Cobra 9V Batteries - When to change

[BMoore]

I've had my cobra 18M for about 2 years and I'm still on my original batteries. I've fired 3 20 minute shows plus probably another half hour just testing things. All three batteries are still reading "9". Should I go ahead and swap them out or trust the software that I've still got plenty of juice?

[Jay_]

I’ve only got 4 units that aren’t on lipo, but I change them before the show every time.

May be overkill, but you only get 1 shot at it.

[rfgonzo]

I change batteries after each show. Cheap insurance I guess.

[displayfireworks1]

Batteries are cheap and new ones give you peace of mind. I was an observer on a pro display once and when the technician turned on the Cobras , all of the modules were showing the batteries at numbers 4 and 5. It was a wedding fireworks with multiple cakes at this high end resort complex. I didn't say a word but I was worried . The entire show fired without incident. Its all in what your risk tolerance is. Personally I can tolerate risk in the stock market and some dangerous activity. With batteries in my vehicle and firing systems I have very little risk tolerance I replace with new ones if I have a show or shoot in the winter.

[Rick_In_Tampa]

Personally I can tolerate risk in the stock market and some dangerous activity. With batteries in my vehicle and firing systems I have very little risk tolerance.

Lol... Now that is an excellent point!! A momentary downturn in the market doesn't bother me because I know, eventually, it's coming back up again. However, with a pyro show, as Jay said, you only get one shot at it. Additionally, if I'm going to spend months of time and thousands of dollars on effects, it doesn't make sense to try and save $20 on batteries and risk not having stuff fire.

[DerekShellman66]

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[DerekShellman66]

Power Conservation: The 18M uses three 9V (PP3) batteries. One battery is used exclusively to power the system operations, while the other two are used for firing cues.
:o

[Birdman]

I assume cobra put in the battery level checks for a reason. They even tout the energy efficiency and the ability to shoot many shows with a single set of batteries. I changed one set out that were not name brand with name brand when they hit 5. I kept the used batteries for test runs of scripts etc (which is what I intended to use them for anyway). IMO, changing every show is overkill but you should always check the levels when you start the mods. One exception, like Dave suggested, is if I was firing in cold weather. Then I would make sure I have strong batteries. My next mods will get lipo batteries and at some point I'm going to upgrade the mods I have now.