Homemade 12v Block Batteries?

[grant mcphee]

Hi,

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for a cheap alternative to 12v Block batteries for powering Monitors/Video Assists etc on location.

 

Is it possible to convert car or motorbike batteries?

 

Thanks,

 

Grant

[Phil Rhodes]

People tend to use sealed lead-acid gel batteries. They're heavy and take a long time to charge - often more than overnight, which can make life very difficult on long shoots, but they're very cheap for the capacity.

 

Car batteries are usable, but the danger of acid spills makes them an iffy choice in my view.

 

Phil

[Olex Kalynychenko]

Hi,

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for a cheap alternative to 12v Block batteries for powering Monitors/Video Assists etc on location.

 

Is it possible to convert car or motorbike batteries?

 

If you need high power and small size batteries, you need NiMh.

But, The cells need connect on battery and cells have not low price.

The alternative, to use of sealed lead-acid gel batteries.

This is very good batteries with high power , low price, but, not low weight.

I use of 12v 7 ah, 12v 4ah, 12 v 10 ah batteries at long time with my 16 mm, 35 mm cine cameras.

 

The one detail, need good charger.

The better, if this automatic charger with control of voltage on battery and charging current.

 

The car and motorbike batteries can have fluid acid inside and this danger for use.

That's why, the sealed lead-acid gel batteries can be better choose.

[Tim O'Connor]

Hi,

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for a cheap alternative to 12v Block batteries for powering Monitors/Video Assists etc on location.

 

Is it possible to convert car or motorbike batteries?

 

Thanks,

 

Grant

 

I agree that the unwieldyness of car batteries along with the inevitable acid spills rules them out but

I have a 12V jump pack in my car anyway (the kind with jumper cables) and that's sealed. It's not

light particularly but it's not that heavy if you're just carrying it a bit and then setting it down in the

woods say and mine has a cigarette lighter 12V out that is pretty useful and can run a low watt

appliance, even a low watt light, say 50W, for a decent time. Now a 50W light isn't much but say you

have a low budget and you're shooting a night street scene. A quartz camcorder 50W light can

give you good exposure on faces (if positioned just out of frame) and yet you'll be open enough to

get all the neon and resturant lights and that stuff, plus you can walk around the city with a couple of

lights and the jump pack in a backpack.

 

I have friends who used to go to do it yourself electronics stores, buy some batteries and a

charger and then go to an army surplus store and buy an ammo belt, put the batteries in the

pouches, wire them up to a four pin, and wear the belts around the waist.

 

They couldn't buy a small number of expensive batteries but they did accumulate a lot of lower

cost ones. Still, they found a solution for their budgets.

[John Sprung]

There are loads of choices in sealed lead acid batteries. They're use in UPS's and alarm systems. Google will find you lots of sources, and DIY charger schematics. They're deep cycle batteries, which is the right choice for powering production equipment. Car batteries are designed for brief periods of extremely high current, cranking the engine to start it. They won't last as long in deep cycle applications.

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[David Auner aac]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a cheap alternative to 12v Block batteries for powering Monitors/Video Assists etc on location.

 

Not that it's that cheap, but you can build packs out of SubC cells used for RC car racing. Nowadays the best price/bang ratio lies with the 3600mAh NIMH cells. Just get 12 of these and solder them together and shrink wrap the whole pack. Add you cable and connector of choice et voila! Get a decent charger and you'll be using that pack for a long time! Expect around 60 EU for a battery and 100-150 for the charger.

 

Cheers, Dave

[JD Hartman]

If you were to replace your vehicle battery with an Optima deep cycle battery or batteries, you would have a portable 12vdc power source with a built in recharger. http://www.optimabatteries.com/publish/opt...onfig/home.html

The batteries mount in any position, have no liquid electrolyte to spill and some of them are designed to survive in harsh environments. Mount a 12v recepticle like the type found on a forklift battery on the vehicle and you have your connection.

Edited August 26, 2007 by JD Hartman

[Paul Bruening]

Wheel chair batteries. I run my Fries 35R3 and LCD TFT monitors off them. You get the chargers from the same supply houses. I put them in plastic or metal tool boxes that I buy cheap at Malmart.