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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 :)

When will Red address the Redvolt system issues?

Milan S.

Milan S.

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I'm prepping for a shoot tomorrow and the Red Quad Charger is blinking red/green randomly on almost all Redvolt XL batteries. So far I mannaged to charge 4 out of 10 batteries by a random luck of switching batteries and unplugging the charger and plugging it in again. 6 reman flat and I'm left with no options than to rent a different battery system.

This is my second Red Quad Charger, the first one went dead the same way.
Both did not function properly since NEW. Blinking red/green right out of the box and getting progressively worse from there.
Red agreed to replace the first one but my BS rep refused to answer any question as to if there's a FIX in the works because the replacement was equally unreliable out of the box.
I've been offered a new charger but it is obviously a design flaw that Red is refusing to address while still selling the batteries and chargers.
A new charger is of no use when it dies in the middle of the shoot.
In addition to that, the Redvolt XL module which I was hoping would act as a back up, also refuses to charge batteries.



Redvolt XLs and Redvolts NEVER displayed a full charge, since new. I think a few came up to 90% once or twice but mainly in the 70%-80% range.

I'm $7000 deep in Redvolt battery system which is not reliable enough to use in a professional environment.
I was originally attracted to them by their size and configuration options but that advantage is by far superseded by their unreliability.

There are many posts on this very forum raising this very issue and none of them got answered yet.
I've been patiently waiting for the solution for a year.

Is there an official company stance on this issue or will Red remain silent?
 
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I'm actually hoping they solve the Battery stuff when Weapon get's released. I'd be willing to buy all Red batteries if they did.

RED VOLTS:
The Volts should endure 100% charges longer (meaning they can hold a 100% charge longer). There must be better Lithium cells that do better. I do like Sony's NP-F batteries. Hopefully Weapon is less power hungry.

RED VOLT XL:
The XL and the charger situation seems nuts. Total ball drop. Is this the same tech that will power Weapon? Also, XL sound like they act the same as Volts and aren't holding their charges. There must be better technology to improve this.

Red Bricks:
They really also should make V-mount batteries but half as tall (so they look and fit better to a Weapon sized camera). V-mounts are great but heavy and bulky. Let's get some light ones and perhaps a separate long lasting version. I actually think I rather have fatter stubby batteries then long and tall (based on ascetics and balance). Anyhow, Bricks were standard back in 2008 but like the camera, let's hope Battery technology has improved. R&D?
 
Agree with the above, hopefully these problems will be resolved with the release of the Weapon.

Although I think that coming up with the charger that works in the meantime would help ease the pain.
 
The redress for critical camera related symptoms is generally given very high priority. The redress for accessories has been lower, historically speaking. If there is a solution, it generally means a new product, with means a new purchase, not a fix of the old one, again, historically speaking.
 
Historically speaking you are correct. The quad charger, like other mistakes that made it to the market without proper testing, will probably become obsolete.

The problem is that bad charger makes the whole system useless.
 
After a couple of years of struggling on with then I've finally given up on the Redvolts and switched over to PAG v-locks - such a relief. I had acummulated 12 redvolts and 4 chargers and spent all day switching them out - it's a huge difference working with reliable and long lasting power - PAG make superb batteries. Let the battery makers make batteries and the camera manufacturers can concentrate on the cameras.
 
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Maybe Red can get PAG to license them the tech from their tiny PAG charger?

Maybe Red have updated the new Weaoon XL Module .... so that you plug in 2 x AC cables ... one to charge the battery, the other to power the camera?

Maybe the Dragon XL modules will become the new single XL chargers when people upgrade to Weapon? ;-)

AJ
 
Have people really had that much of a problem with their quad chargers? Mine has worked fine. If it temporarily flashes red/green, a simple removal and re-insert usually takes care of it unless the batteries are hot. Then a cool down is needed.
 
Antony Newman said:
Maybe Red can get PAG to license them the tech from their tiny PAG charger?

Maybe Red have updated the new Weaoon XL Module .... so that you plug in 2 x AC cables ... one to charge the battery, the other to power the camera?

Maybe the Dragon XL modules will become the new single XL chargers when people upgrade to Weapon? ;-)

AJ
Click to expand...


Red's existing XL module will charge the battery and power the camera at the same time. It's a slow trickle charge but it nevertheless charges. When the camera is off, you have to put the power cable directly into the module to charge.
 
Can we just ditch the REDvolts or make a accessory plate for other stuff to work? maybe like a teradek or small HD monitor? My REDvolts been collecting dust since my switchblade.
 
Terry, I've had the same experience with three different quad chargers. It doesn't matter if the batteries are hot or cold.
From new, they were all blinking red/green and refusing to charge intermittently and gradually getting worse until they die a few months of moderate use later.

Sure, switching it on and off and shuffling the batteries sometimes fixes the problem (sometimes, until it doesn't anymore) but if you can't rely on battery charging when you put it on charge, it is just not a suitable product for a professional environment. Last thing I want after a 12 hour shoot day is to stay up all night and shuffle batteries or worse wake up to flat batteries with another long work day ahead. (It happened)

If you do a search, there are quite a few threads with this problem raised, Red is still refusing to address or even acknowledge the problem, which is frankly quite infuriating.
 
Bob Gundu said:
Red's existing XL module will charge the battery and power the camera at the same time. It's a slow trickle charge but it nevertheless charges. When the camera is off, you have to put the power cable directly into the module to charge.
Click to expand...

Bob, I don't think my XL module charges and powers simultaneously. I bought it as a back up charger and for smaller camera builds for documentary work as the quad module turned out to be way too bulky. It's equally unreliable as a stand alone charger, a lot of times doesn't recognize the battery (or perhaps the fact that it's plugged in) at all.
 
Bob Gundu said:
Red's existing XL module will charge the battery and power the camera at the same time. It's a slow trickle charge but it nevertheless charges. When the camera is off, you have to put the power cable directly into the module to charge.
Click to expand...

Yeah - I found that a little quirky... and slow.
 
I been trough 8 XL batteries and 2 Quad chargers. The small volts works quite ok. Also when using the Quad module with XL's there is no problem, But XL module or/and +1 module together with XL's seems to mess things up. It needs to be looked over.
 
I'm still waiting for a new battery technology. There's a few innovations that has been done the last 5 years or so, but no one uses them. I would like to see smaller and lighter bricks with a longer capacity.

Especially I would like to see a solution for Weapon and bricks. There have been few (if any) productions I've been on that use anything other than a V-lock workflow so I would rather see that Red get good solutions for those kind of batteries before anything else. Right now, the Red Brick is almost touching the top handle and if Weapon is even smaller the Red Brick won't fit, which is a pretty bad design error.
 
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