Fishman Mini Charge blinking light

Kalani · #1 06-22-2020, 02:16 PM

Anyone know why my Fishman Loudbox Mini Charge’s charging light is blinking rapidly? I haven’t used it in a while and when I plugged it in, the charging light started blinking rapidly (which it never did before). Is my battery toast?

Kalani · #2 06-23-2020, 11:10 AM

No one?

Anyone with a battery-powered amp experience something similar?

jonfields45 · #3 06-23-2020, 11:27 AM

Fishman Tech support is very good and answers the phone. If it has never happened before, I would suspect the battery died. SLA batteries are cheap but as we all know from owning cars not supper long lasting or without trouble. Fully discharging an SLA will shorten its life.

Kalani · #4 06-23-2020, 11:57 AM

Thanks Jon! It’s been sitting awhile and was probably fully discharged. Glad I didn’t sell my Roland AC-33! Think I’ll stick with the regular-battery powered amps.

89bruin · #5 06-23-2020, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonfields45

Fishman Tech support is very good and answers the phone. If it has never happened before, I would suspect the battery died. SLA batteries are cheap but as we all know from owning cars not supper long lasting or without trouble. Fully discharging a SLA will shorten its life.

The last email I see Fishman regarding tech support on my mini charge was never answered ...

Kalani · #6 06-23-2020, 01:04 PM

Can anyone recommend a good replacement battery for this amp?

MarkF_48 · #7 06-23-2020, 02:52 PM

About 6:12 in the linked video he mentions a battery he got on Amazon or eBay. I would contact Fishman first and make sure the blinking light is an indication of a bad battery and see what their battery price is shipped. If the price is reasonable from Fishman I'd suggest going with what they sell.
They didn't make battery replacement easy.

https://youtu.be/UWiTI-mZCms

Kalani · #8 06-24-2020, 09:21 PM

Thanks for the info guys!

TubeG · #9 06-26-2020, 05:56 PM

12V5A SLA batteries needs be replaced about 12 months depending on usage. it is a small battery for a 60 watt amp. Looks it is very difficult to replace as well.

dnf777 · #10 06-27-2020, 03:43 PM

I love my mini, but will pass on the charge model. If battery really needs replaced annually, the engineers should have provided an access port or hatch. From the linked video, looks it needs disassembled to darn near individual components to change the battery.

jonfields45 · #11 06-27-2020, 05:27 PM

The replacement is time consuming, but not challenging. The battery itself is cheap cheap cheap (in particular compared to the $100 Bose wants). I would not get too concerned about getting the Fishman version. If an applied glass mat version (AGM SLA) is available with the same form factor, that would be a nice upgrade. These batteries primarily fail by shorting out and the glass mat makes sure that can't happen.

Most of us will never need to replace the Fishman's battery due to good luck or not too much usage.

Cuki79 · #12 06-28-2020, 01:43 AM

It's like changing the battery from your scooter or Vespa.

Here is a video changing his AER compact mobile lead-acid batteries. (You can also change them with a single big one).

BoneDigger · #13 06-30-2020, 05:03 PM

The fast blinking light means the battery is bad. I had to replace the battery in my Mini Charge. It's not very difficult and I bought a replacement from Batteries Plus for something like $20. The job does take some time as it requires taking the amp apart.

Kalani · #14 06-30-2020, 06:17 PM

That’s what I was afraid of. Guess I’ll do the replacement; at least it’s cheap! Is it better to keep a full charge to prolong the new battery’s life?

jonfields45 · #15 06-30-2020, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kalani

That’s what I was afraid of. Guess I’ll do the replacement; at least it’s cheap! Is it better to keep a full charge to prolong the new battery’s life?

SLA batteries clearly store for long periods in stores before you buy them. But it is generally recommended to charge them on the order of every 3-6 months. You don't need to be compulsive about this, but in all likelihood the battery charger built into the Fishman amp is smart enough to trickle charge (tend) the battery if you just leave the amp plugged into a wall socket. Alternately you could plug it in every 3-6 months.

Battery tenders to trickle charge infrequently driven car batteries are pretty standard stock items at automotive supply stores. That is basically the same issue.