Jump to content

John Ritter

Site Sponsor
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    54

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    4

 Content Type 

Posts posted by John Ritter

  1. Anton Bauer Dionic HCX Battery Packs for sale

    in Steadicam Marketplace - For Sale

    Posted

    I have available 12 quantity: Anton Bauer Dionic HCX battery packs.

    USED Case and electronics in good cosmetic condition.

     

    Freshly re-celled with all new cells. Full power and capacity (as new)

    Displays work, and will charge correctly on all appropriate AB chargers.

     

    90 Day & 12 months pro-rated warranty.

     

    Free shipping within the USA, International at cost.

     

    Price is $350.00 each or 6 for $2000.00

     

    dionic_hcx.jpg

     

    Also have some HC packs in stock (4 available @ $278.00 each)

    John @ 954-557-9765

    www.ritterbattery.com

  4. Bad Batteries

    in Batteries/Power

    Posted

    Hi All

     

    A heads up on the HCX series batteries, I have had several with firmware issues that required reprogramming by Anton Bauer.

    If you are still under warranty or close to it they will reprogram the firmware. (the display will show charge but will have no voltage at output terminals)

    Also have had issues with the thermal sensor and capacitors blowing in the temp sense circuit, again return them to Anton Bauer for repair.

     

    As to the 2722 charger... the dis-charger is built into the logic control board and cannot be unplugged.

    On the 2702 Quad and 2400 series chargers the dis-charger can be disconnected by unplugging it from the logic control circuit board.

    (ribbon cable towards the right rear, look for it on top of the fan)

     

    John Ritter

    WWW.RITTERBATTERY.COM

    954-557-9765

  8. Anton Bauer Dionic 90 Overstock sale, Freshly Re-Celled

    in Steadicam Marketplace - For Sale

    Posted

    I have an over stock of Used Freshly Re-Celled Anton Bauer Dionic 90 battery packs.

     

    quantity of 12 available

    .

    offer is good for 5 days only. (starting today 10/22/14)

     

    $200.00ea, or 6 for $1100, or buy all 12 for $2100.00

     

    Shipping will be by USPS Flat rate (cost will depend on quantity about $10.00 - $25.00....)

     

    Warranty is 90 days/12 months prorated.

     

    All have been Re-celled to 6.7AH an increase from the original 6.3AH spec.

     

    All are in good to fair cosmetic condition, some fading of AB logo and normal dings and scratches from previous use.

     

    Contact me at 954-557-9765 or ritterbattery@gmail.com

     

    Regards John Ritter

    www.ritterbattery.com

     

  9. Batteries charging when away

    in Batteries/Power

    Posted

    what 'long term' storage is. Is it a three day weekend or two weeks or more?

    I also know why as with John's point the legal disclaimer is why they don't.

     

     

     

     

    I consider long term storage, any time over 30 days this will be quoted different by many folks and manufacturers, so it is just my "opinion".

     

    Normally you want to leave a battery on the battery pack manufacturers charger when not in use in order to have optimum

    performance available when you are ready to use it.

     

    Any good battery will hold at least 80% of it's charged capacity (note that capacity varies greatly with age and use conditions) for 30 days.

     

    If you plan ahead a shutdown will not effect you or the battery, if you plan to store the battery for more than 30 days follow each manufacturers directions

    but plan on cycling the pack at least every 90 days to exercise it, after 6months or more they can go completely dead with no recovery possible.

     

    The newer chemistry batteries; Li-Ion, Li-Poly systems have even more safety features built in than the legacy systems, some are software based and some analog

    so on the whole almost all of the possibility's are covered.

     

    But as the design engineers saying goes: We make our products Idiot proof, it's just that God keeps creating better Idiots...............

     

    ***Now the legal liability disclaimer: Never leave a charging battery unattended, all electrical devices can malfunction and cause a fire. (have to show this again) :(

     

     

    John Ritter

  10. Batteries charging when away

    in Batteries/Power

    Posted

    30 plus chargers running full time 24/7 last 6 years......................

     

     

     

    ***Now the legal liability disclaimer: Never leave a charging battery unattended, all electrical devices can malfunction and cause a fire.

     

    If you will be away from home for any amount of time just turn everything off, you can always charge up your batteries when you come back.

    Do try your best to cycle batteries at least every 60 days for good performance.

     

    John Ritter

    post-8904-0-97511700-1404224405_thumb.jpg

    post-8904-0-92558400-1404224419_thumb.jpg

  13. Anton Bauer Dionic 90's- to re-cell or purchase new batteries?

    in Batteries/Power

    Posted

    I would be interested to know if John can re-cell Dionic 90s with the cells used in Dionic HC bricks to get a higher current draw out of them.

