Power solutions: Powering whole rig for hours from 40$ Battery?

fatpig

Hello everybody, I just stumbled upon this Battery and wanted to give you all a look at this and evaluate if it would be possible to use this battery for GH2+Monitor+LED Light, It has 12v+9v connectors + 1 5v usb connector and runs on:

12V Dc: 6500ma
9V Dc:8500ma
5V Dc:15000ma

would it be possible (to use both 9v and 12v lines at the same time)? I think there are a lot of possibilities using this instead of counterweight at the end of your rig.

link: http://cgi.ebay.de/5V-9V-12V-DC-Portable-Rechargeable-CCTV-Li-ion-battery-/220741900295?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33653e1807

fatpig

*bump* any electrics pro?

Vitaliy_Kiselev

As far as I can see, you need 8.4V for DC coupler.

fatpig

if you take a look here at dvxuser forum
http://tinyurl.com/3ukfb4j
someone claims to be supplying even 9.6v to his gh2 without problems.
is this dangerous? or would you say if it works once, it works always?

lnd

Yep this works . I'm using 9v into my coupler . 12v to my Marshall monitor. Been goodnso far but the battery itself is a piece of shit. Switch starts to come off, led light falls inside box, had one just die on me lol but you get what you pay for right? Biggest problem with this solution is mounting of the battery to your rig. You gotta use Velcro or gaffa tape. Lastly I can get about 3-4 hours use with monitor and camera. Without monitor I can record all day. Just buy a few a guess...

Ptchaw

I think I've found my battery solution :) You could also use the USB out to power a H4n/H1 or whatever audio recorder.

B3Guy

@Ind you have tried @fatpig's battery? (I would have tried it already, but I don't have the DC unit for the GH2.) If it really does work, perhaps someone from the forum should contact them about improving the battery to operate for a longer period of time?

B3Guy

I'd be willing certainly to pay more for a better battery, especially if the GH2, a monitor and the Zoom could be powered off it simultaneously.

fatpig

@ptchaw: did you get to try it out already?

Ptchaw

@fatpig It arrived today! Power can be used from more than one output at once. My DC coupler hasn't arrived yet, going to do some voltage tests when full/nearly empty before I let it near my GH2 ;) The 12V is good for a monitor/Z96 light.

Also need to find a way to mount it onto a hot shoe/rails block; they seem to have put plastic over the screw holes permanently.

lnd

Yes Ptchaw battery works - with DC coupler - I have same one - However the battery is a pain int he ass to mount without some kind of 1/4" thread. Its quite a big battery and velcro doesnt quite do it.
One thing to note is that the ouput is not at all regulated - Im looking into a better battery solution as Im not 100% confident that this battery isnt going to do somthing bad to the GH2 - the 9V out does fluctuate and that scares me a bit...

fatpig

@lnd: did you buy it as well? is it this one? http://cgi.ebay.de/5V-9V-12V-DC-Portable-Rechargeable-CCTV-Li-ion-battery-/220741900295?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33653e1807 how long does it last?

Ptchaw

@fatpig @lnd My DC coupler arrived, some polarity + voltage checks and some soldering and I had my GH2 running from it! Really pleased with it, have a couple of cable ties threaded round it through a 15mm rail block for mounting. Seems like the ideal power solution for the GH2; its 1/3 the price of an official battery and should last over 7x as long. Plus you have the advantage of powering your recorder/light/monitor; modular really is the way to go. Only thing missing is a power indicator on the battery, since you loose the indicator on the GH2.

lnd

@fatpig: Yeah same battery - not from same seller though - Ive ordered a custom solution from this engineer guy that uses panasonic DVX100 batteries - with indicator and mounting bracket - Ill posts some pics once it up and running -

stoney

@Ind Any update on the custom solution?

fatpig

fabulous! @ptchaw: yeah the price of the battery is great! can you use different voltage outputs at the same time?

sam_stickland

@Ptchaw If you measure it and find the voltage at full charge and at the point when the GH2 stops working, you could build an indicator based on this design: http://hackaday.com/2008/07/03/led-battery-level-indicator/ ?

brianluce

This works with the standard Panny DC coupler? Is there a place to order the wire that connects the battery to the coupler?

zcream

Can I confirm that @fatpig battery can poewr all 3 outputs at the same time ?

Vajk

Gabel

@Vajk: Very interesting! Any idea of how one could mount that kind of battery on a rod system?

Vitaliy_Kiselev

@Vajk

As you can see, here many people used similar batteries for long.

kavadni

Perhaps you could cable tie the batterry to this

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/170867959814?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Gabel

@kavadni: Possibly, but cable tying isn't a great solution in the long run.

killagram

@Vajk Are you personally selling the battery or did you purchase it somewhere? Any clue on the duration of the external battery while filming with the GH2?

EDIT: Sorry bro, didn't see the first few seconds.

For anyone who's interested here's the links for the coupler and the battery on Amazon:

8500mAh External battery ($54.99): http://www.amazon.com/Portable-6500mAh-Rechargeable-Li-ion-Battery/dp/B007AYP7Y8/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1342704080&sr=8-2-fkmr2&keywords=8500mAh+external+battery+for+GH2

Panasonic DMW-DCC8 DC Coupler ($17.95): http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-DMW-DCC8-Coupler-DMC-GH2-GF2/dp/B004OZQIGW/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1342704080&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=8500mAh+external+battery+for+GH2

kavadni

@Gabel, perhaps battery hold done clamps from RC car .. U shaped brackets that hold battery to the plate

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