SR2 Battery Recell

[Michael McKenna]

Hello everyone

 

This is my first post here - I've been reading these forums for a long time, and finally decided to sign up.

 

I'm currently trying to get some onboard SR2 batteries recelled (London)

 

I have been able to source a 12v 2mA recell service, however I'm concerned the extra power could cause problems (the Arri batteries are rated at only 1.2mA)

 

Does anyone run an SR2 on recelled batteries?

 

Any advice as to whether the extra power might damage the camera, or can it take it?

 

Thanks for any help

Michael

[Freya Black]

The batteries will last longer but will still only supply 12volts at a time so it shouldn't cause problems.

As long as it is still 12v you should be okay.

 

Freya

[Jean-Louis Seguin]

There is no danger to the camera by using higher capacity cells. The camera only uses what it needs.

However, if you continue using the same conventional slow charger, the time it takes to charge up the batteries will increase.

 

Jean-Louis

[Dom Jaeger]

The term commonly used for battery capacity is amp-hours (Ah) or milliamp-hours (mAh), an indication of how long the cells can supply a certain current before the battery is considered discharged. A 1.2Ah (or 1200mAh) battery should nominally supply 1.2 amps for an hour, or 0.6 amps for 2 hours etc. As answered above, a higher capacity battery won't damage your camera, it will just supply the required current for longer before the battery becomes depleted.

 

The supply voltage is more critical - SR2s run off 12V though they can handle up to about 18V. Above that and fuses or components will blow. Below about 8 or 9V and the camera will start to malfunction or shut down. Typically a 12V battery is at about 14V when fully charged and slowly drops down to about 11V by the time it's flat. If you keep drawing power the voltage will quickly plummet after this.

 

The only issue with higher capacity cells is the charge time, as Jean-Louis mentions. The original Arri SR2 12V chargers are timer based, meaning they simply charge for a set time, so higher capacity cells may get under-charged - you might need to charge them twice to get them fully charged again.