Battery powered A4

Elektron Gear Analog Keys/Four
#21

I just took got the Anker from amazon UK (£49) - great bit of kit (3 USB ports so you can charge multiple phones and iPads etc)

@12V it does only give 1.5A, but plugged in to the RYTM and A4 it powered up and ran (after a few second delay) and worked a treat, Cab conform battery life is at least 4 hours running from only 70% charge, so probably 5-6 hours…

Electon should sell these on their site as an accessory- if you have the sloping stand (like Brightside) you can Velcro the supply underneath for ubber portability- I nice soft flip open case with a pocket for the battery would also work if you could route the cable through :slight_smile:

#22

Yeah I’m not good at knowing about amps and that but hopefully someone that knows electrical well can chime in that it is indeed not an issue or any concern. [/quote]
Hey Simon,

Seems strange that your Anker battery wouldn’t work but my Xoro one does when they are effectively the exact same model.

Are you sure it doesn’t work on your A4? When I connect my battery to the A4 I can’t just turn on the A4 and have it power up immediatly. You have to press the button on the side of the battery in order to ‘jumpstart’ the thing.

Here’s a video that shows how the A4 only turns on after I press the button on the battery:
https://instagram.com/p/4J5Un4ArH1[/quote]
If the descriptions are correct on Amazon, the Xoro outputs 2A on 12V, while the Anker only outputs 1.5A on 12V. 2bad4me… :([/quote]
Seems like there is indeed a difference between both battery’s despite looking exactly the same.
Xoro does 12v or 19v at 2A
Anker does 9v or 12v at 1,5A

#23

My anker isn’t working :sob: just got a chance to try. It flashes once and that’s it…

#24

Play around with the button on the side of the battery (and make sure it says 12v on the display). I had my A4 flash on and off again at first too but after fiddling with the button a bit it turned on proper.

#25

Got it to turn on once. No luck since. Maybe a formula to pressing power buttons?

#26

Simon, give this a try. Got it to start up consistently by having the rytm switched on and cable connected to the rytm. Then connecting the battery to the other end. Wait a few seconds and starts up :joy:

#27

It seems that getting the initial start up power is the issue. After it started a couple times I can just connect up and flip the tilt switch on the rytm (like normal)

#28

Happy you got it to work!

There does seem to be a little bit of a delay between switching on the A4/AR and it actually getting continuous power from the battery.

#29

Oh wow. It works! :astonished:
I need like four more of these. (Rytm or Anker ? Ha ha ha … Both? Yeah, both)
Thanks for the tip!

#30

Thanks for all the info, folks. Much appreciated.

I’m not super-comfortable with the A4/AR not powering right away, nor flipping power switches back and forth to get it up and running. Maybe its a capacitance thing? I’m gonna look into that Xoro model and see what I can find in the US with at least 2A.

Still, I’m very excited to hear this is working for so many of you. Being able to power these machines when away from home is a must-have for this summer!

#31

…just posted in this other thread as well. perhaps these could be merged together to form just one big thread about ‘portable power for elektrons and other gears’? :slight_smile: it would make it easier for people looking for this, just a thought

#32

Posted this in another forum as well, but I thought I’d let everyone know who’s interested in total Elektron Freedom ! My lunch time break at work will involve a drum machine jam at a green space nearby.

So Happy to report that I just received my RavPower Xtreme 23000mAh and it totally works with the Analog RYTM!

Ordered it in Canada with free shipping from amazon and it arrived in only a few days. Here’s the link:

http://www.amazon.ca/RAVPower%C2%AE-Multi-Voltage-UltraBook-Camcorder-Smartphone/dp/B00HFMUBYG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1436285834&sr=8-3&keywords=ravpower

Likely they are less expensive from amazon.com in the US.

Cheers,
Walter

#33

Interesting. How many hours of portability does this give you?

#34

I haven’t run the battery out yet, but my initial estimate it about 3-4 hrs based on the battery percentage. I’m also excited that it can power USB devices simultaneously. If this battery lasts as many charges as it claims, I would consider buying a second one to power a few others synths and Kenton MIDI host to complete my off the grid setup.

