Red BRICK powering a Scarlet-X ?

[Eric Lange]

I am sure they are careful about what they condone, and it may be the case that if they can prove your 3rd party battery was what blew out your Scarlet's power system they might not cover it, but far too many people out there are using 3rd party battery systems for it to be much of a warranty issue, and RED sells EPIC/Scarlet-to-XLR power cables and other power cables so it will not void your warranty. I imagine in most cases, they cannot even tell how you've been powering your camera when you send it in for warranty service.

I would hope that would be the case as there are many different power options that I/we might need to employ.

Just hope the conversation doesn’t go…

RED, Q: “Did you use RED power packs… Our records show you have not purchased any?”

Eric, A: “No I have been using brand X power packs plus specially designed (conditioned) power supplies.”

RED, A: “We see board X, Y and Z is fried/inoperable.. we cannot and do not warranty the use of non RED based battery packs and power supplies”.

P.s. it used to be in the old days that things had fuses and protection circuits… is this no longer the case?

Cheers,

E

 

[Jon Jones]

I don't know of any reason why RED would void warranty claims, RED.com Inc. is a solid company, and Jannard has been doing successful business since the 80's. Solid company, solid ownership, solid brand, solid equipment.... There's no wonder the prices are a tad higher, they have earned it. If someone wants to go and buy third party equipment from a company that could go bankrupt in 2 years, fine, no biggie. Kind of like investing in Stocks. Do you invest your hard earned dollars into solid reputable mutual funds that have 25 years of above average to high gains, or do you invest your hard earned cash into funds that are 2 years old, and the outcome is unknown?

The choice is always yours, but the smart choice is to go with the more reputable company, even if it costs a little more.

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

In the united states you can't deny warranty on an unrelated part unless you can demonstrate a relationship between the failure and an unsanctioned use. This protects you from for instance a dead pixel not being covered because you replaced a hard drive.

That being said, power supplies are integral to how a product functions. Surges and 'dirty' power can cause a huge swath of electronics failures. The Scarlet power supply should condition the camera but RED would have a pretty strong case if your sensor was killed by a power spike that they aren't responsible since you weren't using a warrantied power source. I once had a power supply that would only start a computer if the keyboard was unplugged *shrug* no idea what the relationship was but it ultimately was the power supply at fault.

 

[George Su]

Wow, I didn't even think twice about my third party AB bricks that I already have, but you guys got me doubting now...

These are what I have been using to power a TV Logic monitor and Nanoflash on my af100 setup:
http://www.atbatt.com/product/8312.asp

 

[Noah Yuan-Vogel]

Wow, I didn't even think twice about my third party AB bricks that I already have, but you guys got me doubting now...

These are what I have been using to power a TV Logic monitor and Nanoflash on my af100 setup:
http://www.atbatt.com/product/8312.asp

Interesting, are those specs right? The weight seems like twice what it should be for a modern li-ion battery. Maybe that is the shipping weight?

I'm pretty cheap so I was considering these, but I'd probably test and profile them extensively before plugging them into a camera:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2battery-ch...747?pt=Batteries_Chargers&hash=item5890a012e3
(seems like a tough price to beat)

 

[Noah Yuan-Vogel]

Another question, if Epic/Scarlet only reads battery % from REDVOLTs and voltage from REDBRICKS, will they give a voltage readout from all external power sources? Seems like the camera wouldn't need any special communication with a 3rd party battery to test its voltage...

If so, does this mean the benefit of Redbricks or special batteries designed for RED communication is no longer a concern? Anyone who has used Epic with 3rd party batteries have experience with this?

 

[Eric Lange]

In the united states you can't deny warranty on an unrelated part unless you can demonstrate a relationship between the failure and an unsanctioned use. This protects you from for instance a dead pixel not being covered because you replaced a hard drive.

That being said, power supplies are integral to how a product functions. Surges and 'dirty' power can cause a huge swath of electronics failures. The Scarlet power supply should condition the camera but RED would have a pretty strong case if your sensor was killed by a power spike that they aren't responsible since you weren't using a warrantied power source. I once had a power supply that would only start a computer if the keyboard was unplugged *shrug* no idea what the relationship was but it ultimately was the power supply at fault.

It IS a little more complicated as you make out.

Spikes and surges are one thing, but rolling “brown out” (i.e. varying and running partial low voltage) can be very destructive to high end processors.

Something you probably know about Gavin, for all of the really most expensive top of the line graphics cards we have purchased over the years that we always bought separate UPS (Uninterruptable Power supplies) if there was a rolling brown out the graphics cards we had would not be instantly destroyed.

It seems that the range of input voltage for the EPIC is quite generous indeed; it’s more a question of current draw versus available and supplied current. Most batteries will give you a high voltage even though they are 85% out of charge; not easy to measure available charge in a battery accurately and (as I understand it) most of these types of battery have their own discharge curves. So is one Lithium type battery much like another? [Probably worth it for me to check out for more generalized applications and equipment].

Ta.

Eric


[Side note: Years ago we put on newly emerging VR displays for exhibitors we were hosting, and one of them turned up with a Silicon Graphics Onyx Reality Engine II and the like (the size of a small coffin with three plates of spaghetti coming out the back; very power hungry beast with more processors than you could shake a stick at that time. We spent a lot of money on good active power conditioners and pulled power from more reliable parts of the building so that we would not trash their $700K computer system. Good qulaity power can make a difference...where ever it comes from]

 

[Adam Levins]

Do we know what the standby time is for the redvolts? I take the 30min figure is pure recording time right?

 

[Kamilla Lusa]

Do we know what the standby time is for the redvolts? I take the 30min figure is pure recording time right?

I would love to know the answer to this too.

 

[Justin O'Neill]

RED has been pretty logical about 3rd party accessories...if it is something someone made in their garage and not approved by RED it won't be covered by warranty. If it is an industry standard piece of equipment the warranty is usually good. Using Anton Bauer batteries isn't going to void the warranty for example.

I think Able Cine will have a v-mount to Epic/Scarlet Lemo battery plate for about $180. A bunch of companies are making them though.

 

[Noah Yuan-Vogel]

Do we know what the standby time is for the redvolts? I take the 30min figure is pure recording time right?

I don't have first hand experience with REDVOLTs on Epic, but what I gather from reports on this forum is that they run about 20min, and those are practical usage numbers so it that would likely include mostly standby time and some recording time. My guess is <20min for straight recording and 20-30min for standby only... but that is just a guess.

 

[Noah Yuan-Vogel]

RED has been pretty logical about 3rd party accessories...if it is something someone made in their garage and not approved by RED it won't be covered by warranty. If it is an industry standard piece of equipment the warranty is usually good. Using Anton Bauer batteries isn't going to void the warranty for example.

What about the stuff in between? There are a lot of batteries that are between the $400 Anton Bauer and $20 built in your garage, where is the line drawn? What about a $300 slightly-lesser-known 3rd party battery brand? $200 Chinese import brand? $100 SLA Battery belt?

How would they decide what affects a warranty and what doesn't? Also how would they know or prove what batteries have been used with your camera? If someone rents your camera with your batteries but also uses their own cheap import batteries on it without you knowing but nothing goes wrong while they do it, should that void your warranty? What if something does go wrong? Should/would RED cover it?