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Help! Advice needed with Arriflex 2C 16V battery


Samuel Berger

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Hi all, our Arri IIC camera has arrived and it turns out to need a 16V battery rather than 12V. I'm not sure where to look for a 16V. Bescor doesn't make them. I know of places that will build any battery but they won't attach them to a 4 pin XLR.

 

Would like to see an out-of-the-box solution like the Bescor stuff. Thanks!

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if you need 16v and have a spare 4-pin power cable (you can have one made too) you could use two 8.4v nimh airsoft batteries in series so would have 16.8v output. you would need some tamiya connectors for it and small amount of wire for the connections.

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There's a guy on eBay right now who apparently adapted Dewalt power tool batteries for his Arri SR2

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ARRI-ARRIFLEX-SR2-HIGHSPEED-CRYSTAL-SPEED-CONTROL-PACKAGE/253225050059

 

Jean Louis, I thought of getting something like this: http://www.batteryspace.com/nimhbatterypack168v10ah168wh14xdfordivinglightscooterrobote-bike.aspx

And comibining it with this: http://www.batteryspace.com/neutrik-nc4fx-female-xlr-connector-nickel-4-pin.aspx

 

I wonder if it can be done as a DIY

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I have an Arri 2C on flat base. The motor is the usual pistol grip Arri 2C one, mounted upside down on the base. It has a fairly ancient and tarnished looking PV electrical connection at the base of the motor. The leads are ancient and not in the best of shape. When I get the lens mount changed to PL I'm thinking of also getting the electrical connections changed to some other more convenient system, maybe XLR - whatever's best. Can anyone advise what it typically might cost to get the motor battery plug/connection modified? Also, typically, now much does a camera that probably hasn't been used for three decades usually need spent on it in terms of greasing and maintenance to bring it up to ready-to-film level, assuming all parts are fine and working? The camera seems in good condition. It has all the bits necessary and just needs lenses (to be hired), film mags and battery connection. I'm not very mechanically minded myself and would prefer an expert to work on it.

Edited by Jon O'Brien
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Can anyone advise what it typically might cost to get the motor battery plug/connection modified? Also, typically, now much does a camera that probably hasn't been used for three decades usually need spent on it in terms of greasing and maintenance to bring it up to ready-to-film level, assuming all parts are fine and working? The camera seems in good condition. It has all the bits necessary and just needs lenses (to be hired), film mags and battery connection. I'm not very mechanically minded myself and would prefer an expert to work on it.

 

You're in Australia. Go here and call the number on the page. http://www.arandafilm.com.au/

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Hi Sam.....I've also got an Arri 2c.....years ago I bought a CP xtal replacement motor for that draws only about 2 amps at 16 vdc.

in the past I've found some gell cells....normally used in emergency lighting battery packs.

Gell cells have no memory.

they come in 6 volt blocks....3 of them for 18 vdc....years ago they were about $20.00 each.

Building a box to carry them in was a make shift thing..

I used anywhere from 5 to 8 amp hour blocks...wired them together....and also made my own chargers for them.

 

I actually did 2 12vdc packs for my Arri 16BL.....and sent them out on a shoot.

They ran 16,000 ft of film...when I asked them how the batteries worked out....they told me that

they didn't change to the second battery or charge the first one that they were using.

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Hi, there! Interesting that this post got revived today as I've just received my new 16V battery in the post two hours ago. The governor motor runs at exactly 24 fps with it. It's not crystal but it will do. Unfortunately I don't have the necessary gears to replace the motor with a crystal unit.

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Thanks Jean-Louis, but we've just checked and nothing can be done about it, the whole body is very heavily modified. My friend tells me the technician told him "the motor/motor base/inching system/viewfinder/lens mount are all different from the Arri configuration. Nothing to do with gears, everything to do with body shape/placement of parts."

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Got some pictures of the camera?

The Arri techniscope did have a different movement installed in the body.

