Casio CZ/ VZ/ FZ - Pro Series

Hi all,

I did the 4 AA battery clip solution as described in the quoted 
message below. It was rather easy to do, I already did the 9 volt 
battery mod as described in a CZ101 mod article in Electronic 
Musician (E.M.). So all I had to do was go out and by some batteries 
and a battery clip. 
Sofar it works well, but now I do wonder: would it be wise to install 
a 6 volt 1400 mAh (1400 mAh should be safest) nicd battery, connect 
it to the power supply input so that the battery can charge when the 
psu is plugged in?
I know it can be don rather easily, but would it work? Would I not 
have to worry about the CZ losing patches for atleast a few years?

It's quite an investment to buy 1400mA nicd batteries for both my 
cz's, so I'd love to hear your opinions about it.

Brian.


--- In CZsynth@yahoogroups.com, "Terry" <daytona@...> wrote:
>
>  
> > It's not as straight-forward as it sounds.  
>  Hi Everybody,
>  Actually is it simple and straight forward. Simply connect a
> 9 volt battery strap to the + and - battey terminals. Connect 
> a square battery holder for 4 AA. Stuff the back of the CZ
> battery compartment with foam. Snap in the battery holder and
> your done. Should hold the memories for at least 9 months 
> without use. Mine did. The CZ 3000/5000 use 3 AA's for backup.
>  I tried with 3 volts or 2 AA's but this did not hold memory.
> It did work with 4.5 volts or 3 AA's, but there is no way to
> mount the 3 battery holders, so I went with four or 6 volts
> backup.
>  So why does this work? The casio already works with battey 
> backup in the form of 9 volts via 6 D cells. Built into this
> circuit is a low voltage memory protect that will shut down 
> the CZ when the voltage drops below a certain threshold.
> Usually set at around 7.5 volts or so via an internal trimmer.
> By placing only 6 volts here the CZ will not try to run off the 
> batteries. If you instead placed a 9 volt type battery on the
> clips, as per a mod article in Electronic Musician, the CZ
> will actually run off of this battery. The poor 9 volt will last
> about 5 minuts before the low voltage protect shuts it off, 
> leaving the battery dead and useless. So 6 volts no problem.
>  So why does the CZ cause such problems with batteries in the first
> place? Another mystery that plagues many CZ users is the power jack
> on the side of the CZ 101, 1000, 230S. The pin is not a standard
> one as many believe. The center pin is actually 1.7mm and not the
> standard 2.1mm found in many replacement power supplies. So the will
> work sporadicly, giving the impression that the jack is faulty. This
> condition is probably the leading cause of short battery life. The 
CZ
> user does not reralize the power has disconnected momenarly and 
> running off the internal battery backup. The ^ D cell normally only
> last around 4-5 hours tops. So using 6 volts as back up eliminates 
> this power problem, as now when the power is interupted the CZ will
> shut off, saving the backup not draning it.
>  And the proper fix for the power is to get the correct AD-5 supply
> for a Casio with the 1.7mm center pin. ( Don't get the barrel end 
> type that has a "L" shaped end as this will not seat property in 
the 
> 101. Get the one with a straight end.)
>  Also the CZ101/1000/230S does have a super capacitor to hold the 
> memory for battery changes. Depending on the condition of the cap
> this will hold for at least 5-7 minuts without any battery. Just
> look at the schematics.
>  I'll post a pic of the required items if I can. All you need is 
> a 9V battery clip, a 4 AA battery holder, and some foar rubber to 
> stuff the battery compartment. Simple!
> 
> Terry (The Casio Kid)
>