Anton Bauer Batteries suddenly stopped charging

[Beau Chaput]

Hi all, would love to get some input on getting me batts (master series) re celled. There is not alot of info as I have found. I am thinking about going with these guys on ebay called Rathbone Energy. They claim to do MS batts as well as many others. I was quoted 200 per battery. Anybody know of anyone else as I do not like to buy with only one quote. Has anybody used these guys? Anyhow I did not see any recent discussions on this topic so any input would be greatly appreciated as always. Thanks for your time and Happy Holidays.

 

Beau Chaput

[Marc Abernathy]

hi,

 

im in the same boat as you. i need my CP (master) batts recelled also. i called up to tiffen and they wont get to any recelling until after the first of the year and they are 350/brick. i also spoke with a battery company in burbank cali and the tech is out of the country until the end of the week. i think the cost is about 200 or so per brick with them. unknow as to the turnaround time.

 

i was going to contact the company you mention but did not see any info on them.

 

i was thinking of going the anton bauer route and getting the rig adapted to AB's...im currently thinking of doing this route.

 

how long did that battery company tell you they can recell the batts?

[Brad Grimmett]

i also spoke with a battery company in burbank cali and the tech is out of the country until the end of the week. i think the cost is about 200 or so per brick with them. unknow as to the turnaround time.

You're probably referring to Victory Battery. That's where I get my batteries re-celled. They do a great job and most of the time they take one or two days. The last time I went in they called me the next day to tell me they were finished. They're no longer in Burbank though. They're somewhere in the valley, but I can't remember where off the top of my head.

I can't comment on Rathbone. I've never heard of them before. Don't bother with Tiffen if they're going to take that long. They'll tell you that they're the only ones that can reset your LED meter, but it doesn't matter. It's not worth the extra money, and my meters are still accurate after multiple recellings at Victory. I guess they've lowered the price (it used to be $500), but $350 is still very overpriced. Victory raised their prices a bit too. I think the price is around $240 now.

Hope this info helps.

[Marc Abernathy]

hi brad,

 

yes im speaking about victory and yes your post helps.

 

the guy i spoke with at victory was a hispanic speaking fellow. he acted like he did not know what a master (CP) battery was and had no idea if they could even recell them. he spoke about a guy named "jerry" whom i should speak with but "jerry" is currently out of the country. i need something done soon and the only thing i see is getting the well overpriced AB conversion plate. atleast i can get some AB batteries easily and then worry about the CP batteries later...

Edited December 13, 2005 by Marc_Abernathy

[Beau Chaput]

Marc, Rathbone is in Tennessee 1 800- 223-1775. Last week I was told it would take 2 weeks for them to get the batts back on the road. I questioned the guy on this cause it is a concern of mine too. I cant have the batt gone for 3 months. He kind of wavered a bit told me he was bringing on more help because of how busy they were. So thanks Brad for the post, I am going to give Victory a call. This is probably Victory that makes the 12/24 black camera batts.

[Peter Milanov]

Does anybody know of a company beside Tiffen that recells the Ultra 24V battery? I was quoted $720/battery in Sweden ($450 for the cells and $270 for the job).

[Marc Abernathy]

Marc, Rathbone is in Tennessee 1 800- 223-1775. Last week I was told it would take 2 weeks for them to get the batts back on the road. I questioned the guy on this cause it is a concern of mine too. I cant have the batt gone for 3 months. He kind of wavered a bit told me he was bringing on more help because of how busy they were. So thanks Brad for the post, I am going to give Victory a call. This is probably Victory that makes the 12/24 black camera batts.

 

 

 

yeah victory seems to be the place. as i stated earlier, the main guy "jerry" is not in the office until later this week, but do give them a call today and see if you get more info.

 

if you do find more info, please post here.....

 

thanks...

[Brad Grimmett]

Yeah, Jerry is the guy that runs Victory. The guy you spoke to probably works in the shop and isn't familiar with the names of all the batteries. If he saw them I'm sure he'd know what they were instantly.

Another option is to try a Batteries Plus or another consumer type place that does batteries. I know people here in LA that use those types of places for re-celling. It's really not that big a job, so those kinds of places should be able to do it whether they've ever seen a Master battery or not. Might be worth a try.

[Emery Soos]

Yeah, Jerry is the guy that runs Victory. The guy you spoke to probably works in the shop and isn't familiar with the names of all the batteries. If he saw them I'm sure he'd know what they were instantly.

Another option is to try a Batteries Plus or another consumer type place that does batteries. I know people here in LA that use those types of places for re-celling. It's really not that big a job, so those kinds of places should be able to do it whether they've ever seen a Master battery or not. Might be worth a try.

 

 

Actually it may not be a "big job" but it cetainly is not a trivial one either. We have re-celled many (!!) MS batteries over the years and it takes time, patience and the right equipment. Notwithstanding of course that MS batteries should be re-celled with at the very least Sanyo KR5000DEL 5Ah batteries, that is what we use. MS batteries are not easy to re-cell as you have to weld the tabs in place as you re-shape the cell pack. If you have not done this before and you are not sure about the vendor's competence, please ensure that you give the job to somebody that is familiar with the MS on-boards.

 

All the best,

[Brad Grimmett]

Good points Emery. You're probably right about making sure someone has re-celled master batteries before.

[PaulEdwards]

Peter,

 

I have always used PAG in London to re-cell my 24v Ultra batteries. Last time (July 2005) it cost just under £800 for three batteries inc. posttage (mainland UK). Hope this is usefull.

 

Regards,

 

Paul

[Peter Milanov]

Very usefull, thanks Paul.

[JohnPinella]

Good points Emery. You're probably right about making sure someone has re-celled master batteries before.

 

Emery Soos at Lentequip in Toronto recelled my Master batteries several years ago, and they are still going strong. Makes great cables, too!

-John Pinella

[George Grammatikos]

Hi Guys i have never use an original battery in my rig all my batterrys are recelled or custom made.

I use np-1 in my rig and Pag in my cam i send the cages off batterys to a battery store (friend of me)and he put new cells in these cages so i have for the moment ni-mh 13.2V/3.5Ah in np-1 at 900 gr and 14.4/8.5Ah in pag (sorry i dont know the weight as its not steadicam use but i believe its about 2.1Kgr)

now we are searching for new cells LI-POLY , remember this cells is the future in the batterys

[dbeaty]

Hey guys.

 

I've used Rathbone Energy for Anton Bauer Digital Propaks and they do an excellent job. They are able to to the plastic weld seams and add a custom etched cover with your personal contact info to the batts. They have been slow lately, as they moved their facility to TN. Call and see what the turn around is.

 

I've done about 4 Antons in the last year and they are honest and good at what they do. About $190 US for an Digital Propak recell with Panasonic Nicads.

 

dbeaty