On my 4 perf camera....i would unscrew the motor from the bottom and remove the adapter gear.....attach a Cine 60 base (without the adaptor gear

and flip the motor upside down and screw it into the Cine 60 flat base....It a one to one drive so nothing different there.

the techniscope camera usually had a buckle trip switch (for loss of loop shut off) and also could be ordered with a pilot tone generator for feeding

camera sync pulse to the Nagra.

 

Mine also has a hard front one it (only mounts one lens) rather than the 3 lens turret....with an arri standard mount.....

the later camera could have a Arri B mount for the lens.

 

also I never had to replace the adaptor gear when I switched to the CP Xtal motor.

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I have an Arri 2C on flat base.. When I get the lens mount changed to PL I'm thinking of also getting the electrical connections changed to some other more convenient system, maybe XLR - whatever's best. Can anyone advise what it typically might cost to get the motor battery plug/connection modified? Also, typically, now much does a camera that probably hasn't been used for three decades usually need spent on it in terms of greasing and maintenance to bring it up to ready-to-film level, assuming all parts are fine and working?

Sorry Jon, I missed this question before.

 

If you have the original motor cable, it might be best to just replace the battery end plug, rather than the motor socket, but that could be modified also. The cost is no doubt variable and negotiable, depending on how much work is required.

 

I've serviced a few 2Cs over the years, they are pretty simple mechanically and don't usually require too much work to relubricate. It's always worth checking the flange depth and ground glass focus before embarking on a project. You can check out the insides of one on my cinetinker entry on the 2C:

http://cinetinker.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/

 

Send me a PM if you want to discuss it further.

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Did he do the hardfront, door finder and base as well as the 2 perf conversion?

 

Yep, all his work. Now I have no idea where that finder came from or if I'll ever be able to add a videotap since the finder hole is non-standard. It's about a 43 or 44mm thread.

What worries me is the viewfinder's diopter, I'm not sure I'm setting it right. I guess a test roll of film will answer that. Also I wish the finder had a zoom function but looks like it doesn't.

 

We should have chosen his other one. It was just a regular 2C in 2-perf. But my friend kept saying we'd get sharper glass in PL. Now we have an un-blimpable camera with matte box rods on the SIDE rather than under.

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OK saw your picture of the camera.

on power cables.....there's 5 pin and 4 pin.......basically pin 1 isthe negative (I think ...from memory) the others are positive with

pin2 being 8.5v....#3 12 volts....piin #4 16 volts....and pin #5 for 24Volts..... This is standard so that the cable can be wired for any battery

combination.

There is also a 2 pin banana plug that can also be wired.

So wiring between pin 1 and pin 4 gives you the 16 volts.

 

On the viewfinder.....take off the lens ......turn the shutter so that light is reflected to the viewfinder....look at the ground glass of the viewfinder

turn the focus on the viewfinder ....when the etching on the glass are sharp ( you should have camera frame cutoff etched in the glass)

....it's in focus....lock it down there.

 

What we did with mine was to build a blimp for it.....started with a 5/8" plate of aluminum and got 2 1/2-3/4" pieces of poly eithelne rubber....one piece got

2 hole drilled through it for 2 bolts into the base of the camera (holes drilled so that the heads went completely through the first piece).

The second piece had a cutout in the shape of the lower flat base....then holes just for the threads of the bolts to go through. The 2 were glued together.

The they were big enough to drill 4 to 6 holes to put screws through the rubber and attach the rubber to the aluminum plate.

then we got some light weight aluminum sheet...it had holes stamped in it all over it and could easily be bent into any shape we needed.....we cut it into the size we needed

leaving space around the camera as needed and made a top and bottom half that could be locked together with some small clasps from a brief case.

Wired some plugs and a flasher to it that flashed when the camera was running......

To seal it.....BONDO......and cut 2 inch thick foam for inside to deaden the sound. Worked great for silencing the camera.

The draw back was the viewfinder.....it wouldn't extend out far enough to make it easy to pan or tilt the camera and keep your eye up to the viewfinder.

SO your camera set-ups were mostly static.

a video tap would be a must to follow some moves with actors in it.

The whole rig probably weighed close to 30 lbs........

Also glass sheet in front of the lens.

 

Rich

Edited by Richard Perrine
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