Problem Getting REDMOTE to Charge - HELP

[Alistair Cooper]

I'm a first-time RED owner, and whilst prepping for my first shoot today I realized that my REDMOTE is dead, though the original owner had mentioned he hardly ever used it during his ownership and couldn't comment on its functionality as it had been so long so I'm not surprised that it didn't have a charge. I had learnt that there are two methods to charge the device either via the Mini USB port located on the side of the REDMOTE, or by docking it to the back of the brain and turning it on as well; both turn on the REDMOTE and it seems to operate normally, and want to immediatley search for the brain, however it does not want to charge. I had considered maybe just poweing off the device by holidng down the sliding toggle switch until promped with some options, though every time I select the option to shut down the REDMOTE it boots back up shortly after beiung shut down. My next course of action was to hold the on/off slider down until the device forces a shutdown and hoping it will charge without booting up and to no surprise it does not charge when powered off. I tried both these methods using both charging options and I cannot seem to get the remote to hold a charge even when giving it a bit to charge whilst powered on, it remains on the lowest portion of the battery status indicator.

Has anybody else dealt with this? The device appears to be in mint condition and when it's on, it seems to work, but I worry the actual battery inside may need to be replaced so I'm debating contacting RED tomorrow about this situation.

I also understand that there may be the possibility that I may be going about charging it wrong or overlooking another method, but I've tried all I could. Any thoughts/suggestions are much appreciated, thanks.

 

[Terry VerHaar]

I have always found that the easiest way to charge it is to hook it up to a power source via USB cable. I do seem to recall that the unit has to be on to charge. That always worked for me. If your unit is not charging (it can take awhile), it is possible that the internal battery may need replacement. Can't hurt to contact RED but plan on at least a couple hundred dollar repair cost.

Good luck!

 

[Bob Gundu]

It takes forever to charge it. Leave it overnight while it’s on to charge.

 

[Alistair Cooper]

Thanks, I'll try charging it longer and see if that makes any difference.
I'll post updates on the results.

 

[Alistair Cooper]

UPDATE:

It appears that no amount of charging time for the REDMOTE has managed to give the battery any ability to power on once unplugged. The battery status indicator at the bottom right of the screen has remained at it's the lowest status and I conclude that I may need to call RED regarding a dead/defective Li-ion bat for service. Kinda sucks, just bought this with my package not too long ago and never got to use it, I imagine it would have come in handy on many instances. Thank you to those who gave suggestions to be paitent, unfortuatley no amount of patience will make this device usable when it's not recieving direct power from an external source.

 

[Jordan G]

I've faced alot of similar issues with used REDMOTES that I've worked with - the internal battery on those is lousy to say the least. Best of luck moving forward!

 

[Alex Lubensky]

It's a known issue. Just power it from a portable source (ie power bank). Internal batteries are a pain in Red ecosystem.

 

[Eric Santiago]

I know this is an old post but does anyone know why I can't download the latest firmware from the RED site?
I'm running version 9.0.5 (4C00) according to REDMOTE SETUP.
The docs are still there and have links but none of them work (Mac/PC).
Of note, I think you do have to have it on to charge.
I also have to make sure I have the right cable and it's flakey as hell.

 

[Alex Lubensky]

I know this is an old post but does anyone know why I can't download the latest firmware from the RED site?
I'm running version 9.0.5 (4C00) according to REDMOTE SETUP.
The docs are still there and have links but none of them work (Mac/PC).
Of note, I think you do have to have it on to charge.
I also have to make sure I have the right cable and it's flakey as hell.

Yup, you have it to be turned on to be charged.
Never tried upgrading mine though, works fine with Scarlet for REC/STOP. Works not so good with Epic M though, mostly due the Epic M antenna system

 

[Eric Santiago]

Thanks, Alex for chiming in.
RED sent me the links to the firmware.
I will test tonight.

 

[Joshua Hoareau]

I've just discovered this with mine as well. I purchased it with my RED back in the day brand new, never used it outside of setting it up and a few tests. Finally took it out again to use, and no charge at all

 

[Alex Lubensky]

I've just discovered this with mine as well. I purchased it with my RED back in the day brand new, never used it outside of setting it up and a few tests. Finally took it out again to use, and no charge at all

Swap the internal battery, You will have to disassamble the unit, but there's plenty of batteries for Redmote on ebay. The Redmote itself isn't dead, it's just has to be turned on to take charge (which is rather weird by itself, but it's the way it is).

 

[Joshua Hoareau]

I'm able to power it when connected to the camera, or plugged into wall power through usb. Though I tried to run it from a portable power bank and it won't power on, even though the output is all good and per specs.

 

[Werner Jauch]

Swap the internal battery, You will have to disassamble the unit, but there's plenty of batteries for Redmote on ebay. The Redmote itself isn't dead, it's just has to be turned on to take charge (which is rather weird by itself, but it's the way it is).

You can easily break it by disassembling it (sadly speaking from experience). I managed to mess up something with the springs holding the side buttons.

 

[Alex Lubensky]

You can easily break it by disassembling it (sadly speaking from experience). I managed to mess up something with the springs holding the side buttons.

Yup, you can. Have to be careful to do it. If you haven't ever disassembled anything - maybe it's not the best idea. On the other hand - what's worse can happen, you already have a dead redmote. New one on ebay would cost around 100$ and will also require battery swap (most likely)