Possible to get a CP16A Lens Fixed within the UK?

Ron Flex · November 24, 2008

I have quotes from both Whitehouse and Visual Products regarding fixing my CP16A lens and its viewfinder. However I was wondering if there was anywhere in the Uk that could repair this for me? I really do not want to ship the lens to the USA as all these poor shipping companies are what landed me in this horrible situation in the first place. I could imagine sending it off and it getting lost. Forcing me to start some useless claim once again.

Does anyone in the Uk have the knowledge to repair this lens? The problem is that the viewfinder has snapped off the mount and the innards of the viewfinder appear to be borked as well.

Ken from Whitehouse told me (I think) that there used to be someone in the UK who did it but has since retired.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Mike Rizos · November 26, 2008

You could try Les Bosher:

http://www.lesbosher.co.uk/

or Van Diemen

http://www.vandiemen.tv/index.html

I am not sure if they'll fix your lens but it's worth calling them. But it might be better to find another lens altogether than to try to repair that one.

Ron Flex · November 26, 2008

You could try Les Bosher:
http://www.lesbosher.co.uk/

or Van Diemen

http://www.vandiemen.tv/index.html

I am not sure if they'll fix your lens but it's worth calling them. But it might be better to find another lens altogether than to try to repair that one.

Thanks for the links. Its not the lens technically. Its the dog leg viewfinder that snapped off at the mount during transit.

A bit OT but does anyone know how long it should take to charge a 12V CP16 battery from flat, using a Whitehouse Visual charger at 240V input?

Edited November 26, 2008 by Ron Flex

Mike Rizos · November 26, 2008

The CP battery should be 20V. The CP will run ok down to about 18V, below that I am not sure if it will run properly.

The normal CP batteries take about 14-16 hrs with the Cinema Products charger.

Bart Smith · November 26, 2008

Other people you could try....

Simon Challenor details here

Martin Stent details here

Or possible even Chris Edwards details here although I think the job might be a bit too mechanical for him??? An excellent lens technician though.

Ron Flex · November 27, 2008

Lens has been sent to Les Bosch for a look over. Hopefully he can fix it. I really do not want to send this back to the USA. That's what killed it in the first place :angry:

Ron Flex · December 3, 2008

The CP battery should be 20V. The CP will run ok down to about 18V, below that I am not sure if it will run properly.
The normal CP batteries take about 14-16 hrs with the Cinema Products charger.

I have my original Cinema Products battery charging on a Whitehouse charger at 240v. After 4 hours I put it in the camera out of curiosity and it the battery test peaked at the top of the green bar. The battery was 100% flat before I charged it.

Does the battery indicator work properly? Should I leave it charging another 10 hours? When can I tell if the battery is fully charged?

Bernie O'Doherty · December 3, 2008

You just need to buy a cheap voltmeter from Radio Shack or similar store. They're easy to use.I'm talking $15. You simply read the battery voltage across the plus and minus terminals. Also helpful to check the health of your battery. The sooner you come to nominal voltage, the healthier the cells. Nominal voltage is what you will read after a few minutes. It shows "name-only" voltage, the voltage without much amperage capacity.

Ian Cooper · December 4, 2008

If you know the capacity of the battery in Ah (amp-hours) or mAh (milli-amp-hours). Then a full charge will take about 14 hours at one tenth the Ah rating.

ie. a 7Ah battery will take 14 hours to fully charge at a rate of 0.7A (or 700mA). The reason it takes 14 hours rather than 10 is due to losses in the system, you don't get an ideal transfer of power!

If you know the capacity of the battery and the charge rate of the charger, then you can calculate the charge time. A 7Ah battery charged at 2A will take 4.9hours to charge. With charge rates much over the Ah/10 value it is important not to overcharge as damage can occur - which leaves a slight problem knowing what to do if the battery isn't totally flat!

As a rough guide, assuming the charge rate is near the one-tenth capacity rate, then you can tell when the battery is charged by feeling for a gentle rise in temperature of the battery pack. When the cells are charged the excess energy being applied gets converted to heat rather than used to charge the cell - this is the reason not to charge too quickly, as the cells can overheat and be damaged! "Intelligent" battery chargers can sense when the cells are charged by monitoring such things as battery temperature and/or the characteristic voltage curve generated whilst applying a constant current to the cell.