Bongo - ocassional pops

[lipan]

Hi there.

My bongo 5 HS makes a pop noise every now and then. Is it a sign of a dying battey perhaps? I doesn't distort as is supposed to when batteries die. The batteries themselves are in there for quite some time now.

Thanks.

 

[Tollywood]

I would change the batteries and see what happens. If you still have the pop, it wasn't the batteries.

 

[jlepre]

Long shot, but you're not pushing down hard on the strings near the pickup and making the strings touch the poles are ya?

 

[lipan]

Long shot, but you're not pushing down hard on the strings near the pickup and making the strings touch the poles are ya?

I am not, at least I think I am not. I am consciously tryint to lighten my touch lately. I gues I'll just replace the batteries and see what happens. Hope it's nothing wrong with the preamp.

M

 

[Gravesend Black]

If you have extra low strings settings you might get that pops even with very light touching I guess.

 

[lipan]

I am sure it's not the strings hitting the polepieces. It crackles a little first and then it pops. Any idea?

 

[keko]

Possible output jack in the bass problem, or battery contact problem, I believe?

Check Your cable and other chain of components too ...etc.

 

[lipan]

Ok, I checked the batteries. Only 5,5V each when I measured the voltage!! What is the treshold for changing the batteries on your bongos and other 18V preamp basses guys?

M

 

[KevinM]

Ok, I checked the batteries. Only 5,5V each when I measured the voltage!! What is the treshold for changing the batteries on your bongos guys?

M

I think it's 8.3

 

[keko]

8.5 V is my personal limit, ...but like I wrote before, 6 months is average period for changing a batteries, no matter how often You play (my personal testing under a very hard and brutal circumstances).

 

[lipan]

8.5 V is my personal limit, ...but like I wrote before, 6 months is average period for changing a batteries, no matter how often You play (my personal testing under a very hard and brutal circumstances).

Thanks Keko, I'll keep that in mind. Did you already get your new bongo?

M

 

[keko]

Thanks Keko, I'll keep that in mind. Did you already get your new bongo?

M

No problem,

...my Bongo is somewhere - out there, ...on the way, ...all I know is that has been left a factory warehouse!

 

[tbonesullivan]

Does the noise happen when you are playing hard? Since the preamps are not designed to be overdriven, when they "distort" it will sound more like crackle than anything else. Not a very pleasant sound.

I see that your batteries are at 5.5V... that's past due for replacement. The "official" EBMM threshold for replacement is 8.4V I believe.

 

[Golem]

`

I guess thaz a sorta "hazard" of the dual-battery
set-up, that it can limp along at 5.5v. I doubt a
single-battery bass would play at all, prolly just
croak out at about 7v !

Just in case you didn't know this, the 2 batteries
are run in parallel. So 2x 5.5v is NOT 11v ... It's
still just 5.5v :-/

 

[tbonesullivan]

Just in case you didn't know this, the 2 batteries
are run in parallel. So 2x 5.5v is NOT 11v ... It's
still just 5.5v :-/

are you sure? I've seen the Bongo advertised as having an 18V preamp, which would require the two 9V batteries to be run in series.

 

[lipan]

Does the noise happen when you are playing hard? Since the preamps are not designed to be overdriven, when they "distort" it will sound more like crackle than anything else. Not a very pleasant sound.

I see that your batteries are at 5.5V... that's past due for replacement. The "official" EBMM threshold for replacement is 8.4V I believe.

The noise happened randomly, even when I was not playing at all. Anyway, I changed the batteries and so far no crackles and pops. Looks like it was the batteries after all. At least I hope so. Need a few more hours of playing to be completely sure.

M

 

[MrGameChanger]

Shoot me a PM if the problem comes back.

 

[Golem]

are you sure? I've seen the Bongo advertised as having an 18V preamp, which
would require the two 9V batteries to be run in series.

OKaaaayyyy I do stand corrected !!!

However, thaz an even worse problem with those 5.5v nearly dead batteries.
At best you have 11v to run an 18v system, since the batteries tested at 5.5v.
BUT ... depending on the design and condition of the batteries, they may not
actually produce even as little as 11v together in series, if in their fatigued
condition they have developed an internal resistance. Anywho, they should be
discarded [ooops ...RECYCLED!] long before they drop to 5.5v.