Battery Power Supply

[jkeny]

Just a note of appreciation to jkeny for his best capacitor discovery.

Not to forget his acolyte, nige2000, who brought the message to those who would listen ...

Thanks Rick
Absolutely, Fran & Nige, both bring lots of insight to the whole computer audio area & went places I am hesitant to go.
Yes & Nige has opened up the concepts to a wider audience - as you say, those who have the wit to listen

[jkeny]

Just a note of appreciation to jkeny for his best capacitor discovery.

Not to forget his acolyte, nige2000, who brought the message to those who would listen ...

i came in through the side door,
after fran found linear supply was better to power a pico psu,
multiple linear supplies were all the rage until i brought in two 80-100 amp/hour sla batteries to power a pico
3 alkaline batteries in series to power the os
the aim was then to get picoless status (no switch regs pre mobo)
lifepo4 was the prime candidate for the 3.3v supply as i had a cuinas i liked the speed and noise floor
it was soon realised that lifepo4 had superior qualities and then was used throughout

the little bit of electronics knowledge i have is based on what ive learnt from fran and Jkeny (mostly dac stuff)

Yes, Nige, it seems so long ago now but I remember your journey from pico psu through to sla batteries & then LiFePO4s

Thanks, Nige, but your instincts & good ears have also played a large part in your progress.

The problem with electronic engineers seems to be that they are sometimes limited by their own knowledge - even open-minded ones like John Swenson. It can take someone thinking outside the box & doing some empirical tests to open up a new approach. This is why theory takes second place to empiricism or to put it another way listening beats theory.

As a learned & wise man, Garret Fitzgerald, used to say - it works in practise, now let's see if it works in theory!!

[randytsuch]

Yes, Nige, it seems so long ago now but I remember your journey from pico psu through to sla batteries & then LiFePO4s

Thanks, Nige, but your instincts & good ears have also played a large part in your progress.

The problem with electronic engineers seems to be that they are sometimes limited by their own knowledge - even open-minded ones like John Swenson. It can take someone thinking outside the box & doing some empirical tests to open up a new approach. This is why theory takes second place to empiricism or to put it another way listening beats theory.

As a learned & wise man, Garret Fitzgerald, used to say - it works in practise, now let's see if it works in theory!!

Well said John.
Kind of what I was complaining about in the other thread I started about listening, there are many people at other forums where, if they can't come up with a reason for something, then it can't be true :). So, they won't even consider it's possible.

Randy

[nige2000]

its funny how education and knowledge can become a limiting factor
lucky i am not bound by such constraints :)

[jkeny]

its funny how education and knowledge can become a limiting factor
lucky i am not bound by such constraints :)

Yes but the truly knowledgeable know that they only know a fraction of the whole - reality has many unsuspected surprises even the man-made world of electronics & audio when it involves the relatively unmapped area of auditory perception.

Generally, engineers are trained in the rules of their particular area of study electronic, civil, chemical, etc - scientists tend to do the empirical investigation that can lead to a better understanding of the workings of the world & eventually to a set of rules that engineers adhere to

It's the one's that deny anything outside of their world-view that are usually the most condescending & most vocal on audio forums & unfortunately, those forums are perfect platforms & it's probably what attracts them? But we all have a world-view & we all have our limitations too.

[nige2000]

what amazes me is these people are smart enough to have some good knowledge
but yet can stupid enough to think they know everything

[sima66]

It's a blessing to be able to see your own stupidity..........or you just have to be smart enough!

[rickmcinnis]

To repeat that most humbling old saying - the more you know the more you find you don't know.

And my favorite foible: those that pretend to engage in "science" by reading textbooks. Science always begins with an observation, by someone trying something that has not been done before and proceeding from there whether they like what they find or not.

I have been disappointed by Swenson's dependency on what is known versus trying out something different. Making as Declan McManus sang, "a brilliant mistake".

Following the known can bring about good products and I am sure Mr. Swenson has many he can point to. He is a good synthesizer and that is almost as useful as being a good observer with an intrepid curiosity but it will never make the breakthrough finding as only the latter has any chance of doing.

It all looks like an evolution looking backwards. Discovery can seem inevitable with hindsight but one wonders what would happen without those taking a chance? My sincere thanks to the ones that take the chance.

[rickmcinnis]

Seems my battery computer supply's batteries are now useless.

When I started my SOEKRIS sojourn I left the chargers on.

Can there be something about this that batteries do not like? Guess it has been, at least, three months.

Do batteries need exercise? Is maintaining a constant voltage without any depletion periods destructive?

[jkeny]

Rick, are these SLAs you are using?
What is the recommended use for your SLA charger - does it float charge?
Float charging an SLA battery shouldn't cause any damage.

Are you sure your charger is working & was plugged in? If it wasn't charging but connected to battery, it may have drained the battery (is there no voltage on that battery?)
If that's the problem then the plates are probably sulfated i.e. sulphur from the sulphuric acid has coated the plates.
The battery can usually be recovered by knocking the sulphur off the plates with pulses of high voltage & other methods - just search for battery desulfation