Use a 18V power tool battery connect to a regulator board bring down the voltage to 12V for the turntable power supply. Total cost included a spare battery and charger can be less than $200.
Possibly Dumb Question re:Battery as a power supply
I have bought a new Clearaudio Performance DC Wood turntable. I plan to drive to the dealer in Atlanta and pick it up next Wednesday. I have seen the wall wart power supply which comes with the TT, and it is not a pretty sight. Clearaudio sells an upgraded 12V battery and charger supply for "only" $1,200.00. I don't wish to present myself as a parsimonious individual, but $1,200.00 seems a bit steep to me. I am wondering what problems would ensue if I bought a moderately sized (say 25 or 30 lbs.) , sealed, lead acid, 12V rechargeable battery; attached the proper wires to connect to the TT, and used it as a power supply. When the battery runs down I could just take it to my workshop and use my electronic, automatic battery charger I use to recharge car, truck and tractor batteries to bring it back to full power. As little current as the TT uses this shouldn't be too frequent a chore. It is just a possibility, but if it is feasible I might try it. I would really appreciate any and all comments, criticism or warnings.
Showing 4 responses by imhififan
The OEM
wall wart
is a 12V 600mA regulated
switching
power supply, so long as a battery can supply a regulated 12V
with min. 600mA it should be find. Since the Performance DC
feathered fine speed adjustment on the back of the turntable to compensate variability
in voltage difference, I think using a 7812 regulator shouldn't cause any problem. https://hifiheaven.net/shop/image/cache/catalog/Clearaudio/12V1-750x750.JPG |
@phoenixengr, glad to see you join in this discussion, your expertise is greatly appreciated! BTW, I’ve been using the Teres battery power supply on my turntable for more than 15 years without any problem and only replaced the SLA battery about 5 years ago. The SLA battery will charge up to 13.8V if not in use. I found an internal image on the Hifitest.de review of Clearaudio smart power 12V. https://www.hifitest.de/images/testbilder/big/clearaudio-smart-power-12v-hifi-sonstiges-57224.jpg I can clearly see a LM317T regulator chip in the circuit, I could be wrong, but I think the LM317T is to regulate the output voltage while the 19V wall wart charging the NiMh battery and at the same time supply power to the turntable. In pure battery mode, I not sure if the regulator chip is in circuit or not. Without a schematic, just take a wild guess. The user manual also warn that if connect the 19V wall wart directly to the turntable instead of the OEM 12V wall wart can seriously damage the turntable! Since we don’t know what is the highest voltage the turntable can safely take, and OP also concerned if 14V will be too high for his turntable, that’s why I came out the " overthinking " dumb idea of install a simple voltage regulator between the battery and turntable. |
@terry9 ... I would never recommend connecting an expensive component to an unfused battery. And while doing that, why not protect the battery too? I mean, diodes don’t cost much ... But then again, I wouldn’t want to be accused of overthinking the OP’s investment.I totally agree with you! I believe the Clearaudio smart power 12V is using a 1.6A slow blow fuse in line with the output for protection. BTW, the goal of using battery as power supply is to improve sound quality and not for mobility or to save power, seems like adding a LDO regulator MIC29150-12 recommended by phoenixengr for over-voltage and over-current protection is not an bad idea after all. |