MPC 60 battery: What does it do, what kind, where to get, ho

Did a search of it already and couldn't find much info. Battery and mpc in the same phrase in google search ends up with a lot of "battery daw" stuff out of the search.

My knowledge, the battery, all it does is save the names you assign per midi output channel, and that's it, correct? And the rest is saved to floppy. If so, I think I would even change it out, since I don't even have that many synths/machines hooked up to it anyways, and I pretty much remember which channels my machines are on already. But, if the battery does more than that, I might change it. But I would remove it regardless, just in case of battery leakage and corrosion.

My battery is def out, since the names don't save.

What kind of battery? Where to get? How to change it? My research someone said that it is a PIA to change, hardest battery change out of all the synths and drum machines he's ever changed, because the battery is in an awkward location underneath the motherboard and requires extensive disassembly of the MPC.

And, is there a better "mod" to change/switch it out with a battery holder for easier changes next time? Will any work as long as it's 3V? What about a dual AA holder?

Any help appreciated..

battery model is in the manual if I remember correctly...

and it also saves general parameters like what midi outputs you are using, what timing you are set to... and general things so you dont have to keep re-configuring your set up every time you make a new project.

fooddude wrote: My research someone said that it is a PIA to change, hardest battery change out of all the synths and drum machines he's ever changed, because the battery is in an awkward location underneath the motherboard and requires extensive disassembly of the MPC.

Yes you will have to take apart the MPC -- there are around 25 screws that will need to be removed -- in my opinion it is more of a pain to open the case to look inside than it is to remove the boards once the case is opened. If you are organized when you disassemble the MPC it should not take very much time to unscrew the boards, solder the battery in and screw the boards back together again. Should take well under an hour to do.

There are far worse machines to repair.

fooddude wrote:

And, is there a better "mod" to change/switch it out with a battery holder for easier changes next time? Will any work as long as it's 3V? What about a dual AA holder?

Any help appreciated..

You need 3V. However you choose to do it, it will work as long as the voltage is right. It's entirely up to you. You may not have enough clearance to put a coin cell holder in as it will be taller and you do not want the battery shorting out to the board above.

The drain on the battery is pretty low anyway, even if you put a coin cell holder in, you will still have to disassemble some of the boards to reach the battery -- I would just replace the battery with a similar one and not worry about it. The original battery is a CL2020 (you will not easily find a replacement) but a CR2032 will work in its place and last longer -- just make sure the battery you select matches the dimensions of the one you are replacing.

MPCHunter wrote: but a CR2032 will work in its place and last longer

yeah which is the same battery the sega saturn uses and I believe the sega dreamcast too.... it lasts a few years in those machines.

I think I will just find & solder in a new dual AA battery holder, since AA is so common and for super easy future battery changes... Planning to just velcro the holder (to keep from jigglin around) to an empty space somewhere inside the 60 with longer wires from the board (no need to disassemble the boards for future changes, just pop open and swap the AA's) ...has anyone tried this, AA holders? ...hope it'll work..I think it will from all the pics i've seen, seems like theres plenty of room in there for one.

Just installed a new dual AA holder and everything works nice!

Velcroed the holder in the big empty space in front next to the pads, so future changes, I don't even need to disassemble the boards (try that with a coin holder, ha).

Wasn't too hard at all. The hard part was I spotted one or 2 loose plugs and had to fix their solder joints too. Kinda hard on these spot problems, since everytime I plugged a problem plug's joint back in, it easily broke the solder joint. It was because some copper lines on the PCB board were cracked, and not the solder itself. Fixed by trailing some hot solder to connect to the areas where there was still good copper line on the PCB.

Good stuff. 2 AA's is the same V as one of them C2032. Also, a single AA has 1500-2700mAh, as compared to a whimpy 150-225mAh of a little coin battery = much longer lasting memory

Planning to do all my synths that use 3v coin backup batteries with dual AA holders.

Got the great idea from my 909 (which uses 2 AA for backup) and also a few comments from Juno users saying to just replace those dumb coin batteries with a dual AA holder.

you probably get more ma/h too....