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Redvolt degradation.

S

Sid Idris

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How have your Redvolts been performing? The ones I've used seem to only charge to 63%. I'm a little surprised at how poorly they retain a charge given the (older) bricks consistently charge to 99 or 100%. Is there a best practice on retaining a charge with the redvolts? Can they be reconditioned to full service?

cheers
 
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Are you charging them until the charger says they are done, or pulling them off when all 5 ( I think) lights are lit up? Full lights doesn't indicate f100% charge, just somewhere between 80% and 100%, but I routinely see people pulp them off based on that.

Tim
 
I have heard that for longeivity (ie life of battery, number of cycles) that an 80% charge on lithium ion is optimal. I do not know if this is valid. Perhaps someone with knowledge of the science can chime in.
 
rod bradley said:
I have heard that for longeivity (ie life of battery, number of cycles) that an 80% charge on lithium ion is optimal. I do not know if this is valid. Perhaps someone with knowledge of the science can chime in.
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You don't want to fast charge them beyond that point, instead you trickle charge them up to their full capacity.
 
Tim Sutherland said:
Are you charging them until the charger says they are done, or pulling them off when all 5 ( I think) lights are lit up? Full lights doesn't indicate f100% charge, just somewhere between 80% and 100%, but I routinely see people pulp them off based on that.

Tim
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Just using the travel charger. btw: one of the redvolts stops charging at 63%. Meanwhile all the Hired Gun video bricks (red chip enabled) charge to 100% or 99% giving me nearly 3hrs per 150WH brick. Up until now I didn't care much because the redvolts where being relied on just for hotswapping via the sidehandle. Alas that hasn't been working lately and I'm thinking it might be due to the low retained power????

edit: after further testing seems the hotswap works some of the time.
 
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Stuart English said:
You don't want to fast charge them beyond that point, instead you trickle charge them up to their full capacity.
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What does that mean anyway? The travel charger doesn't offer any options on charging. Is it normal to expect the charger to stop charging when the battery is 63% at capacity?
 
I know redvolt is way easier to travel with but all advice I get from the DPs I work with is to go with redbrick or Anton Bauer power. I regularly work on film sets and have never even seen anyone using redvolt power.

Can anyone give advice to the contrary?

I am in the process of selecting my first RED purchase and the most frustrating thing to me is the wall of financial concertina wire between using redvolt and redbrick on DSMC.
 
Given the really poor power retention of some of the redvolts I wouldn't recommend them. Using the sidehandle in a light configuration is great but the redvolt performance has been so bad I resort to a vlock belt clip. We've concealed the clip in a bag pack when stealing shots.

Btw: if you do decide to purchase rvolts, get them directly from red (assuming red warrants the product). I saved a few bucks by buying then sealed new on eBay (no warranty no recourse).

Leo. C. Rogers said:
I know redvolt is way easier to travel with but all advice I get from the DPs I work with is to go with redbrick or Anton Bauer power. I regularly work on film sets and have never even seen anyone using redvolt power.

Can anyone give advice to the contrary?

I am in the process of selecting my first RED purchase and the most frustrating thing to me is the wall of financial concertina wire between using redvolt and redbrick on DSMC.
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the REDvolts are never at 100% when "charged" Its horrible. And why does it seem to take longer to charge a small REDvolt, then a brick?
 
I Love my Epic Handheld config, but not digging my four brand new redvolts, as each charges no higher than 83%-88%, even when left on the charger for days straight.
The redvolt/sidehandle combo is an AWESOME lightweight combo, but having to switch batteries so rapidly really detracts from the the shooting experience.
Would love it if RED could explain and or provide information on this phenomenon... Because I REALLY don't understand what's going on.
 
CK Olsen said:
I Love my Epic Handheld config, but not digging my four brand new redvolts, as each charges no higher than 83%-88%, even when left on the charger for days straight.
The redvolt/sidehandle combo is an AWESOME lightweight combo, but having to switch batteries so rapidly really detracts from the the shooting experience.
Would love it if RED could explain and or provide information on this phenomenon... Because I REALLY don't understand what's going on.
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I'm jealous. I'm down to 59% full charge. I wish there was a way to recondition them.
 
Redvolts crapping out quickly!

Redvolts crapping out quickly!

1 of my Redvolts stopped accepting charge after less than dozen times of use.
Second is never fully charge (80% max).
Sent to Red and after 2 weeks in evaluation process they want me to pay full price for new replacement plus shipping cost.
Apparently battery warranty is only valid for 90 days from the purchase date.
Obviously I couldn't use Redvolts for over 3 months waiting for DSMC side handle. Disappointing.
Better go with V-mount or Anton Bauer option instead of wasting money on unreliable Redvolts.
 
Stuart English said:
You don't want to fast charge them beyond that point, instead you trickle charge them up to their full capacity.
Click to expand...
Does the travel charger automatically do this?So 12-cycles and REDvolts shiite the bed is the norm, or just a few of them have this issue?
 
I read in the REDvolt manual that the Travel Charger times out after 105mins (regardless of if it's 100% or not) or if the heat gets too high. With that in mind, maybe your batteries are timing out and need to be reseated in the charger after they appear to have finished charging? Not much help, but worth a shot?
 
My RED bricks give up the ghost at 39% and cant be re-celled........any thoughts on what one does with these very expensive toxic boxes after their prime time lifespan?

Anton Bauer's can be re-celled, perhaps RED can provide an authorized vendor who has genuine RED internal workings to bring new life to old cells.
 
My Redvolt only charges to 78%. Used maybe ten times?
Very sad to hear I'm not alone on this issue.
 
I'm used to deep cycling lithium ion batteries but I read somewhere that with the Redvolts it's different, never let them hit 1% heck even 9%, I know this isn't ideal for those already dealing with restricted battery life. Another thing I was told was it's always good to top them off whenever possible the opposite of the old deep cycle where you only charged them once dead, I routinely place batteries back on the charger and as another poster said even putting them back on after a charge just to make sure they have been properly topped off. I have charged both my batteries numerous times far above 12 and they hit 90% and above routinely, can't give exact figures as I've been using time left instead of percentage recently, and I'm in the middle of a black shade right now, but I'm getting 30 plus minutes on each, so minus letting them go down to 0% it's around 25min's(at the very least), but I'm using a third party monitor with it's own batteries and for the most part manual lenses (not sure if those make any difference).

I find as with most things everything has it's quirks there is no such thing as true perfection, so as long as you take the time to learn how to treat your things properly they will treat you properly... for the most part

I find the limited battery life and limited record time (don't have enough redmags) helps me to work more efficiently and plan ahead rather than just shoot everything and deal with it in post, it's much more similar to the days of film and I like that, I'll take the good and leave the bad any day!

hope you guys figure it out, and keep on shooting!

edit: my standard practice is to charge immediately after or during a shoot until all are full, then before the next days shoot I throw them on again to ensure they are fully topped off, just checked and my charged battery is at 98% and 45 mins(oh and I can still top it off as well), while my other battery which needs it's top off is at 78%... edit 2: the one at 78% just hit 100% and 50 minutes record time left I think the key is not to leave the battery on the charger for days waiting for the trickle charge but rather once they hit green and cool down perhaps while charging an other battery, place them on the charger again and if it begins blinking orange you can charge it even more, don't ask me why, don't really care all I know is I can get them up to 100% one way or the other.... hope this helps!
 
agreed, dumb. Here's to hoping the RV see an upgrade soon, they are handy little batteries.

Jon Carr said:
the REDvolts are never at 100% when "charged" Its horrible. And why does it seem to take longer to charge a small REDvolt, then a brick?
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