Battery compartment on Bongo

[ggunn]

Is anyone else having trouble with the battery compartment on their Bongo? At the most inopportune times, my bass makes this loud POP and shuts down. If I pound on the battery doors a couple of times, I get another POP and it's back on - for a while.

The problem is in the battery compartment; the negative contacts won't stay connected no matter what I do. I've tried bending them a little, resoldering the wires, bending the contacts on the batteries... nothing helps. I'm ready to tear the battery compartment out in frustration and install a couple of cheap dependable Radio Shack plain old 9V battery clips in its place.

And what is the deal with not marking the polarity anywhere? If you take both batteries out and are not paying attention... which way were they supposed to go in? They will go in either way, but reverse biasing is very bad for electronics. Oh, yeah; there's that piece of paper that came with the bass; where is that? Oh well, I'll just take out the battery compartment and see where the red wires go. Not very convenient at a gig. With those Radio Shack clips, you can't get it backwards.

Sorry for the rant, but although I love my Bongo, this business with the battery compartment is stressing me out. IMO it's a terrible design.

 

[JayDawg]

Have you contacted customer service yet? Also, how old is your Bongo?

 

[ggunn]

Have you contacted customer service yet? Also, how old is your Bongo?

I've had it about 2 1/2 years, I think. It's out of warranty, anyway. Even if I wasn't having problems with losing battery contact, though, I never did like the unmarked unpolarized compartment; it's too easy to screw up. I think I'm just going to convert it to standard battery clips and be done with it; I just posted to see if I was alone in my frustration.

 

[shakinbacon]

Is anyone else having trouble with the battery compartment on their Bongo? At the most inopportune times, my bass makes this loud POP and shuts down. If I pound on the battery doors a couple of times, I get another POP and it's back on - for a while.

The problem is in the battery compartment; the negative contacts won't stay connected no matter what I do. I've tried bending them a little, resoldering the wires, bending the contacts on the batteries... nothing helps. I'm ready to tear the battery compartment out in frustration and install a couple of cheap dependable Radio Shack plain old 9V battery clips in its place.

And what is the deal with not marking the polarity anywhere? If you take both batteries out and are not paying attention... which way were they supposed to go in? They will go in either way, but reverse biasing is very bad for electronics. Oh, yeah; there's that piece of paper that came with the bass; where is that? Oh well, I'll just take out the battery compartment and see where the red wires go. Not very convenient at a gig. With those Radio Shack clips, you can't get it backwards.

Sorry for the rant, but although I love my Bongo, this business with the battery compartment is stressing me out. IMO it's a terrible design.

Never had that problem. The doors were tight for me, but I took care of it.

There are markings on the sides of the doors for the 9V showing positive and negative. Its hard to see admittedly but its there. Last I checked the batteries would only go in one way so I'm surprised you're having issues. I could be wrong though.

Customer service is superb so I suggest you give them a chance to help you out.

 

[ggunn]

Never had that problem. The doors were tight for me, but I took care of it.

There are markings on the sides of the doors for the 9V showing positive and negative. Its hard to see admittedly but its there. Last I checked the batteries would only go in one way so I'm surprised you're having issues. I could be wrong though.

Customer service is superb so I suggest you give them a chance to help you out.

You are correct on both counts ; I stand corrected. It took a magnifying glass and a high intensity light, but I found the marks. Just positive, though. That's OK, even I can figure it out from there. I never really tried to put the batteries in backwards, I guess. Whew. I feel better already.

I still have the contact problem, though. I'll call customer service as you suggest. Thanks.

 

[bovinehost]

The contacts are bendable sometimes without meaning to so I'm careful when I changed my batteries. In any case, no, I've not had that problem, but CS can hook you up with a replacement battery box.

 

[russinator]

There has been previous discussion that battery sizes are different. It was mentioned that a piece of busness card at the bottom end of the battery can make up the difference on "short" batteries. This may or may not be your problem.

 

[shakinbacon]

You are correct on both counts ; I stand corrected. It took a magnifying glass and a high intensity light, but I found the marks. Just positive, though. That's OK, even I can figure it out from there. I never really tried to put the batteries in backwards, I guess. Whew. I feel better already.

I still have the contact problem, though. I'll call customer service as you suggest. Thanks.

