Replacing the Battery in an Ensoniq ESQ-1

I have an old Ensoniq ESQ-1 synth that I bought back in the early nineties and I loved it so much that I never parted with it.  However, sadly it has been sitting in a closet gathering dust for over 15 years.  I recently pulled it out because I really wanted to use it again and I turned it on to find that I need to replace the battery on the thing.  Unfortunately the battery is so low I lost all my old patches and sequences.  (sigh)  Not one to dwell on that sort of thing I set out to change the battery based on an old post I found online called "ESQ-1 Battery Replacement".  This page is pretty helpful but as I found out isn't indicative of all ESQ-1 versions.  So for the small group of you out there who still have working ESQ-1s and want to change the battery I thought I'd point out somethings that I found. I'm not new to soldering but I'm definitely a noob when it comes to fixing & doing maintenance on synths...

1.) Do not buy a replacement battery on E-bay searching for your synth type.  You will get ripped off.  The Ensoniq uses a 3V Lithium 1200 ma, 2/3A cell that can be bought from an electronics store for .75 to $1.50.  If you buy one on E-bay be prepared to pay $12 plus shipping!

2.) Open your ESQ-1 before you buy your battery.  The battery shown in the ESQ-1 Replacement page was a lithium battery without solder tabs.  So I bought a battery like the one on the page. When I opened my synth up I discovered to my dismay that my synth differs than the one in his picture and my battery does indeed have solder tabs.  So I need to purchase a new battery with solder tabs.

Here are some good resources I have found on the net for the Ensoniq ESQ-1 and general keyboard maintenance/ repair.

- GearSlutz has a great page that is dedicated to batteries on a variety of synths. This is the place to go to find out what kind of battery you are going to need for alot of different types of synths. There are also links to instructions on how to replace them in many cases. Go HERE

- Buchty.net has a bunch of Ensoniq resources including the ESQ-1 service manual for download. Go HERE

- AllElectronics.com carries batteries, soldering irons, solder wick, solder suckers, etc.  Everything you need to do maintenance and minor repairs.

So as I mentioned I haven't been able to replace the battery yet.  I just ordered a lithium cell with solder tabs and should *hopefully* have that soon.  The battery tabs on my Ensoniq are nestled in really close to where one of the cables attach via pins to the PCB. Obviously I'll remove the cable before de-soldering but I'm a little nervous about putting a soldering iron in that close proximity of the jack.  (see pic)

Any advice on that would be much appreciated :)

Until next time... Over N Out.

-RED

Comments

[e]

That battery looks like a bit of work to replace. I would try to unscrew the circuit board so you can work on it from the other side. A solder sucker will be very useful, especially to clean the old solder out of the holes once you have the old battery out. The ribbon cable connectors can be pried apart carefully with a flat screwdriver if they are too tight to disconnect by hand. Avoid pulling by the wires, grab the body of the connector instead. You can use a sharpie to make match marks on any connector that might be ambiguous to plug back together. And since you'll have the connectors apart, its a good time to give them a light spray of contact cleaner. Good luck! I wonder if anybody has tried to circuit bend the ESQ-1.

[red]

Thanks for the tips Eric! Much appreciated. Yeah I'm afraid you might be right about pulling the circuit board out...
That's going to be a chore as well as it's buried halfway under the keys. But I'm sure there's got to be a way to get it out. That will be my project this weekend!

- thanks man!

[matt]

I'm in the same boat. The battery is easy to spot but mine will also require taking out the mainboard that's hurried under the keys. There is a service manual for esq1 if you do a Google search. It describes what screws need taken out in what order. Good info all around. This still will require careful disassembling and organization of parts so everything works when you're done. Hopefully we both have luck with this!

[Red]

My mainboard is halfway under the keys... so yeah it sounds like we're in the same boat. Who wants to bail the water out while the other one is unscrewing the chassis? heh...
but I digress, I'll let you know if I come accross any more wisdom on this subject matter I can share.

[smithsamanta]

This is that very information I searched for. Thank you very much!