Battery problem...

[Michele Lombardo]

Hi everybody! I have this problem:

it's some weeks I'm shooting a feature totally hand held. I noticed sometimes RED suddenly shuts down touching the battery. Now the problem has become very hard: I have 3 batteries and ONLY ONE works perfectly. With this battery attached I can make every movements with camera, touching battery and anything happens: RED works perfectly.
With other two batteries it's impossible to shot a single clip. Even if RED is on a tripod as I touch it (not only battery) the camera shuts down...

I read here on forum about a problem related to the plate (the little pins are too close... use a little screwdriver to open them), but I think this is not my problem... I repeat, with one battery I can even run and jump with my RED...

The three batteries are 14 months old, with a normal usage... What can it be?! What can I do?


Thanks a lot!


Michele

 

[Seamus Mulligan-Ferry]

Look at the pin receptacle block on the problem batteries. Oftentimes these get pushed in/damaged. The damage is pretty apparent when inspected visually.

Switronix offers a service to swap out those pins for a strengthened/higher quality receptacle block. They do a real nice job:

Vinny
http://www.switronix.com/contact.php

 

[Michele Lombardo]

The two problem batteries and the good one SEEM TO BE IDENTICAL!!!

I don't see damaged pin on the two bad batteries...

 

[Cail Young]

How old is your battery plate? You may need a new one.

 

[Scott Snare]

I've had the same problem. My solution was to use a small clamp to expose the pins on the battery plate then carefully use something sharp to widen the pins. They seem to get compressed after heavy usage and need to be tweeked to assure good contact with the battery. Hope this helps.

 

[Brent Carter]

Michele, if you want help directly from RED tech support, you can email them via www.red.com/support.

BC

 

[Philip Allister Anderson]

It's probably better to just send them in then try a DIY repair. If you are doing fast whip-pans and running maybe consider renting an Anton Baur mounting system with Anton Baur batteries. You lose your ability to see when the batteries are going to die, beyond the indicator lights on the side, but the mount is rock solid

 

[A. Clint Litton]

I second the Switronix service. Quick turnaround time, pretty sure to fix your problem.

The only downside in your situation is that it's $50/brick, but there's a minimum of $200 for service...I'd say see if anyone in your area wants to go in on the service and get them all done together.

Either way, Vinny is a good guy...very helpful.

 

[Michele Lombardo]

Thanks everybody for the answers!
So this is the situation now:

battery 01 is perfect. I can touch the battery and make every movement with camera (hand held), and RED doesn't shut down

battery 02 and 03 work ONLY using some tape to block the battery to the plate. With this tape the batteries are motionless and I can even touch the battery and the RED doesn't shut down. Without tape these two batterie are unusable.

Are you sure the problem is the plate?! Why battery 01 works perfectly?!

Thanks to everybody

Michele

 

[Dave Weber]

Thanks everybody for the answers!
So this is the situation now:

battery 01 is perfect. I can touch the battery and make every movement with camera (hand held), and RED doesn't shut down

battery 02 and 03 work ONLY using some tape to block the battery to the plate. With this tape the batteries are motionless and I can even touch the battery and the RED doesn't shut down. Without tape these two batterie are unusable.

Are you sure the problem is the plate?! Why battery 01 works perfectly?!

Thanks to everybody

Michele

Michele,

I had the exact problem about 3 weeks ago but mine was 1 battery didn't work and the other 3 did. Even on my hotswap "shark fin" the 1 battery would cut out. Physical inspection showed no difference between working and not. I don't know why but replacing the battery plate solved my problem.

 

[Jochen Schmidt-Hambrock]

One of my batteries only works on the RED cradle. Its of no use on the battery belt clip.
I can see nothing different from my other batteries.

Jochen

 

[ericyoung]

Thanks everybody for the answers!
So this is the situation now:

battery 01 is perfect. I can touch the battery and make every movement with camera (hand held), and RED doesn't shut down

battery 02 and 03 work ONLY using some tape to block the battery to the plate. With this tape the batteries are motionless and I can even touch the battery and the RED doesn't shut down. Without tape these two batterie are unusable.

Are you sure the problem is the plate?! Why battery 01 works perfectly?!

Thanks to everybody

Michele

The fact that they work when taped down indicates it has got to be a contact problem. The battery that works probably just has fractionally tighter sockets, not visible to the naked eye, but just enough to make contact with the narrowed pins. Widen the pins, check they are clean, and that should solve the problem for at least the short term.

Also, check for any distortion of the plastic around the contacts or bits of plastic which have worn off and may be inside the contacts which may be preventing the whole battery being fully seated.

The other thing is that the spring loaded release catch isn't really secure enough. I usually wedge in a clothes peg which prevents the catch accidentally releasing if bumped.