You're right, there are only "+" signs... I stand corrected

Thanks for checking and replying. Good luck with your Bongo

 

[Moose308]

Suggestion 1 - get a dab of liquid paper (or other white paint) and hit that little + symbol. Let it dry, and then gently rub it off. Should leave a highly visible black + against a white dot. Makes it much easier to spot during a battery change.

Suggestion 2 - The short battery issue. The previous comment about a buisness card to take up the slack is an excellent solution.

Suggestion 3 - the fat terminal on 9V batteries are not always square to the battery. I have had had to use pliers to rotate or twist the terminal just a little on some batteries to get it to not interfere with the box.

Suggestion 4 - The terminals can get oxidized/corroded. Some metal polish and a Q-Tip can clean them up nicely.

 

[Steve-O]

Duracells fit these battery boxes perfectly, unlike some other brands.

 

[Powman]

Duracells fit these battery boxes perfectly, unlike some other brands.

I stick with Duracells for that same reason.

 

[djaxup]

Varta works, too. I love that i don't have to fiddle with screws or try to pop those pesky connectors to the cells... i found the + sign on first sight, lucky me. I think of them like pistol speed loaders.

 

[tiffles]

personally i love the design of the battery compartment, I've had so many basses with really rubbish battery designs, the catches break and you have to replace the whole thing. I love the way these little ones come out and flip open, easiest thing ive had to change for ages.

customer service is the way to go if after a few years they have taken a bashing.... they are fantastic, most friendly people on the planet

 

[Steve-O]

I never did like the unmarked unpolarized compartment; it's too easy to screw up.on.

The compartment on mine doesn't feel like it would even close with the battery in backwards. I can easily tell if I put it in wrong.

 

[vates]

I still have the contact problem, though. I'll call customer service as you suggest. Thanks.

So? What did they suggest?

I had the same terrible issue at the gig yesterday. Some napkings stuffed into the compartment and healthy strips of masking tape over the compartment saved the night but I don't think that such solution is an appropriate for such an instrument.

 

[JayDawg]

So? What did they suggest?

I had the same terrible issue at the gig yesterday. Some napkings stuffed into the compartment and healthy strips of masking tape over the compartment saved the night but I don't think that such solution is an appropriate for such an instrument.

I would recommend calling customer service as well on Monday or contacting a Music Man dealer near you since you are in Kyiv, Ukraine. I don't think they would think what happened with you is appropriate behavior for the bass either but there are a lot of unknown factors that could have come into play to cause the issue. As a result, talk to them first and give them a chance to resolve your issue before you go on a forum and talk negatively about what has happened. The customer service folks at EBMM really are great people to deal with.

 

[keko]

Duracells fit these battery boxes perfectly, unlike some other brands.

I stick with Duracells for that same reason.

Varta works, too. I

I stick with Duracells too, ...even Varta was good on my previous Sterling, but Duracell fits perfect, ...I recently changed batteries for a first time on my reflex and tried to install Panasonic...nothing (shorter) no contact, ...before on Sterling tried Kodak , ...nothing (too long) can't clip back plastic cover !!!

So, ...Duracell or Varta (Alkaline) ...so far, so good!!!

 

[vates]

Thank you for your suggestion, Mr. Ralston, I will definitely do that on Monday. Meanwhile, I would like to become aware of other EBMM customers' experience on the matter. I really think that EBMM company forum is an appropriate place to share your experience regarding their products. More to it, I'm strongly concerned that such negative experience - although bitter - will assist EBMM specialists in further better engineering of their products. Thanks again.

 

[bovinehost]

Well, for the record, I have six or seven Bongos, I think, and have owned probably twenty or thirty along the way, and I find the battery box to be easy to understand and a rather nice design feature. It's not a complex piece of machinery and if you do damage it somehow, it's simple to fix or replace.

And while I appreciate everyone's opinions and experience, customer service issues are exactly that.

Jack

 

[JayDawg]

Thank you for your suggestion, Mr. Ralston, I will definitely do that on Monday. Meanwhile, I would like to become aware of other EBMM customers' experience on the matter. I really think that EBMM company forum is an appropriate place to share your experience regarding their products. More to it, I'm strongly concerned that such negative experience - although bitter - will assist EBMM specialists in further better engineering of their products. Thanks again.

Vates,

Wasn't trying to be rude to you but many times BP has kindly asked on here that if a person does have an issue with their EBMM bass or guitar to call EBMM customer service first. Was just trying to give you a heads up on that, that was all.