Battery for 16mm Eclair ACL2

[Luca Rocchini]

I recommend glueing velcro all over it so that you can attach it very easily to the camera, to your belt, etc. It may be a good idea to add a extra layer or two of heat shrink plastic on it before applying velcro so that the surface is more sturdy.

 

You can even buy a cheap basic clip on utility belt from local hardware store and use it as a "battery belt", just attach the battery with velcro and you're ready to go :lol:

Thanks Aapo!

[Giorgio Taricco]

Hello gents,

what do you think about this battery for the ACL?

 

http://www.tracerpower.com/tracer-lifepo4-batteries.html

 

XLR connector available

 

Thanks

 

Giorgio

Edited July 23, 2016 by Giorgio Taricco

[Giorgio Taricco]

Just to let you know that the above battery works perfectly at any speed on my Acl II with heavy duty motor. Not very small but light and beautiful made.

 

Giorgio

[lars preisser]

Hi everyone,

 

I am also interested in building/ buying a good battery solution for the Eclair ACL II and it is quite urgent since I want to film end of march.

 

I have never built a battery so it would be great to get some advice. Attached is an image of some parts I would think could work but as I said I have no clue. Ideally I want it to be onboard (with velcro) and easily swappable just in case they do not last very long or charging takes ages.

 

Will 10x AA 1,2V batteries each 600mAh do? I am just planning to hook that to a spiralcable and a female xlr 4pin microphone plug...

 

just wondering if that would work at all and how long would it power the camera? and what about recharging?

 

Or does anyone have a list of good parts that are available on ebay/ online?

 

thanks

 

 

[lars preisser]

Just to let you know that the above battery works perfectly at any speed on my Acl II with heavy duty motor. Not very small but light and beautiful made.

 

Giorgio

hi, which model exactly do you use? Is 3,5Ah enough for higher framerates? I've heard 4-6Ah would be ideal? Can there be too much?

 

Lars

[Mark Dunn]

Hi everyone,

 

I am also interested in building/ buying a good battery solution for the Eclair ACL II and it is quite urgent since I want to film end of march.

 

I have never built a battery so it would be great to get some advice. Attached is an image of some parts I would think could work but as I said I have no clue. Ideally I want it to be onboard (with velcro) and easily swappable just in case they do not last very long or charging takes ages.

 

Will 10x AA 1,2V batteries each 600mAh do? I am just planning to hook that to a spiralcable and a female xlr 4pin microphone plug...

 

just wondering if that would work at all and how long would it power the camera? and what about recharging?

 

Or does anyone have a list of good parts that are available on ebay/ online?

 

thanks

 

 

I didn't know anyone actually sold NiCd anymore. They're markedly inferior to NiMh.

Anyway you couldn't expect to draw 4-5A from an AA. The voltage drop would be very high. You need larger cells, Cs or Ds at the very least.

Edited February 20, 2018 by Mark Dunn

[lars preisser]

I didn't know anyone actually sold NiCd anymore. They're markedly inferior to NiMh.

Anyway you couldn't expect to draw 4-5A from an AA. The voltage drop would be very high. You need larger cells, Cs or Ds at the very least.

Good to know thx, I though if I have like 10 of them it will ad up to the amount I need.

 

Regarding the NiCd´s; the cinematographer I bought my camera from told me NiCd would be better. Don´t know why.. but one thing I read was that with NiCd it does not matter when you dont use them for a long time, there is no danger of loosing capacity or anything. There is still lots of them around and they are still used in Hospitals and elsewhere probably due to that reliablity

 

hm difficult decision, the "tracer" option seems easy but may be a bit expensive. Building it from scratch will be risky though, having no real experience and all that...

 

if I`d go with the "tracer" can anyone recommend a specific model of battery from them?

[lars preisser]

So finally, I guess this should work:

 

Pack NIMH 13.2V 4Ah PL SL2151 AO F - MGH00210 | Allbatteries.co.uk

 

But probably I go for this (cheaper and I have the same charger), hope the higher Ah is not a problem:

 

NiMH Battery Pack: 13.2V 5Ah (66wh, Hump) with Trail-Tech female plug

 

Thanks Gregg and Jean

 

so you would just velcro that pvc wrapped pack on your camera and somehow connect an xlr cable?

[Pavan Deep]

I use a Canon DSLR [NP-E3] 12 volt battery with my ACL, which is attached to the camera with a velcro.

Pav

[lars preisser]

I use a Canon DSLR [NP-E3] 12 volt battery with my ACL, which is attached to the camera with a velcro.

Pav

I saw that before but thats a pretty expensive battery unless you own them anyways and where did you attach the cable and how do you charge it and do you get framerates above 25 with that?

[Pavan Deep]

I don't think they are expensive just checked and they are about £25 from Ebay, I bought two and you can also get chargers for them too. You can get 25fps with them, they last a long time, plus they are very light.

 

Pav

[lars preisser]

I don't think they are expensive just checked and they are about £25 from Ebay, I bought two and you can also get chargers for them too. You can get 25fps with them, they last a long time, plus they are very light.

 

Pav

sounds good, what kind of cable did you make/use and how/where did you attach it?

[Pavan Deep]

It's the XLR cable, the ends are just taped to the neg and positive poles of the battery.

