Yamaha THR10 - problems playing on battery power

[gbross]

Returned my THR10.

New one showing up on Weds. If same problem exists ... it's a design issue and hopefully Yamaha can issue a firmware update that is updateable via USB.

[Tracy Evans]

Poor Yamaha. This has been a doubled product launch with multiple delays, manufacturing problems and such. I hope it doesn't mar the rep of this really cool product. I really enjoy my THR10 (but I still have not tested it on batteries!)

[fataxeman]

I do not have any new information. Maybe I will call Yamaha tomorrow. Gbross, please let me know what happens with your new unit.

[gbross]

New unit arrived. Issue still exists when using battery power.

Basically it boils down to this: if you have the gain, master and guitar volume set very high and you strum hard the amp will shut down. This does not happen when powering the amp via AC. And I don't know if it's my imagination or not but it seems that the amp sounds better when plugged into AC.

I also noticed this ... when on battery power and gain, volume etc are set to high AND you have headphones plugged in - the AMP WILL NOT SHUT OFF.

So it looks like I will always travel and perform with the power cable. I'm not happy about this but I am willing to put up with it for the compactness and weight of the THR 10 when flying to gigs.

[fataxeman]

Thanks for the update gbross. Yamaha customer service basically says that they are keeping the engineers informed but they offered no imminent fix of any kind.

I may just get another one with the expectation of playing it via a.c. power most of the time. I will probably spring for the more expensive eneloop batteries and see if that proves adequate. Still, it is troubling when the product does not live up to its billing and there is obviously a serious flaw. It is curious why some people are able to get 4-5 hours of operation from the unit but they have not really provided info on battery type used and gain/master volume settings.

[gbross]

I have no problem with battery life. I still have not depleted a set of batteries. If I keep the volume low the unit works fine. The problem is the shutting down at high gain/master ... it's similar to blowing a fuse or tripping a circuit breaker.

Battery life of 6 hours - I believe it as long as the volume is low.

[1wheel]

My guess (I don't have one yet) is that the voltage sensor (an A/D or voltage comparator) is set to drop out at the 9V level to protect rechargeable batteries. Rechargeables will be damaged if discharged too low and 1.1V is typical for a 'stop discharge' point for LiIon and NiMH.

The sensor circuit may NOT have an integrating (low pass filter) capacitor to ignore negative voltage excursions when you are playing loud along with music(simultaneous current peaks).

Guessing Yamaha will modify the circuit to add that filter. Not much (short of self modifiying the unit) users can do but wait for a new revision of hardware. I'm not sure this will be a software correctable thing (unless it is a A/D sample)..

[fataxeman]

Originally Posted by 1wheel

My guess (I don't have one yet) is that the voltage sensor (an A/D or voltage comparator) is set to drop out at the 9V level to protect rechargeable batteries. Rechargeables will be damaged if discharged too low and 1.1V is typical for a 'stop discharge' point for LiIon and NiMH.

The sensor circuit may NOT have an integrating (low pass filter) capacitor to ignore negative voltage excursions when you are playing loud along with music(simultaneous current peaks).

Guessing Yamaha will modify the circuit to add that filter. Not much (short of self modifiying the unit) users can do but wait for a new revision of hardware. I'm not sure this will be a software correctable thing (unless it is a A/D sample)..

I used 2 different brand new packages of batteries. One was Rayovac alkaline and the other was Duracell alkaline. I measured one set of the batteries at 11.2 volts after taking them out of the amp.

The amp was cutting off under moderate gain/master (meaning about 12 o'clock position on both) in merely seconds...way less than 10 seconds. At the time, there was no ipod/cd auxiliary input at all. It did this on 3 different samples of the amp. On the 2nd sample of the amp, it was tried with no less than 4 different guitars/cables.

[chandlerman]

Any updates on this? Mine also shuts down when using battery power and high volume. I've used freshly charged rechargeables and brand new Duracells, same problem either way.

[chandlerman]

I just now called Yamaha tech support. The guy I spoke with acknowledged the problem and said there is no fix at this time. He said I should turn the volume down half way. I told him that if my car stopped working at 60 mph that would be a defect and driving around at 30 mph would not be an acceptable solution. He had no response at all to that. I asked him why Yamaha continues to sell these amps with a known defect without informing customers. His response was "that is the decision" and "it is what it is".

[msteeln]

Originally Posted by chandlerman

His response was "that is the decision" and "it is what is".

You nailed him, and he failed you, they are chumping on this.

[gurumonkey]

A. that sucks.
B. to be fair to the poor guy who has to answer calls like that, I'm sure it wasn't his decision. Hopefully he will pass on the info and the way it's frustrating customers and something will come of it.

[chandlerman]

Originally Posted by gurumonkey

A. that sucks.
B. to be fair to the poor guy who has to answer calls like that, I'm sure it wasn't his decision. Hopefully he will pass on the info and the way it's frustrating customers and something will come of it.

Absolutely. The guy I spoke with seemed embarrassed and was not at all comfortable with the position he had been put in by his employers. I respect him for telling the truth even though he knew I wouldn't like it. I'm glad he told it like it really is rather than giving me some line of BS. But I'll never again buy a Yamaha product unless they make this right.

[barron]

This is a very informative thread but yet sad at the same time. C'mon Yamaha, get it together. This amp at one time seemed very promising.

[Kyle76]

My rep at Sweetwater says these amps are out of stock and won't be available for 1-2 months. I wonder if Yamaha is addressing this issue with a hardware update?