BL4 - strange problem

[J Costantini]

Hi. I saw a very strange thing pass today with an Arri Bl4. when I connected the handgrip/starter and activated the RUN button using it, the camera started running much faster than 24fps and wouldn´t stop! only when I removed the battery.

Then I would disconnect the battery, plug it again and the same thing would happen when I RUN the camera using the handgrip or the main button.

Now, out of the blue, the camera finally started running normally at 24fps, and the handgrip works perfect.

 

do you know what could have happened?

 

thanks

[Saul Rodgar]

Hi. I saw a very strange thing pass today with an Arri Bl4. when I connected the handgrip/starter and activated the RUN button using it, the camera started running much faster than 24fps and wouldn´t stop! only when I removed the battery.

Then I would disconnect the battery, plug it again and the same thing would happen when I RUN the camera using the handgrip or the main button.

Now, out of the blue, the camera finally started running normally at 24fps, and the handgrip works perfect.

 

do you know what could have happened?

 

thanks

 

I think it is a short circuit somewhere in the electric system, triggered perhaps by your plugging the handgrip/ starter, but not necessarily.

 

I would not use the camera and have it serviced immediately, as a similar thing happened to one of my cameras and it fried the motor's circuit boards before I could pull the power cable off. It was pricey to fix, and on older cameras, parts are harder to find too.

[Dan Goulder]

Hi. I saw a very strange thing pass today with an Arri Bl4. when I connected the handgrip/starter and activated the RUN button using it, the camera started running much faster than 24fps and wouldn´t stop! only when I removed the battery.

Then I would disconnect the battery, plug it again and the same thing would happen when I RUN the camera using the handgrip or the main button.

Now, out of the blue, the camera finally started running normally at 24fps, and the handgrip works perfect.

 

do you know what could have happened?

 

thanks

You appear to have an intermittent short in the Fischer cable used to connect the handgrip switch. Replace the cable.

[J Costantini]

You appear to have an intermittent short in the Fischer cable used to connect the handgrip switch. Replace the cable.

 

it´s still weird, because today we were testing the camera again and it happened without using the handgrip. it ran a few times, then suddenly it ran up to more than 48fps, I assume by the noise, and the little side display would show only dots and it wouldn´t respond to the run-stop button. it´s weird because it ran well a few times before doing that. tried other batteries and cables, nothing.

I think that some circuit may have been damaged when I connected the handgrip (why would that happen?) or delivered already damaged by rental house. Definately it should be some circuit related problem...

[Hal Smith]

it´s still weird, because today we were testing the camera again and it happened without using the handgrip. it ran a few times, then suddenly it ran up to more than 48fps, I assume by the noise, and the little side display would show only dots and it wouldn´t respond to the run-stop button. it´s weird because it ran well a few times before doing that. tried other batteries and cables, nothing.

I think that some circuit may have been damaged when I connected the handgrip (why would that happen?) or delivered already damaged by rental house. Definately it should be some circuit related problem...

 

Sounds to me like the camera's electronics have an intermittant problem which is very common in elderly electronics. I don't know that a BL4 has microprocessor controlled electronics but the symptoms you're describing sound like a microprocessor that is loosing its place in its control software. When that happens in a PC it's frequently caused by a bad location in system memory. Another cause for this sort of problem is a bad memory backup battery. If a BL4 powers up in the same mode as when it was shut down it has to have some form of non-volatile memory which in modern electronics is usually flash memory that doesn't require a battery but in older electronics often is cmos memory supported by something like a lithium-ion button battery.