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  • 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 :)

TIME AND DATE ISSUE...really?

I have a WeaponMG. Same issue with Date and Time.

Shipping my camera to RED UK would cost me 300 Euros. I would be also without a camera for a week or two.
 
I've had this with my camera and I sent it in to get the battery replaced. They replaced the entire board. The issue is now back. Waiting a few days and the battery resets.

I've not got an answer from my bomb rep yet about this ongoing issue, I've had two other threads about this issue, but there's no answer about it and Red never seem to give any good answers.

I've come to the conclusion that Red doesn't care about this issue, it's what it is. Every camera out there is probably affected by it and they won't be able to handle everyone sending in their cameras to get these things fixed.
 
I've seen the same problem with several cameras from RED: EPIC DRAGON, SCARLET DRAGON, WPN-W, and 2x WPN-M. I have only recently received my upgraded 3x WPN-W S35 cameras. Time will tell whether I see the same problem or not. I do have upgrade armor for all of them, but I hate sending cameras across the country for such trivial problems.
 
TD Wood said:
Damn. Thanks to this thread, I just realized I am also having the same issue. I turned my camera on yesterday after almost a month of inactivity and... voilà!

I am still under warranty, but would definitely like to hear an official statement from RED confirming how bad this issue is. Right now, I cannot afford to send my camera back.
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter, I sent mine in under warranty, they "fixed it" and the issue is still there. The only thing it might do is putting you through the hassle of sending the camera in, waiting for it and getting it home.
 
I'm fairly surprised by this thread. I have heard about this sporadically but not to this degree.

David
 
The guys at Red Uk said that the internal battery is rechargeable so...let's try to solve the mistery:
1. We need to power on the camera often for abiut 20 minutes to let the battery charge?
2. You guys check if this is something that happen because you had the camera off for few days or weeks?
3. In the past I had this after each firmware update
Let's try to solve this issue as is VERY WEIRD that all these people that sent the camera back to change the board or the battery they have now the issue again...they key is to understand after how long the battery goes down having the camera off..
 
I have had two Weapon Magnesium cameras have this battery issue. I wish the battery was user replaceable.
 
Luca Volpe said:
The guys at Red Uk said that the internal battery is rechargeable so snip
Click to expand...

So this is expected behavior? Just wondering why do they request to send the camera in for inspection? Looks like it´s no good idea to leave the camera off for a extended period, if that really is a rechargeable battery and no kind of gold cap it would lead to battery failure? Any insights from RED?
 
They said that the battery is rechargabke BUT if after keeping the camera on (so it mean giving the time to the internal battery to recharge) then you turn off and on again, if the date and time is resetted again it will mean that the internal battery is not able to hold the charge so it need to be checked. But what is strange is that some people sent the camera in and after they fixed it , it happened again. So at this point we need to understand if we need to keep on the canera often (even when not in use) to make sure the battery don't die. Wish it was more info on the manual though...
 
I wish RED would say how to keep the Small Battery charged.

Does the camera have to be ON for the battery to charge? Or, does having an Anton Bauer type battery on the back, or just having the DC line powered, but the camera off work?

Also, how often do we need to do this? And, how long will the charge last before we need to charge the small battery again?
 
No idea...I suppose that if work as a normal rechargeable battery it should get "energy" so often so it will not die. But is the battery don't keep the charge it need to be changed sending the camera in. Hopefully having the camera in the plug DC for a bit once a week will help!
 
Luca Volpe said:
No idea...I suppose that if work as a normal rechargeable battery it should get "energy" so often so it will not die. But is the battery don't keep the charge it need to be changed sending the camera in. Hopefully having the camera in the plug DC for a bit once a week will help!
Click to expand...

So, mine is discharged right now, I´ll test with camera off and DC in. Let´s see if it charges. I´ll report soon.
 
For this battery to discharge in relatively a short time, there must be a power draw (while the camera is turned off) to some device that is connected to the brain. I remember when we received our Epic-W, we stored the camera in its case with ONLY the I/O Expander attached. Even after 5 ~ 7 days leaving the camera untouched, it would turn on once the monitor is attached and powered up.

I have a hunch and to test that, I need your help. So, let's try this sequence first:

1). Keep the camera on for 1:00 ~ 2:00 hours to re-charge the internal battery.

2). Set the time and date accordingly (Thank you Ulf)

3). Turn off the camera and remove the monitor (Top LCD), EVF (if attached) and the DSMC2 Side Handle.

4). Try not to use the camera if possible for a couple of days (easier said than done eh?).

5). Attach the monitor as usual and power up the camera.

6). Please post your experiences on this thread.


To RED Engineering Team:

If this solves the internal battery draining issue, check to see whether the monitor is drawing power while the camera is off. If so, add a few lines of code into the firmware to cut power off completely to the monitor/evf terminals prior to shutdown procedure is completed. You could do this perhaps to the side handle/DSMC2 Sidekick area too.

Also, if there is a power draw internally to a time code generator, disable that while the camera if off.

Hope this would resolve the issue.
 
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To make sure it keeps the time I had to power it up and set the time, than switched it off but kept it powered via the DC in for one hour. Checked, time is still present. Switched off again, no power waited for another hour, checked still holding time. So either the time when the camera was powering up and being on (for about 1 Min in total) is enough to charge the battery to keep the internal clock running or it may have been the DC in. I´ll check back tomorrow.
 
Same experience on my Mg - even after a roundtrip to RED.
(prior brains too).


Adding info:
Leaving a battery on the camera does not prevent the time/date reset. (AB Gold w/ET back)
Monitor and/or EVF unplugged - ditto.

If a solution involves disconnecting the SH, that would be a real PITA. Not only covering the opening, but tools are required on DSMC2 handles.
 
Ulf Krentz said:
To make sure it keeps the time I had to power it up and set the time, than switched it off but kept it powered via the DC in for one hour. Checked, time is still present. Switched off again, no power waited for another hour, checked still holding time. So either the time when the camera was powering up and being on (for about 1 Min in total) is enough to charge the battery to keep the internal clock running or it may have been the DC in. I´ll check back tomorrow.
Click to expand...


The problem occurs when the camera is not used over a number of days or perhaps longer than a week, not hours.
 
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