Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

REDvolts don't fully charge

Jon Carr

Jon Carr

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
1,568
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
NYC
Finally got my side handle so I can finally tried out my REDvolts and I'm running into a problem. None of my REDvolts ever show 100% charge, half of them stay at 92% the other half says 84-82% range. I been double checking the batteries to make sure there fully charged but that's as high as they go. Also when the batteries drain to less then 10%, they blink red/green and I got to keep detaching them off and on until they stay at a constant amber blink. Is anyone else finding this problem?
 
One thing I've noticed is that Epic is quite the power vampire. If I leave a REDVolt in the grip for a day or two it'll be half gone. Are you testing right off the charger?
 
Testing right off the charger, if they lasted longer I really wouldn't mind. But even When I hot swap them, there never at 100%
 
Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but I am experiencing the same problem. My REDVolts are coming off the charger fully charged (supposedly), but are only showing 77-80% once they are in the Sidehandle. I purchased the batteries used, but the sellers have told me that they only have a few charging cycles on them (I know...only driven by a little old lady on Sundays, lol). I have 6 REDVolts and they are all showing the same behavior.

And I haven't timed them, but I'd be surprised if I am getting 20 minutes out of them, rather than the 30 minutes that most people quote. This is on a Scarlet with 5" Touch, but no other accessories. Is there some way to "rejuvenate" them, so they fully charge? Any other thoughts?
 
Tom, saw that on a few of mine REDVolts (not charging to full - even on the charger), but the last recharge went back to full. This happened after I ran the REDVolts down to almost zero on the camera - then when put in the charge cold a few hours later... I got a full re-charge. Try it - and see if that works for you.
 
Thanks, Clark...I'll give this a try! I was hoping that there was some technique that would bring 'em back to life.
 
had the same problem....first thing i did was set the screen (on camera) to show actual time left, not %....that way i can really run the redvolts down to 0 and not have the camera shut down on me...maybe that is just psychological but it works for me...the camera will give you a 30 sec (60? sec) shutdown warning as well....i have a V lock belt clip waiting that i just plug in and swap the red volts at that point....
i do not charge them right away, but don't wait for an hour either....
i do leave them in for as long as possible, even after the green light comes on....i am getting the quad charger to have 4 charging (and trickle charging) to keep on top of it and make things easier on set when nobody has the time to baby batteries.....
following all this my use went from 20 minutes to 30+.....and this includes a lot of extra time i won because i do not panic anymore when the lights start blinking and i drop below 10%.....now i simply keep track (just like on my media), run them down and have the V lock belt clip (or AC) ready, or just shut it down when the final count down comes....
 
I have been seeing this as well, and i had an interesting experience filming a presentation by Michaell Cioni At the Light Iron NYC Open House during REDucation NY Week.
Towards the end of the presentation the my Scarlet was showing about 5% of power and with about 10 minutes to go... This was the second take, shooting from a different angle, so I already had the ending covered. I decided to let the camera run until it died, I watched as the percentage dropped from to 4%, then 3%, then 2% then.. It just kept recording while showing 2% for another 6 minutes.

I would guess that there might be some value stored in the battery that the camera uses to create the % display calculation.
It looks like the value might be based on the maximum/minimum voltages cycle, which might explain Clarks observation after totally draining his REDvolt.

I will test this out tonight if I have time.....
 
Great info here fellas! This is why I love RU!
 
I've seen similar behavior, REDVOLTs that didn't show full percentage and then when running low stayed longer than expected at 2%. I took time on a few cycles and they didn't run shorter than others. Then, after a few cycles they showed up normal percentage.

So i guess there is some calibrating / learning going on (my batteries where new, directly from RED) and otherwise than showing "safe" percentage-values for the first cycles there is nothing bad going on.
 
i guess i switched to actual time left from % left because 3% (from 100%=30min) should be (about) 1min.....but somehow that same battery level shows as more like 5min and that also seems to be more correct...regardless,completely draining the batteries help...sometimes i just leave them in the handle...that wears them down beautifully:)
 
I know this is a very old thread but I just purchased some revolts used (was told they all go to 100% and were barely used) however at "full" charge they are reading 66%, 69, 73, and 74. I completely drained them recharged and even used a different charger and still got the same charges. Did anyone find a solution or have I been had?
 
Try the freezer method
 
Ok, I am trying the "trickle" method I was just reading on RU. People are saying when the charge light turns green it just means its a hot charge but leaving it on the charger for over 24 hrs will charge close to 100%, however I'm not holding my breath on it.
 
Sam Joos said:
Ok, I am trying the "trickle" method I was just reading on RU. People are saying when the charge light turns green it just means its a hot charge but leaving it on the charger for over 24 hrs will charge close to 100%, however I'm not holding my breath on it.
Click to expand...
Exactly on not hold ones breath. My viewpoint is that redvolts are great: i love the form factor, i love how they work with the side handle, i love how they allow hot swappable power. But though i love my redvolts, i don't use them as my primary power (thus i don't worry that the charging is basically screwy). I power the camera through the power lemo on either:a bunch of gold mount batteries, or the ac power.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top