Yeah why take the risk? Just change them with the power on. That said I am still using the original D cells in all 4 of my Polarii. It's pretty amazing how long those big batts last when just used for memory backup. Just make sure they aren't showing signs of leakage.

Paul, do you know why such ridiculously sized batteries were used in these? Most synths of the era used tiny lithium coin cells...

Doug
synthparts.com

--- In chromapolaris@yahoogroups.com, "Paul D. DeRocco" <pderocco@...> wrote:
>
> > From: harama@...
> >
> > in the course of changing the panel i want
> > to change the real old batteries too.
> >
> > the manual says:
> >
> > Although the capacitor on the battery holder retains its
> > charge for a minute or more, to ensure no interruption of
> > power to the memory chips the batteries should be changed
> > with the power on. Alkaline "D" cells should be used. Refer
> > to figure 4-1 for location of batteries.
> >
> > Is it possible to change the batteries even
> > when the power is off in the timeline of a minute?
> > Does alkaline plus D with 1,5V do the job and is there
> > anything to watch out?
>
> Yes, you can do that, but I don't know why you would want to. It's safer to
> change them with the power on, as long as you don't poke your fingers in the
> back where the AC line voltage is.
>
> The memory chips only require 2V to retain their contents (and probably do
> so well below that in real life), so there's plenty of room for the battery
> to run down part way before you lose your memory.
>
> --
>
> Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
> Paul mailto:pderocco@...
>