic eneloops are just about the top-rated Ni-MH battery online (and the most expensive), but it's hard to believe that an instrument would be designed to match the characteristics of a specific manufacturer's battery...maybe this is just the Casio legal department trying to reduce potential liability for damage caused by another manufacturers' batteries failing...I'll have to get some Panasonic eneloops and see if they behave differently - the Ct-S1 is so inexpensive that I can probably afford them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted August 3, 2021 Share Posted August 3, 2021 To clarify about the battery life indicator. It has two levels. The first level is a "declining power" indicator, quick flashes with pauses in between. This will go on for some time before reaching the second level. The second level is the "replace batteries" indicator, continuous flashing lights. This will continue for some time before self shutdown. I did my own testing today. The conditions were as follows. CT-S1 playing the main demo tune on constant loop, through internal speakers, volume knob set at 9 o'clock, Bluetooth MIDI adapter plugged in but not paired to anything, auto power turned off, battery type set to Ni-MH (two tones). Batteries were fully charged two days prior. Battery type is Ni-MH 1.2 volt 2800mAh. Batteries have been through several discharge and recharge cycles prior to this. Brand is Power Owl. This is the first time I completely discharged these batteries. Total play time before self shut down: 5 hours 25 minutes. Yes, five hours, quite impressive. Play time before declining power indicator flashes: 1 hour 45 minutes. Play time before replace battery indicator flashed constantly: 2 hours 20 minutes. It ran for a very long time with the replace battery indicator flashing. I will not be fully discharging my batteries like this normally. I did this only for the sake of testing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfahrner02 Posted August 11, 2021 Author Share Posted August 11, 2021 Brad, thanks for your (exhaustive) testing of CT-S1 battery life - I thought about trying to verify your work with other brands of Ni-MH batteries, but couldn't bring myself to have factory demos playing in the background for 5 hours (!)... in my similar setup (Ni-MH batteries, around 2700 mAh, internal speakers, volume 9 o'clock, no Bluetooth) I do get more that 3 hours' use before the declining power indication, as long as all six batteries are fully charged, and take about the same time to charge...if one or more of the batteries is not fully charged, or has taken significantly longer to charge (indicating some other issue?) my CT-S1 won't play for that long...there seems to be some variation even in packaged lots from the same manufacturer; again, maybe Panasonic Eneloops are more consistent and uniform... I'm still using Ni-MH with the battery mode set to "alkaline", and when the "declining power" indicator comes on (after several hours use) it only lasts about 20 minutes until the "replace batteries" indicator comes on, and then shutdown happens within a few minutes...to me, that seems like the way the indicators ought to work: "declining power" means that the end of useful life is approaching, and you ought to think about changing batteries, while "replace batteries" means that you have to shut down right now and replace batteries to avoid possible data loss...the longer times you measured during declining / replace indicators might be useful on gig (where you shouldn't be using battery power anyway), but I'd rather not look at flashing LEDs most of the time... There is some minimum voltage that the CT-S1 needs to operate, and battery voltage declines as capacity is used up...alkalines have a relatively constant rate of decline from 1.5V as capacity is used, while Ni-MHs have almost no decline from 1.2V until almost all capacity is used up, after which the voltage drops quickly...so the battery mode may just change the levels at which the power indicators trigger, to account for these different rates of discharge...??? Anyway, it looks like the CT-S1 does meet its battery life specification... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermute3 Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 When using NiMH batteries, does the Casio actually recharge them when the AC adapter is plugged in, or simply bypass them? - Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Saucier Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 4 minutes ago, wintermute3 said: When using NiMH batteries, does the Casio actually recharge them when the AC adapter is plugged in, or simply bypass them? - Michael It does not recharge them. You'll need an external charger. Smart chargers are ideal for maintaining batteries. Each cell is individually monitored and charged, rather than all of them in a series. An external charger also makes it possible to charge one set of batteries while simultaneously using a fresh set in the keyboard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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