Batteries (again!)

[PaulWood]

Well, as a UK resident I thought I'd got my Taylor battery supply sorted about a year ago. I got a dozen 'Made in USA' Duracell Coppertops from Battery Junction (US company - got a friend who over-winter's in Florida to bring them back for me).

A month or so ago, I needed to re-order but Battery Junction no longer stock the 'Made in USA' version. Found some on Amazon.com and ordered them. They took a month to arrive and the packaging had been opened and re-sealed and 3 batteries were missing (bizarre??!!). (Got a partial refund from Amazon without any problem, but I'm concerned about future supplies).

I Googled 'Taylor guitar batteries', just as an idle gesture and the result was 'Guitar Mania', a Taylor dealer fairly close to me. They are saying that you can't get the Duracell 9v 'Made in USA' batteries any more, as they've stopped making them (not sure if that's just Europe or US as well). They now recommend and sell Energiser Max batteries. They quote dimensions which are slightly smaller than the standard, which is fine on the face of it, but when I search the batteries on other sites, the dimensions are standard (ie, slightly larger than quoted by Guitar Mania). I know the shop and I can't believe they'd get it wrong, so I wondered if anyone on this Forum has experience with Energiser Max in Taylor guitars?

[DennisG]

Yes, I just bought one in the US.  It was slightly larger than a Duracell, and I had difficulty both getting it into the battery harness and slipping the harness back into the guitar.  This made me nervous, so I tried to remove the harness, but it wouldn't budge.  I had to pry it out with a small screwdriver, then wiggle the battery out of the harness.  I considered myself very fortunate that nothing broke or was scratched.

This battery issue is one of the very few quibbles I have with Taylor guitars, and I feel for my fellow musicians outside of the USA who have great difficulty getting American-made Duracell batteries.

[CharlieRay]

I discovered a few months back that the Duracell Copper tops made in Malaysia no longer fit well in the standard 9V housing, but the Duracell Quantum series fits perfectly.

[Duff]

Hard to install last time, I bet I got the larger one, going to check, thanks. I thought I was doing something wrong, didn't  want to force it in.

[Frettingflyer]

I just bought some from my same supplier on Amazon, same packaging, too big. It went into the cradle(not easily) then was offering resistance going back into the guitar. I stopped there but damaged the battery getting it out of the cradle.
I trip to Batteries plus and I found a 12 pack that fits, but I actually took one of the larger ones to compare sizes.
I hope Taylor comes up with a solution, this is nuts.

[DennisG]

I hope Taylor comes up with a solution, this is nuts.

It's not only nuts, it's completely unnecessary.  Taylor could easily fix this problem that people have been bringing to their attention for years.  I'm in the USA, so I at least have the Duracell option, but I totally understand the frustration of my pals in Europe, Asia, and Australia.

[sergeko]

Being European .. where can I buy these special Duracell batteries ?

[sergeko]

Being European .. where can I buy these special Duracell batteries ?

I only found them at musicstore.de : https://www.musicstore.de/en_BE/EUR/Duracell-9V-Block-US-Type-passend-fuer-Taylor-Gitarren/art-ACC0005856-000

[PaulWood]

There is clearly a great deal of pent-up frustration out there among Taylor owners - especially the non-US residents. I appreciate the solidarity of our US colleagues but, like a number of you, I can't understand why Taylor haven't done something about the problem (apart from telling us to chop off the top of the battery holder (doh!). Don't they read these posts??

We've had one response confirming difficulty with fitting an Energiser Max but no-one has responded to this topic to say that they are OK - I'm not saying they are, but my local Taylor shop is selling Energiser Max as 'Taylor-friendly' batteries and I find it hard to believe they've got it completely wrong! I have seen a reference, in another post recently (can't remember the topic) to 'Duracell or Energiser' being good batteries for Taylor - so there must be someone out there with a positive view of Energisers - any takers?

In about 8 months time I'm going to be stuck for batteries unless I can find a solution.

[Saxacat]

At the moment I have a US purchased Duracell Quantum battery in my guitar, but I've just tried a standard UK Energizer bought in Wilkinson's and it fits fine; ever so slightly more snug in the caddy than the quantum, but certainly didn't need any force to get into the caddy and it doesn't distort the caddy, which slides in and out of the guitar perfectly.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Eddie

[GrainWave]

I'm also going to need a new battery soon and have been looking into this, as Sergeko said, the only place I could find is Music Store in Germany, reasonable prices though.
I've been told that the old style small batteries are coded 6LR22 and the newer larger batteries are coded 6LF22.

Saxacat, what's the code on the Energizer you have?

[tink]

There is an official Taylor video explaining how to cut off a bit of the battery housing to acommodate larger 9v batteries.

[magirus]

There is an official Taylor video explaining how to cut off a bit of the battery housing to acommodate larger 9v batteries.

I just watched that video. Whilst it's an easy fix I think it would be better if Taylor supplied owners with a housing that will accept a larger battery, then regardless of what size battery one comes home from the store with it's simply a case of using the appropriate holder. These things can only cost pennies to make.

[magirus]

Further to my last post I took the battery out of my GS Mini Koa and did a little comparing to a long life battery from my local Tesco (I'm in the UK) with the aid of a Mitutoyo digital caliper. These batteries aren't made that precisely when you can measure to 1/100th of a mm, so I measured at various points on all dimensions and took an average. Widthwise there was nothing in it at 25.7mm. Depth was 16.6mm for the Taylor supplied Duracell and 17.1mm for the Tesco, I don't know if this would be a problem for the contacts to engage properly. It's the height of course that's the problem with the plastic cage, 43.7mm for the Duracell and 45.1mm for the Tesco. Here's a comparison picture of my batteries, and a link to Taylor's suggested fix, although some might call it a bodge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZXcdNRw1a8

[PaulWood]

I'm pretty sure most battery manufacturers quote a +/- 1mm tolerance for their 9v batteries, so there's always a chance you might buy a 'standard' battery that fits the Taylor 'cage'. I don't think the odds are too good though - I've got a tin full of 9v batteries that just don't fit my Taylors. I'm keeping them for smoke detectors but I'm guessing most will be thrown out, eventually - what a waste of money. PLEASE, TAYLOR, DO SOMETHING!