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Anton Bauer battery/charger issue
I’m having a problem with my four ProPac14 and two Hytron50 batteries.
Or, I’m having a problem with my charger (ABC800H).
I just don’t know.
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Scenario #1:
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I put the batteries on charge. The charger charges them and gives me a green light. I pull the batteries off the charger and put them on my camera (HPX-500). Turn the camera power switch to ‘on.’ Nothing. Or, the camera will power up just long enough to say that the battery is low on power and then shut down within a minute.The ProPac14’s have no LCD meter, but I can use a portable, digital volt meter to check the power. The charged ones show 15v-16v on the external volt meter. And on the camera, they initially register at 13v before auto-shutdown.
Meanwhile, the Hytron50’s show on the built-in meter that they are fully charged. BUT, the external volt meter indicates the battery has 19v to 20v on it. When attached to the camera, nothing happens. Well… almost nothing. The camera’s built-in audio monitor speaker starts making a low humming sound (with the power switch on or off). Other than that, it’s like the battery is dead.
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Scenario #2:
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In this situation, the batteries will not charge at all. I put them on the charger and I get the standard red/green alternating lights. But, that’s as far as it goes. After three days on the charger doing this, I pull them and check with the digital volt meter. None of them have more than 8v or 9v. (It’s as if they lost power while on the charger.)Keep in mind that these are the same batteries that previously in Scenario #1 were showing as charged. And while doing these troubleshooting experiments, they were left off the charger for a day or two and then put back on.
I’m very confused by this turn of events. It is unlikely that six batteries would all go crazy in a few months time. It seems more likely that my charger is the culprit. But, the batteries are all around 5 years old and it IS technically possible that they could all die at the same time, too.
If the charger is going crazy and has damaged the batteries, then I’m looking at having to start over with a new charger and batteries.
FWIW – the camera powers up and functions fine with the power supply.
Thoughts anyone?
Thanks,
Ben
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2 Replies
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I think your least expensive option would to see if you can’t rent, or better still borrow, a similar charger. The second least expensive option would be to buy one new battery and see how that works.
Sorry if these ideas seem obvious, but the simplest ideas are the best place to start.
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You haven’t changed the camera’s internal menu settings at all? I know some cameras let you dial-in the type and watt-hours of the batteries you use, so they read remaining power correctly.
It doesn’t look good for the charger from here. Do the batteries seem warm or hot when on the charger?
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