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  #1  
Old 05-03-2020, 07:20 AM
Mr Cook Mr Cook is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2017
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Default Fishman rare earth blend eating batterys

Hi all,
Can anybody advise me on the problem of my battery hungry Fishman RE blend the first version, I've installed it and it seems to be constantly on even with no jack plugged in, new batteries 5 days ago and hey prest today dead again, i have altered the endpin jack but i cant see that being a problem or is it ?.
Thanks.
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  #2  
Old 05-29-2020, 11:30 PM
M Hayden M Hayden is offline
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Location: The Glorious East SF Bay, CA
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The endpin jack on a Rare Earth pickup is a Fishman Switchjack, a ‘switching jack,’ which uses the barrel of the 1/4” plug to complete a circuit and turn the pickup on (and hence start using the battery) when the 1/4’ plug is inserted.

If you modified the endpin jack, chances are good that the new one (or the mod) is wired to not use the switching function, so the battery will be on all the time and drain rapidly whether or not the instrument is plugged in - 5 days is about 145 hours, which is about right for battery life.

Here’s instructions for how the Fishman switchjack should be wired to switch on and off:
https://www.fishman.com/wp-content/u...tall-Guide.pdf

Last edited by M Hayden; 05-30-2020 at 12:53 AM.
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Old 03-02-2023, 12:55 PM
JRBondy JRBondy is offline
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Default switching function

Quote:
Originally Posted by M Hayden View Post
The endpin jack on a Rare Earth pickup is a Fishman Switchjack, a ‘switching jack,’ which uses the barrel of the 1/4” plug to complete a circuit and turn the pickup on (and hence start using the battery) when the 1/4’ plug is inserted.

If you modified the endpin jack, chances are good that the new one (or the mod) is wired to not use the switching function, so the battery will be on all the time and drain rapidly whether or not the instrument is plugged in - 5 days is about 145 hours, which is about right for battery life.

Here’s instructions for how the Fishman switchjack should be wired to switch on and off:
https://www.fishman.com/wp-content/u...tall-Guide.pdf
Can you tell me what wire goes to what lug on the output jack...there is 3 lugs, a short one, a medium length one & a long one...I understand the white wire goes to the short lug, but which of the other two lugs does the red wire attach to? I know the cooper wire is a ground which is attached to the very large outside lug. Sorry for sounding stupid but the instructions on the link don't address my issue & I'm confused. Thanks
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Old 03-02-2023, 01:17 PM
Rudy4 Rudy4 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JRBondy View Post
Can you tell me what wire goes to what lug on the output jack...there is 3 lugs, a short one, a medium length one & a long one...I understand the white wire goes to the short lug, but which of the other two lugs does the red wire attach to? I know the cooper wire is a ground which is attached to the very large outside lug. Sorry for sounding stupid but the instructions on the link don't address my issue & I'm confused. Thanks
Here's the pin out for the Fishman Switchjack:

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