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VF | Brook's APU Battery Plates [IDX & AB, REDmote charging cable!]

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Mitch Deoudes said:
First, Red bricks seem to be pretty difficult to seat so that they lock properly. If I push one into place single-handed, the lock won't engage fully, and the battery can be pulled off. In order to get the lock to hold, I have to sort of slam the battery down, using its momentum - which doesn't feel great, knowing how prone the sockets on those things are to widening. Even when the lock is engaged enough to hold, the lock button only pops out about 1mm or so... You can't see the little dent in the button shaft that is visible when the plate is empty, and it takes very little pressure to release the lock. This in contrast to the Red brick charger, which gives a satisfying click & pops its release button out all the way when engaged.
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Interesting. I had held off from posting about it as I figured it was an isolated defect (didn't want to spread any unnecessary worry about the product), but my plate had the same tightness on all V-mount batteries I tested. They all required a solid SLAM to lock, and then removing it required two hands and a lot of pulling. The fellows at VF were very kind to replace it, which is set to arrive tomorrow. I hope that solves it, and I'll report back with results.

EDIT: to address Brook's comment below, the problem persisted with brand new (literally never used) and used batteries alike.
 
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Mitch Deoudes said:
Just received my IDX plate, and have noticed two issues - I'm wondering if anyone else out there has the same, or if I've got a bum plate:

First, Red bricks seem to be pretty difficult to seat so that they lock properly. If I push one into place single-handed, the lock won't engage fully, and the battery can be pulled off. In order to get the lock to hold, I have to sort of slam the battery down, using its momentum - which doesn't feel great, knowing how prone the sockets on those things are to widening. Even when the lock is engaged enough to hold, the lock button only pops out about 1mm or so... You can't see the little dent in the button shaft that is visible when the plate is empty, and it takes very little pressure to release the lock. This in contrast to the Red brick charger, which gives a satisfying click & pops its release button out all the way when engaged.

Second, my sliding top handle doesn't fit behind the plate as pictured in brook's post: http://reduser.net/forum/showthread...harging-cable!&p=896136&viewfull=1#post896136

With the end-cap removed, the bare metal at the end of the handle scrapes the back of the battery. With the end cap installed, it's not possible to attach a brick without majorly squashing the handle. This is with the washers installed. (Which leaves the plate a bit rattly on the back of the camera - but without the washers, I wouldn't be able to use the handle at all.)

Anyone else had this experience, and have a fix or workaround?
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Check to make sure that the "core" of your top handle isn't reversed. Depending on when you purchased it, RED changed the orientation of the core. The original models shipped with the tie-down lever under the handle itself, putting the 1/4-20 tapped holes on the *front* of the handle where they are accessible. At some point they started reversing the assembly of the handle, putting the tie-down lever out the front of the handle and the 1/4-20 tapped holes inaccessible under the handle. I suspect your handle is assembled in the latter backwards fashion, which would shift the grip a few millimeters further back on the camera body.

For your battery fitment question, it sounds like the V-mount on your batteries has worn down. If that's not the case, it may be a fitment issue with the IDX plate itself. You should contact Viewfactor support.

As stated earlier in the thread, those looking for support should email info@viewfactor.net.

I hope this helps!
 
Brook Willard said:
Check to make sure that the "core" of your top handle isn't reversed. Depending on when you purchased it, RED changed the orientation of the core. The original models shipped with the tie-down lever under the handle itself, putting the 1/4-20 tapped holes on the *front* of the handle where they are accessible. At some point they started reversing the assembly of the handle, putting the tie-down lever out the front of the handle and the 1/4-20 tapped holes inaccessible under the handle. I suspect your handle is assembled in the latter backwards fashion, which would shift the grip a few millimeters further back on the camera body.

For your battery fitment question, it sounds like the V-mount on your batteries has worn down. If that's not the case, it may be a fitment issue with the IDX plate itself. You should contact Viewfactor support.

As stated earlier in the thread, those looking for support should email info@viewfactor.net.

I hope this helps!
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Yeah, I noticed my handle is reversed. I haven't tried to change it yet though.
 
Brook - thanks for the tip on the handle. I'm out of town right now, but will check when I return. I do remember the swat screw being on the lensward side, though - which is reversed from the pic in the Red web store.

I've also forwarded the issue to the viewfactor email, no response yet. BTW - this is with brand new batteries... the problem is more one of not enough wear than too much. (Though my Red charger, as mentioned, doesn't seem to have a problem with the battery mounts. Will try to remember to update the thread with results.
 
So I received my replacement APU IDX, and it seems to have the same tightness problem (though right now I only have Swit batteries available to test with.) The strange thing is that these Swits sit just fine on both V-mounts of my charger, as well as on what appears to be an identical IDX plate on a Varicam. The RMA paperwork on my return indicates that VF tested my old plate and it worked fine, but sent a new one just in case. They suspect it's the battery, but my testing seems to suggest that the batteries are fine in all other systems...

I gotta say, Curt and Viewfactor have been very helpful in trying to figure this one out. But it seems to be quite the mystery.
 
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Brian Iannone said:
Has anyone used this plate in combination with Bebob batteries?
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yes, works fine with bebop. I can't recommend the batteries however as I've had reliability problems with them.
 
Brian Iannone said:
I see. What kind of reliability issues have you been noticing? Also, are you referring to Bebob Rouge batteries?
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Yes Bebop Rouge. 2 out of 4 died within 6 months. Charged only on a bebop charger. On their way back now.
 
Brian Iannone said:
Are they the 90 or 140 Wh ones? And, are you sending them back directly to Bebob in Germany or to the store you bought them from?
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90Wh going back to us distributor.
EDIT:
all fixed now, I was part of a very small bad batch of 90's. I still really like these batteries.
 
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