The weird battery problem

[TaylorMate]

Today the 9v battery of my new 512 with ES2 passed out. Left my guitar hooked up to my AER for some time. Didn't remember the known fact that you should not do that with an active pick-up (had only passive K&K's installed over the last years). I quickly bought a new Duracell Durablock, the one that came with my new guitar. But no...! Of course...! Too big, grrrr...  It did not fit into the cartridge Such a weird problem - see the pics.

I needed my guitar for a recording, so I decided to bring into practice the earlier advice I gave on this forum. With a heated Stanley knife I cut out carefully the rear side of the cartridge. The rest of the cartridge (and the spring) keeps the battery perfectly in place. Be sure you insert the battery in the correct +/– pole position (NB: you find marks in the bottom of the cartridge).

I was not afraid to do it, because when I visited Taylor Amsterdam the other day, where they had just given a dealer instruction on the ES2 system I found exactly(!) the same solution on the table. They might have been reading my suggestion in the earlier thread . So don't be afraid if you come across the same problem. And I'm sure that many of you will do. When will Taylor finally change their cartridges?

[Saxacat]

The problem is with the ANSI specifications for the batteries.

When I encountered the same problem trying to squeeze a new battery into my Taylor I did some investigating.

Whereas the ANSI specs for the distance between the terminals is very tight +/- 0.25mm; the specs for the height, width and thickness can all vary by +/- 1.0mm.

So in theory you could get two 9v batteries; one could be 2mm wider, 2mm taller and 2mm thicker than the other; but they could both be within the ANSI specifications for the battery size.

I imagine trying to make a cartridge that accommodates all the possible size variations of 9v batteries' must be a real headache. Do you go with a cartridge that will fit them all, but then may well have a battery rattling around in it? Or a cartridge that accommodates the median size, and will therefore not accommodate some of the batteries?

[Earl]

You nailed it, Saxacat.  The battery bodies vary and it is tough to manufacture a battery holder to accommodate the full variance in dimensions.  It is a bit surprising that a Duracell battery that fit was replaced by another Duracell that did not.  I tend to use Duracell for everything (sound meters and other test equipment) in part to avoid this problem.  Lithium 9V's are bigger bodied, and tight in certain applications.  These are normally sold as long-life batteries for smoke detectors.  I use them in test equipment that has to work in cold weather, because of the favorable voltage / temperature curve.  In some cases, I have had to carefully remove the wrapping label on the battery case to make it fit something.

When Taylor first switched to 9V for the ES system they recommended wrapping the 9V battery with a post-it note if it rattled in the holder.  That worked for length and width, but does not address excess height.

TaylorMate, I would have suggested trying another brand of 9V battery to see if they would work OK, but you seem to have solved the problem.

[Edward]

BTW, don't ever buy a RayOVac battery.  It fits into the battery holder just fine, but then won't fully slide into the guitar ...too fat!!  I found this out during sound check ...a bad time to find out!

Duracell and Energizer ...both the standard off-the-shelf as well as the "industrial" packs that are bulk-ordered work perfectly fine in Taylors.

Edward

[ritchie69]

Hi everybody, this is my first post in this forum, I'm from Italy.
Recently I bought a 710ce ES2 and I encountered the same battery holder problem.
I quickly discovered that none of the duracells I've been able to find in stores here in rome fits well in the battery holder, so I started to search for other brands, and just today I found that the Panasonic Alkaline Power fit the holder perfectly, in fact the dimensions perfectly match the original duracell fitted from taylor factory.