     

    Even though the cells are essentially the same in the Dionic 90 & HC there are slight chemical make up differences in the cells.

    The make up of cells(or individual cell potential capacity) into cell banks required will determine the final load handling and capacity,

    In all packs the greatest possible potential will vary under different loads (higher the load the lower the capacity)

     

    The AB - HC & HCX series packs have a redesigned case and cell carrier to more efficiently aid in the heat convection/dissipation as heat becomes

    a major issue under high load conditions.

    The safety control circuit boards and wiring is also changed (beefed up) to allow for greater current handling.

    The HCX improves on the HC with additional cells for longer run-time (both use identical cells)

     

    The original Dionic 90 is limited to a max load by temperature/circuit controls & wire size of the design, Cells with greater capacity can be installed (longer run time will be realized)

    But the load handling/limit still cannot be exceeded.

    This due to the case design and the close nesting of the individual cells so heat generation is a major factor.

    You will notice the Dionic 90 packs will get very warm under high loads, and can shut down on internal temperature sensors. (they also will not charge if they are overheated)

    always allow a cool down period after heavy use. (overload circuit breaker will trip at around 6 amps or less depending on temperature i.e. higher temp lower amp trip

     

    Over the last few years there have bee major improvements in the same size cell capacity ratings from all of the major cell manufactures (Panasonic/Sanyo, Samsung, LG)

    This is why the increase in run-time is possible. The load handling will still be limited by the OEM case design and electronic safety circuitry.

     

    A great big THANK YOU! to all the great testimonial feedback from everyone.

     

    Regards John Ritter 954-557-9765

    www.ritterbattery.com

    • Upvote 1

  17. Upgrade battery cells

    in Batteries/Power

    Posted

    Thank You for the referrals/endorsement !!

     

    The NiMh cells can be installed in the ProFormer, just be aware that the cells are slightly larger so the case will have to be modified.

     

    I have 2 Proformers with fresh cells (NiMh-55 watts) available ready to go if you need them in a hurry, plus I can provide another 6 with a 2 day lead time, no trade in required.

    I can also Re-Cell your dead packs (3-5 day turn around, plus shipping time).

     

    I also do all of the Anton Bauer Battery line; pack/VCLX/Dionic repairs/Re-Cell and any other manufacturer (IDX, RED, Sony, Frezzi, Tiffen, Blue Shape, BeBob, Swit, Switronix/Pro-X, Varizoom, Imports

     

    I am also an authorized repair station/dealer for Blue Shape Battery products.

     

    Regards John Ritter 954-557-9765

    www.ritterbattery.com

    • Upvote 2

  18. Ultra 1 Battery Warnings

    in Batteries/Power

    Posted

    If one or more cells in the bank of cells does go bad, then yes you will have a significant loss of power (capacity) abruptly but can still show a full charge indication.

    If the battery packs are over 3.5 years old they will require a full cell bank replacement (Re-Cell).

     

    A full charge is not an indication of battery pack capacity, a totally worn out battery pack can still show full voltage/full charge but not have any run-time (capacity) left in it.

    The only way to check a battery pack for capacity(watt hour-Amp hour) is a test cycle under load (Note; capacity will vary with the applied load).

     

    Regards John Ritter

    www.ritterbattery.com

  19. Alternative Brands, thoughts?

    in Batteries/Power

    Posted

     

    .....Moving on to all the import brands (most are the same manufacturer with private/individual labeling) Most of them are pretty good and

    I have to admit price wise they can be a substantial saving. I have heard good & bad reports on them, most appear to be favorable.

     

    Hi John,

    Could you please share some bad reports?

     

     

    Hi Tuomas

     

    I would rather not repeat any reports here on a public forum.

    I cannot confirm (thru testing, Lab analysis etc.) any of the information relayed to me, so it would be unfair to comment 2nd hand.

     

     

    Regards John

  20. Alternative Brands, thoughts?

    in Batteries/Power

    Posted

     

    Hi Tom,

     

    There is a fellow who posts up in the "Steadicam-Marketplace" forum here. He has an eBay storefront as well. A quick peruse through "Marketplace" and you will find it. He posted, I believe, about a month ago.

     

    I have spent some time poking around locally and have found one that will do it. There are several that come up in Google as well. If they recell NiCads, they should be able to recell them. Things like TrimPacs and Hytrons are candidates for recelling.

