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#146510 - 07/12/15 09:23 PM Changing DA-7 Battery - details on opening case & cautions.
clegs Offline
Member

Registered: 11/24/99
Posts: 227
Loc: Woodland Hills, CA, USA
In the resource section, there was some vague and incomplete instructions on how to open the DA-7 case for maintenance, and in other posts, there were vague instructions on changing the DA-7 battery. Here the full, detailed story, and in addition, how to overcome a problem if the plastic battery clip/bracket (soldered to a circuit board) breaks.

Getting the case open:

1. Turn case so you're facing the back of the DA-7.
2. Remove the meter bridge (if applicable), first unplugging the cable to the desk, then by removing the 2 thick bolts on each side.
3. Throw meter bridge away (just kidding).

NOTE: There are screws located on all 4 sides of the desk. Most are on the sides of the case near the lip of the top of the desk.
- The screws on the back and left and right sides are pan heads with collars.
- The screws on the front of the desk and under the lips of the right and left sides of the desk are regular pan heads.
Warning: The two types don't have the same threads, so get them in the correct locations when you reinstall them or you may strip the holes.
These are the screw locations when facing the back of the desk (FYI - the top is hinged on the front and swings up from the back):

-Right side: 5 screws on the top of side, 3 under upper lip.
-Back: 2 screws above Ramsa name, 1 to the upper right of the name, 1 in the middle, and 1 on the far right.
-Left side: 3 screws on top of side, 4 under upper lip.
-Front: 4 on the upper part of the slanted side.

Tip: Use a good screw driver and apply downward force so you don't strip the heads (the guy that tightened mine must have used an impact driver).
Tip: You can use a 20" stick to keep the lip open (I don't deal in metric, per the other post on case opening). I used a large paint stir stick.

Changing the battery:

It's a circular 2032 battery the size of a quarter, located in the middle of the case about 2/3's in.
Normally you just push on it toward the open side of the little plastic clip, and it slides out, HOWEVER, in these hot cases of older desks, the plastic loses it's flexibility and becomes brittle. In the case of mine, one side of the clip/bracket broke off. The battery would still slip in place, and probably made contact, but with some jolts or moving, it could pop out, and there goes all you mixes and presets.

The Solution if the clips breaks:

I got about 6 inches of some very thin stainless steel aircraft wire I had laying around and folded electrical tape around it, then trimmed all but a little of the excess. I shaped it in a semi-circle and carefully wrapped it around the broken circular battery clip, then held it in place and twisted the ends of the wire until it snugged the battery in place (the wire was very thin and easy to work with). It worked great.

Afterthought: I probably could have used one of those plastic coated twist ties that cables, etc. come bound with.

That's it. I hope this is helpful to the next user that wants to get into that case quickly and easily without any guess work, or needs to change out their battery. Cheers.

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#146513 - 07/14/15 03:55 AM Re: Changing DA-7 Battery - details on opening case & cautions. [Re: clegs]
papete Offline
Member

Registered: 01/23/15
Posts: 33
Loc: united kingdom
All done and sorted, well done that man. And more help for others opening a da7. I have been pulling amps and desks to pieces for years so may not have been as specific as i could have been. All the best Pete

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#146595 - 03/09/16 12:11 PM Re: Changing DA-7 Battery - details on opening case & cautions. [Re: papete]
rick Offline
Founding Member

Registered: 04/16/99
Posts: 3155
Loc: Cambria, CA USA
I just changed my battery today---after over 17 years!

My DA7 is from mid-1998. Never had to change the battery till I turned it on yesterday and found all the presets gone. I hadn't turned it on in several months, so it could have died a few months back.

One side of the battery clip broke off. I installed the new battery, closed the broken part, and tied it with a short nylon wire-tie.

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#146724 - 10/08/17 04:08 PM Re: Changing DA-7 Battery - details on opening case & cautions. [Re: rick]
Guitarlos Offline
New Member

Registered: 10/08/17
Posts: 1
Well... now is my turn... after 20 years or more, today I discovered that the battery from my DA7 has died.

Thank you for such great posts regarding replacing the battery. I already feel better knowing that some people had replaced successfully and not with a great deal of pain.

In a few days, when I have it done, I'll report back.

Thank you all for keeping this wonderful place for our old and wonderful investment, the WR-DA7.

Best regards,
Carlos Bermudo

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#146746 - 02/02/18 05:27 PM Re: Changing DA-7 Battery - details on opening case & cautions. [Re: Guitarlos]
arinia Offline
New Member

Registered: 04/11/02
Posts: 16
Loc: boston MA
Thank you all for these great instructions/ I would have never got this apart without them! I just used a steel spring binder clip to hold the battery in place after my plastic clip broke!
_________________________
http://cdbaby.com/cd/henrinigro

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#146749 - 02/22/18 01:49 PM Re: Changing DA-7 Battery - details on opening case & cautions. [Re: arinia]
arinia Offline
New Member

Registered: 04/11/02
Posts: 16
Loc: boston MA
note to self/ dont use a METAL clip or you'll be changing the battery AGAIN in two weeks :-(
_________________________
http://cdbaby.com/cd/henrinigro

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#146807 - 03/03/19 12:26 AM Re: Changing DA-7 Battery - details on opening case & cautions. [Re: arinia]
DiscToPunk Offline
New Member

Registered: 03/03/19
Posts: 2
thank you for posting this.

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#146868 - 11/15/20 03:01 PM Re: Changing DA-7 Battery - details on opening case & cautions. [Re: DiscToPunk]
Phil Ward Offline
Member

Registered: 09/08/00
Posts: 101
Loc: Pittsburg, KS U.S.A.
Well, I replaced the CR2032 memory backup battery this weekend. Original battery from when I bought the desk new in the year 2000. No big deal, just have to remove a bunch of screws from the perimeter (don't forget to remove some under the front edge of the desk) and then the control surface hinges up from the back. I used a 20" long paint stick to hold the unit up and open while I was working inside as mentioned above by clegs - that worked great. Once open, you can see the battery pretty much dead center in the bottom of the mixer on a PC board. Fortunately the battery holder on mine was not broken. So that I didn't loose all the preset settings, I plugged the mixer back into power and turned the power ON. With the power ON, I then removed the battery and replaced with a fresh one. Maybe a little dicey doing this with the AC power supplied and the mixer turned on - but this method worked for me. No settings, preset or scenes lost after cycling power.... Now when I go to the "Utility" section on the mixer I get the "Full Battery" message instead of "Low Battery" message. I'm a happy camper. See another post where I replaced a few of the Rotary Pots as well while I had it open. That was a bit more work - but well worth it.

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