Du-All 12 volt 5ah Battery w/ charger question

[Rudy Velez Jr]

I have just acquired a Du-All 12 volt 5ah Battery w/ charger question, how long should I charge the unit for? How do I know the unit needs to be charged? How much juice will it give me if I give it a full charge.

 

 

here is a link to what it I am talking about looks like: http://www.duallcamera.com/store/

the 1st item.

 

 

Will I have ever have to replace the batteries inside this at some point? If so, what type will I have to get for the replacement, I am always thinking of the next calamity, so I be at least aware if not prepared.

 

 

 

[Phil Rhodes]

The site doesn't say what sort of battery it is, so it's hard to advise. If it's NiCd, they can usually be charged in a few hours, although it's kinder to give them a day. The website says "overnight", which I'd take to be perhaps 8 or 10 hours. Didn't it come with any instructions?

 

As to how much juice, well, it's a 5Ah battery, so it'll ideally give you five amps for an hour, or two and a half amps for two hours, etc. There are inevitably efficiency losses, especially at high current draws (where "high" means "anything approaching or exceeding the one-hour rate)". Certain types of battery technology are better at high current than others.

 

Eventually, yes, you may have to replace the actual battery cells. It probably won't fail immediately, it'll just become gradually less and less good until you need to replace it. Again, can't really say more without knowing the type.

 

I suspect it's sealed lead-acid, but I can't really tell.

 

P

[Dom Jaeger]

For the price to include a charger it's almost certainly lead-acid, the other battery packs they sell all specify either Ni-Cad or Ni-MH (which are usually twice as expensive or more).

 

The main draw-back with this kind of cell is that they are bulky and heavy, and require a longer charge time. The link specifically says the charger is an overnight slow charger with an 8-12hr charge cycle, which is pretty standard for lead-acids.

 

Their advantage (apart from the price/performance ratio) is that they are very durable and don't require much in the way of maintenance, meaning you can partially discharge then recharge them many times without causing 'memory' problems. Other cell types require a full discharge cycle more frequently, but with lead-acids you only need to discharge them completely once every 6 months or so if you want the maximum life-span. With occasional use (like to power a camera every now and then) they should last at least 5 years or more. Remember to store them fully charged though.

 

As Phil mentioned, a 5Ah battery will nominally supply 5 amps for an hour, or 1 amp for 5 hours etc. It depends on your camera (and accessories if your running them off the camera) as to how much power you'll consume, but generally 5Ah should be enough for a day of shooting film. An Arri 16SR for example will run for over 4 hours off that, or more than twenty 400' mags at 24fps.