     

    There appear to be quite a few veteran ops that recell their Hytrons and such. Hopefully they will chime in with some of their experiences particularly with the problems some of the recellers may have with some of A/B proprietary "Logic Series" stuff they have in the batts.

    Thanks Andrew. Do you know if Dionic 90s can be recelled?

     

     

    Hi Andrew

     

    The Dionic 90 and All the professional video camera batteries can be repaired/refilled/Re-celled.

    The choice to Re-Cell will be an individual one due to each operators preference for size/style/shape/cost/power requirements.

     

    I have several clients that still use Steadicam ultra-master series packs and others that use Proformers (upgraded to NiMh cells and used successfully with an Arri Alexa),

    and everything else in between.

     

    Anton Bauer batteries are still the best made battery product on the market (case build, electronics, warranty, durability, mount, etc.) they can be re-celled infinitely.

    The Dionic 90 series appears to be the most popular followed by the Hytron 140 packs. (I have rebuilt over 2000 of them and a few 1000 Hytrons)

    The HC & HCX series are coming in 3rd (they are also recent entry into the market)

     

    Now with that said.....Moving on to all the import brands (most are the same manufacturer with private/individual labeling) Most of them are pretty good and

    I have to admit price wise they can be a substantial saving. I have heard good & bad reports on them, most appear to be favorable.

     

    The most important feature when buying any brand battery pack is to know how old (actual age-date of manufacture) it is, as it is not unusual to

    buy packs that have been in the distribution/retailer stream-inventory for 2-3 years (so you could be purchasing an older battery that is being sold as brand new).

     

    Battery packs are considered an expendable item... they will go bad use them or not! consider an average life expectancy of 3 to 3.5 years from the manufacture date

    allowing for an output of 60% or better of original rated capacity. (and yes I do get packs in that are much older and clients gotten usable results after more than 5-6 years, thu not a norm).

     

    2nd thing to look for on any given battery pack is the rated maximum continuous draw rating as this will be much less than the stated watt rating, there are many

    claims of wattage that are tested at .02C or 1/5th of the full rating. As an example a 90 watt battery will run a 20 watt camera for almost 4.5 hours but will only

    power a 70 watt camera like a RED or Alexa for maybe an hour.

     

    Li-Ion based battery packs are very susceptible to shock damage/failure (such as a drop or bump during transport) and over discharge/high load (over current) damage.

     

    A lot of factors can effect usable life, storage, temperatures, discharge/recharge, use cycle, etc.

     

    As to V-Lock versus AB gold mount all I can say is both work, but I have traced a few dozen battery issues down to bad/worn V-Lock/pin problems,

    but in 6 years of doing Battery repairs/Re-Cells I have not come across any Anton Bauer battery plate/mount issues.

     

    I can repair/Re-cell any brand of battery pack, they will be returned clean and in an as new working condition, to original manufacturers spec or in some case's slightly better.

    all functions will work and the appropriate chargers will recognize and charge them just as before, my standard Re-cell warranty is 90 days/12 months prorated (about equivalent to OEM warranty),

    cost can be a significant savings over new but not always (I have to admit, some pretty great prices on the import stuff ).

     

    Give me a call if you need more info or clarification.

     

    Regards John Ritter 954-557-9765

    www.ritterbattery.com

  21. Probably need to replace batteries...

    in Batteries/Power

    Posted

    The Power cubes (IDX packs) are able to be Re-celled with one caveat; during case opening it will suffer some

    cosmetic afflictions and will not look as pretty as before but will function like new.

     

    And yes, replacement cells that are used are from the same batch and impedance is checked/matched (any reputable pack builder will do this) and the fine electronics are reused.

    Custom tabs are used which replicate the original connections (it is just impossible to acquire OEM parts).

     

    Choice of Repair/Re-cell will be an individual decision based on financial or upgrade paths.

     

    Regards John Ritter

  23. Freshly Re-Celled Dionic 90 battery packs with full warranty

    in Steadicam Marketplace - For Sale

    Posted

    I have a few Used Dionic 90 battery packs available all with Fresh new cells in them.

    Warranty is 90 days/12 months prorated. They will arrive fully charged and ready to go.

     

    5 available @ $250.00 each no trade in required, free USA shipping (international at cost)

    Take all 5 and I will discount by 5%

     

    Also have some Hytron 140 packs available (4) $250.00ea

     

    Regards John Ritter 954-557-9765

    www.ritterbattery.com

×
×
  • Create New...