Picture me a few months from now busking street side elektron-style earning change to buy more synths!

#35

i always thought about such a battery to power my A4 as well. thanks for the info that this one works.

however: are there any long-term feedbacks available for those battery packs? im a bit anxious that the power supply might become unstable and may create a short fuse when used permanently over a long time. this would kill your machine and because you havent used the elektron power supply you are out of warranty.

in short: is it really safe to use those things? has someone already used that thing for - lets say - at least a year or so?

#36

Have the exact same battery for my A4, and simultaneously power my KMI Qunexus and KMI Midi Extender and works great. It’s $99. in the States from Amazon and posted this battery suggestion much earlier in thread when I discovered Tekkeon no longer produces a similar battery.
This particular RAVPower Extreme 23000mAh has safety features built-in to protect against problems and you can adjust both the voltage level and amperage on the small but effective LCD screen. You have -2- USB ports as well as a special Volts/DC port to power VDC devices. It’s about the size of a mid-sized tablet with some weight to it and comes with all the cables and tips in nice kit. The -2- USB ports have different mAh to be able to do both Apple devices and other manufacturers. You do need to charge the power bank with it’s proprietary wall charging nexus, but no complaints and when registering power bank they gave me an extra 6 months on the 1 year warranty for total of 1.5 years…not bad.
When I found out my Maine Coon Cat-Mix had chewed the not plugged-in/powered Waldorf Pulse+ power cord, I was actually able to power my Classic Pulse+ (Plus Model has various CV/Gate in/outs) at 12 VDC to determine it was still working fine before ordering a brand new power supply from ALL Electronics in California. (thank goodness it was not powered on when my cat decided to chew that one and only cable…swabbed some hot sauce on cable to prevent this happening in future, as I had never done this to my Pulse+ for some reason…it’s humane and pet-friendly…they simply hate the taste and smell…much as pepper spray is for we humans.
This has performed so well, especially with a recent power outage, am going to get another as a back-up. A solid 4 hours on A4 and KMI Qunexus/Midi Expander, and also powering a Zoom H6 via USB. More than enough for a headphone jam by the river or parks.

#37

it’s possible to feed two device simultaneously?

#38

Hello, I’m posting here because I’m looking for ways to go out in the street with my Rytm mk2, and all the batteries you have listed 5 years ago (Anker, Xoro, RAVPower) seem to be unavailable now.

I have found this one on a French website : Batterie Externe Ordinateur Universelle 20000mAh

Do you think that it can do the job? Or do you have any other ‘multi-voltage’ or 12v battery that would instead?

Otherwise, I’ve also noticed some bigger solutions like this one. The battery has 4 12v DC outputs, but no adapters. Does someone know if there is such a thing as a generic 12v plug that would fit in the Rytm?

Thanks and enjoy your day, Sam

#39

Hi @saminspire. Welcome to Elektronauts!

What duration would you like to be able to run your A4 Mk2 for?

I use the AC output of an Omnicharge 20 and it lasts for a couple of hours, on and off.

#40

Yo CitizenJ, the Omnicharge looks cool, thanks!

I’d like to be able to play for 3 to 4 hours. But I’m also looking for something to power my Korg M50 and my RC505 loopstation. I would like to run the entire setup (Rytm + Korg + Loopstation) on battery power for 3 to 4 hours (but let’s say at least 2 hours).

Actually I think I’m gonna buy this thing. It has 4 12v DC outputs as well as a 220v AC inverter. I could plug the Rytm and the Korg on 12v DC (and this is cool because 220v AC to 12v DC converters seem to waste a lot of power), I would just have to find some DC cables (but maybe this is what I’m looking for)

And I could plug the loopstation on the 220v AC output (cause the loopstation runs on 9v and not 12v, so here I would have to use the inverter and converter).

(the goal is to connect the whole setup to my JBL xtreme and then go busking in the street)