Ripcord for MK1

Can I ask what power bank do I need?, would a 45w powerbank be sufficient?, also worried would about the ripcord frying the electronics, so not sure what could of safety protection they have against surges?

The Mk1 has a 6V 3A psu - so 18W, but the 6V spec will narrow options

What do you mean? Surges are a grid fault problem. Unless you are buying the cheapest batteries possible you shouldn’t get surges from batteries.

(Buy Anker)

2 Likes

I’ve had such good results with Anker products for all things power. Whether it’s a battery power bank, a solar panel charger, or a powered USB hub, Anker has not failed me. Their USB cables are great too.

2 Likes

Thanks, not quite understanding the 6V. Does that mean looking for a powerbank that outputs 6V?.

Correct. Your options on 6V power banks appear limited though.

The Ripcord takes 5V from a USB-B source and delivers 6V with a limit of 12W. Amps * Volts = Watts, so 12W / 6V = 2A. The Ripcord can’t deliver enough power to power the OT at max draw. It might be able to boot the OT, but power will drop out as the OT draws more power.

1 Like

So, then the answer is no, it won’t work? I thought a 6V power bank with sufficient amperage and a converter cable would be ok?

But a ripcord specifically won’t work is what you’re saying.

It won’t work reliably, unless the OT never draws more than 2A.

A custom 6V power brick and suitable plug would do the job. The Ripcord can’t deliver more than 2A of power, so it doesn’t matter what brick you plug in. As far as I know, you need to have USB-C for your brick to deliver anything other than 5V, in the USB world.

Building battery packs could be its own hobby. I wouldn’t encourage anyone to try to DIY a battery pack for live sets. A lot of clubs are extremely unsafe in the event of smoke or fire.

What about the ones you see on ebay and I guess amazon (haven’t verified amazon) where they have a variety of voltage outputs which the user selects? I’m sure they sell them other places but that was where I was shopping when I saw them. The amperage is still too low basically?

edit: I checked the one I was thinking of and when you select 6V it only outputs 1.8 amps so makes sense.

I’d probably want to spend some time on drone / R/C forums or wherever the battery nerds are hanging out to find out what is safe and what isn’t.

In theory, batteries are easy. In practice, the worst possible outcome is a bunch of party people burnt to a crisp in a basement.

1 Like

What is the otmk1 max amp draw? Is it assumed to be 3A because that’s what the stock psu has available?

1 Like

I probably skip this, thought it be a case of just buying the ripcord and plugging in my 65w powerbank to get portable goodness.

It really should be that easy, that’s what the ripcord is advertising at least. You could try asking myvolts directly if the battery you have should work.

stock psu should be accounting for the surge that occurs during startup, that’s usually when something pulls the most juice. some devices probably operate closer to peak though, I’ve never had a meter on an OT to monitor as it operates so I can’t say with this, but if other people have had poor results, then maybe that’s the case here.

1 Like

I hardly see any options. Conventional USB to 6VDC adapters like RipCord might not output enough amps, others that I checked can’t do it too. The only a way is to look for USB-C to 6VDC Power Delivery adapter cable (can be called converter cable).

You can buy 2 RipCords that outputs 2 Amps and connect them in parallel, then there will be enough juice :slight_smile: But your battery needs to have two outputs.

Might not work since power banks with two USB A are still limited to Max 2.4 watts (at least my Anker power something 20.000 which has 2 ports out). If one USB port is drawing 2 watts the other could at maximum draw 0.4 watts. I think it’s because they are different physical ports but share the same circuit behind (capped at 2.4 watts)

However, 2.4 watts maximum should be ok for Octatrack because typical, not peak, power draw is 1.8 amps (I think I read it in the manual).

Just get a good power bank, not huge in capacity but of good quality, like said before Anker or similar. Their small 10000 capacity with quick charge (blue color USB ports) should give you 3 or 3.5 solid hours of Octatracking fun.

I got a BIRD cord to use with my AR MK1 as it’s usb c PD supports higher amperage, perhaps that would be a possibility

All people dance around ripcord only because they don’t want to bother and buy 2 wires and a DC-DC converter for a couple of bucks. And assemble your own ripcord with the necessary parameters.