DG Stomp backup and lithium battery question

[kanekila]

Hi -- I'm new here and have been looking for a way to backup my settings for my old DG Stomp. I've had it for about 7 years, but haven't used it for about 6.5 of those. It just been sitting in it's bag in the closet. After trying to figure out a way to get a wide variety of tones easily for my new solo gig, and getting frustrated, I finally remembered that I had it sitting in there.

I got it out, plugged it in, and was amazed at how quickly I was able to edit my own settings for use with lap steel, an acoustic guitar and an acoustic resonator. I pretty much have all the settings now that I need. Only one problem -- now I'm afraid to unplug it!

I just read in the manual that it uses a lithium battery to store your settings, but that it only has about a three year life span. I'm afraid it may be close to going, and I'm thinking I may need to replace this now, so that it doesn't decide to go on me right before a gig. It took me too long to dial in all those settings, and I'd hate to be messing with that before a job.

I know I can write down each patch, but it would take an hour to re-do all of them, if I had to manually. Unfortunately, my PC doesn't have MIDI I/O, so I can't backup to the PC.

Is there a cheap alternative, short of manual charts? Or, does anyone have the intructions on how to change the lithium battery? It says to take it to a tech, but is it just as simple as me opening it up, pulling out the old one, and putting in a new one?

Sorry for the dumb questions. I don't usually mess with this technical stuff. I am definitely a 'Luddite' when it comes to this sort of thing.

Thanks for any help you can give me!

TJW

[Vaughan]

Backup

Hi Kanekila
I work a lot with battery supported electronics and the way we normally replace the battery is to fit the new lithium cell with the mains adaptor connected. I'm not sure how your stompbox is setup/wired but usually the system memory is supplied with voltage so long as the supply is connected.
This is the way the backup cell on a Computer is changed.
Hope this helps

Vaughan

[Enzo]

In most battery supported music industry stuff, they are soldered in, so be careful.

Too late now, but the first thing you should have done was set up a couple patches, then unplug it and reconnect and see if it holds memory. If it does, you are OK.

In the service game, I tend not to replace batteries "just because." If your car battery is a 60 month Die Hard, you don't just replace it at five years, it might work fine the next 15 years. It doesn;t die the day after the guarantee.

Lithium memory cells may have a life rating of three years - seems low to me - but they can last 10-15 years. If it still puts out close to 3 volts, it has lots of life yet. And that is the key, measure it. They tell you three years to cover their butts. Most will last far longer, but they don;t want to be in a position of guaranteeing a battery for a lengthy period.

[Vaughan]

Yeah, you are right Enzo, most of these little 3V button Lithiums last five to ten years under normal conditions. They can be tested in situe with a volt meter and are usually good down to about 2.85V when they will suddenly drop right off.

[Enzo]

I have a 1986 battery in an Ensoniq board sitting here, and it is flat, so they don;t last forever.