 

Pav

[lars preisser]

It's the XLR cable, the ends are just taped to the neg and positive poles of the battery.

 

Pav

so there is an opening in the battery on that side? -- do you have a close up of the construction by any chance?

[Mark Dunn]

It has exposed terminals

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Ex-Pro-Digital-Camera-Battery-NPE3-NP-E3-7084A001-for-Canon-EOS-1D-EOS-1Ds/391307673026?epid=1507599084&hash=item5b1bc13dc2:g:088AAOSwCJxaDBPN

I can vouch for the quality of that brand- different battery, though.

Edited February 21, 2018 by Mark Dunn

[Mark Dunn]

I'd probably be soldering the wires to the terminals, but that's only because I've got a big soldering iron. Pav's universal adapter (bared wire) obviously works.

[lars preisser]

It has exposed terminals

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Ex-Pro-Digital-Camera-Battery-NPE3-NP-E3-7084A001-for-Canon-EOS-1D-EOS-1Ds/391307673026?epid=1507599084&hash=item5b1bc13dc2:g:088AAOSwCJxaDBPN

I can vouch for the quality of that brand- different battery, though.

yes I saw them but on the picture pav has the yellow cap over the terminals so it looks like the cable goes into the other side.

[lars preisser]

...chargers seem to be hard to find/ expensive.

[Pavan Deep]

I have made small holes in the yellow cap to feed the neg and pos wires then I've just taped the cap to the battery. They have got a bit expensive, but I think these seem okay;

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-Canon-NI-MH-Charger-NC-E2-NP-E3-EOS-1D-1DS-MKI-MKII-MKIIN-1D-Mark-II/263507319134?hash=item3d5a42995e:g:zdsAAOSwG7Fai0Zf

 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/CANON-NI-MH-CHARGER-NC-E2-FOR-NP-E2-AND-NP-E3-NI-MH-BATTERY-PACK/173159526656?hash=item28511cb100:g:IaYAAOSwGJFahGxp

Edited February 21, 2018 by Pavan Deep

[lars preisser]

ah cool but the charger is too much for me. can I run the eclair acl II on 13,2V and 8Ah or is that too high?

I just found a batterybelt online, that looks nice with xlr and charger...

[lars preisser]

Oh, don't worry about that. I'm happy that Andrew was able to confirm that the motor can safely take a higher voltage. Your best bet would a 13.2V pack (11 NiMH cells). At full charge without load, it'll be 15.4V, just under the max of 15.6V.

hi, great so this 13,2V 8Ah belt will be fine?

[Giorgio Taricco]

That's the best solution I've found for the Eclair ACL needing external battery solution:

353-proaim-brick-external-battery-for-blackmagic-pocket-camera-p-brk-bmpc.html

I've used it also on the Aaton Minima and it works perfectly, you just need a pair of little rods to mount it under the base, it's light.

 

Giorgio

Edited February 24, 2018 by Giorgio Taricco

[lars preisser]

That's the best solution I've found for the Eclair ACL needing external battery solution:

353-proaim-brick-external-battery-for-blackmagic-pocket-camera-p-brk-bmpc.html

I've used it also on the Aaton Minima and it works perfectly, you just need a pair of little rods to mount it under the base, it's light.

 

Giorgio

that looks really good, also 50% off!

I already got the belt now which seems to work fine up to 75fps on the eclair II... but this might be good as an additional onboard solution and it works for the pocket so thats a bonus too. just wondering if the rod adapter is detachable so the box could go on the side of the eclair magazine.

 

lars

[Perry Paolantonio]

hi, great so this 13,2V 8Ah belt will be fine?

 

As others have pointed out earlier in this thread, it's probably not a good idea to use a higher voltage in an older camera like this. you can have as many Amp Hours as you want - but too much voltage can fry the old electronics. You're talking about a camera from the 1960s/1970s here, so they're more sensitive to voltage spikes than modern electronics.

 

Also, the battery itself doesn't need to have XLR connections, per se. I use a lead acid motorcycle battery for my ACL and it runs *forever* on that thing. It's in a shoulder bag that I mounted a car lighter socket to (when using it on a tripod, it acts as a nice weight to stabilize too - it's heavy!). I have a cable that has the car lighter plug on one end, and the camera connector on the other. If you can use a soldering iron and follow directions, the cable probably takes 10 minutes to make.

[lars preisser]

 

As others have pointed out earlier in this thread, it's probably not a good idea to use a higher voltage in an older camera like this. you can have as many Amp Hours as you want - but too much voltage can fry the old electronics. You're talking about a camera from the 1960s/1970s here, so they're more sensitive to voltage spikes than modern electronics.

 

Also, the battery itself doesn't need to have XLR connections, per se. I use a lead acid motorcycle battery for my ACL and it runs *forever* on that thing. It's in a shoulder bag that I mounted a car lighter socket to (when using it on a tripod, it acts as a nice weight to stabilize too - it's heavy!). I have a cable that has the car lighter plug on one end, and the camera connector on the other. If you can use a soldering iron and follow directions, the cable probably takes 10 minutes to make.

 

So you think 13,2V will eventually harm the camera? Mine is from 1980 though and others here said the ACL II can take up to 15,4V !?