Red one block batteries FAQ

[Wolf Seeberg]

Red One powering Dilemma

 

If it offends you that this does not deal with on board Steadi batts stop reading now

 

The only small limited lifetime Lithium battery that gives a true state of charge indication in the viewfinder is made and sold for big bucks by RED one. The alternative NiMHd block batteries from Bauer etc are expensive and have no state of charge indication. So we will investigate the lower priced sealed Lead Acid batteries and discuss its problems.

 

The Red One video camera while recording on HD, draws 5.5A with no accessories; that translates into 4-Hr use on a good, new 12V 28AHr Lead Acid battery block (weight 22 pounds). It will shut off at 11.5V. This is meaningless though because the camera relies on heavy use of accessories.

 

The Red One with full accessories (its monitor (.7A), operating FIZ 91.5A), cam-tape, 2nd monitor for Assist, HD transmitter, etc..) draws 9.5A. That reduces lifetime down to 11.5V cut-off to an actual 1-Hr use. Some assistant monitors of course cut off at 12.1V.

 

What helps? 12-Ga shorter battery leads with clean connectors. 4XLR wired 1=2, 3=4. New batteries…. But that’s not enough…

 

Voltage display - Heavy current draw – battery capacity indication.

 

Get this:

Source and description: http://wolfvid.com/datasheets/Battery_watcher.pdf

 

If you draw 9A (like the Red One) from a 28AHr Lead Acid battery: Right off the charger, the Battery Watcher at the battery 4XLR reads 13.6V. After 2 minutes under load, it reads 12.6V - after 1 hour, it reads 11.7V and the Red One shuts down. The Red One sees only 11.5V at the end of an average 8ft 16 Ga cable. The Battery Watcher shows that only 8Ahr of the batteries’ 28AHr has been used. After 48 hours without a load, the voltage of the battery is up to 12.6V = 80% of capacity a true indication. The heavy current takes down the voltage of the battery causing shut-off before the battery is actually “depleted.” The Battery Watchers voltage display is not a true indication of batt capacity. The Batt Watchers AHR withdraws indicator and voltmeter lets you learn when the camera will shut off. SO you are carrying around 80% of capacity that never gets used. What a waste.

 

Other solutions: Some camera rental houses use NiMHd batteries at 16.4V; that is 12 cells ( 11 seem to be not enough) [expensive]. Some use dual lithium batteries, or large Li ones 3.5V x 5 = 17.5V [very expensive]. 7 lead acid cells (a 14V Batt) will do the trick. more details on my webpages.

 

Wolf Seeberg Video makes 14V reasonably priced batteries. www.wolfvid.com

 

(this post really belongs in the Red user group, but I can not stand their black on black type so here it is) wolf

[Jess Haas SOC]

If you want to advertise on here pay for an ad and stop this shit.

 

~Jess

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

If you want to advertise on here pay for an ad and stop this shit.

 

~Jess

 

 

Jess,

 

the mods have already addressed it.

[Lawrence Karman]

Jess, that's a little harsh. Wolf makes some good observations and offers some good resources for battery meters in his PDF.

[Jess Haas SOC]

I was a little grumpy when I woke up this morning :-)

I don't want there to be any hard feelings. If this post was alone I wouldn't have thought much of it but he posted in 6 different threads including small amounts of iinformation then going on to pitch his products. I hope there are no hard feelings but I also hope that in the future Wolf will be a little more selective about pitching his products as the collection of threads seemed more like an attempt at disguising advertisements than an attempt to share useful information.

 

~Jess