Les Lius - goes through batteries really quick!!

[Del Pickup]

I intended to take my Les Lius to the local jam night last night so put a brand new battery in it on Wednesday evening and had been playing for no more than 15 - 20 minutes when, although the lights didn't dim at all, the pedal stopped working.

I put it back on my pedalboard and connected the power supply to it (it usually stays permanently on my board) and, hey presto, the pedal works again with no problems!

It was a brand new battery straight out the packet and when I checked the charge left in it, it was down to about 50%.

My other OD pedals (TS9 and Hotcake) can have batteries in them for months and still work when the batteries start to get a bit tired.

I know that most modulation pedals eat batteries but I've always been under the impression that OD pedals didn't have the same current draw.

Any suggestions as to what might be the problem here?

[lefty73]

Could be that the pedal's minimum current required to properly exceeds that of worn batteries. With the LL being essentially two pedals in one (compared to your TS9 and Crowther) the current draw for the LL is probably (a wild guess here) greater than a 9V battery can handle for a good amount of time.

Sounds to me like if you plan on using it, feed the LL some DC power from your pedalboard power supply.

[NWinther]

Is it not relay equipped??
Maybe it is a thirsty one!

[Lostinthe50s]

Was it an Alkaline battery or a "heavy duty"? What was the expiry date on the package? By 50% charge do you mean voltage dropped to 4.5 volts?

4.5v is dead, pedal needs more than that. Can't measure 50% charge without draining the battery. Once voltage drops from 9v battery is near death.

Always buy Alkaline batteries, they have double the power storage as "heavy duty". Check the date code, it isn't like milk, batteries slowly discharge on the shelf. Usually the expiry date is 5-7 yrs so if it's on sale for cheap and the date is only a year away, it is partially discharged right out of the pack.

Of course, it could just be that the LL is power hungry...

I've seen people complain about power consumption of things only to find out they are buying the cheapest batteries they can find. With power storage you do, in most cases, get what you pay for.

RJ

[Chiogtr4x]

Not all dirt pedals are the same when it comes to power consumption:

my MXR distortion OD/dist. pedals use very little juice, my Blues Driver uses twice as much as the MXR's, and my friend's Bad Monkey (active tone controls...) uses almost double the juice of the BD-2! go figure!