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Any tips for re-celling a Bolex EL battery??


steven jackson

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I've never done a re-cell and am looking for advice on what batteries to buy, soldering tips, wiring from anyone that has experience in re-celling a battery pack for a Bolex EL. In particular, are the aH cumulative or does each battery need to be, say, 2000 ah.?? I haven't broken open the case yet but am expecting to find a bunch of AA batteries wired together. I want to go back with NiCad type batteries so I can use the original plug and charger.

 

I'm handy with repairs but don't want to start a fire or have anything blow up in my face! hah.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

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Once you open it up, you'll see what kind of cells are in it.

I'd be surprised if they were AA, Bolex never designed a battery pack around AA cells.

To minimize soldering, I would suggest you get a ready made 12V pack or two 6V packs.

Maybe you could post a picture of the inside of the battery.

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My EL didn't come with anything for power so I did a couple of things... I got a 3 pin Tuchel (sp) connector to hook up to the EL with 3 inches of wiring ending in a round connector. Then I found a suitable AC adapter from the myriad available at a locale Goodwill (Salvation Army?) for $3, replaced the connector on the end of it with one to match the other connector and have unlimited power when you have AC available. For battery power, I got a Duracell 12v lead acid battery (can get them in a variety of amps), wired that up with another round connector. The battery cost about $40, will run the EL for days, and you just recharge it on a auto trickle charger. Don't let me discourage you from re-celling but I'd be happy to get some pics & links to parts if you want.

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Thanks for the tips. I'm going to open it up and will post photos. I have already used the EL with a 12v gel battery that I have and a home made cable but I was liking the idea of keeping the portable pack that fits on the side of the camera. You're right Tom, the 12v gel will run for ages.

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  • 2 years later...
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Just some general notes about building your own packs like this - you want to buy "tabbed cells" to construct the packs.  They have those thin metal strips already spot welded to the batteries.  You can then overlap/crimp-together the tabs from adjoining cells, and solder them up away from the batteries a bit to make the connections.  Soldering directly to a battery terminal is fraught with peril (ask me how I know).

If your original pack was NiCd cells and you want to use the original charger, then you should buy NiCd cells.  NiCd chargers don't generally charge NiMH cells to their full potential.  I usually buy the NiMH cells and get a newer charger.  Tenergy makes some great cheap wide-voltage-range RC hobby chargers, and I just cut the connector off the end and substitute what's needed for the application at hand.

Generally for packaging reasons, if you're trying to recell something, you're going to want to figure out what sized cells they used originally and get those again.  Remember that rechargeable cells come in all sorts of packaging beyond just AA, C, D, etc.  Sub-C is a common one in Canon still camera gear.  Especially if you switch to NiMH, you can get a much longer-lasting pack in the same space with newer batteries, so sometimes recelling is good even if the old one is working.  (In that case I'd probably buy a dead spare pack to work on...)

Duncan

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Hi Duncan, thanks for the info!

What would be the reason for using NiMH cells over Li-Ion?

Those Li-Ion will fit nicely in the old small Bolex Battery enclosure I still have.

If I use NiMH batteries in this enclosure, the battery will run out much faster.

Thanks for the advice. Floris 

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Oh sorry, I was saying NiMH was an improvement over the original NiCd, but only if you also use a more modern charger.  Li-ion is probably even better still, but then you very much need a compatible charger.  And always buy the tabbed cells when building your own packs.

Duncvan

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  • 11 months later...

Question regarding this topic!

Note that I am really bad at electricity conversion etc.

I have 2 x onboard batteries for my Bolex EL.

I had 1 onboard battery re-celled by a pro in the UK back in 2018 and he did a great job, the battery is working flawlessly. See battery cell specs below and images attached.

Now I want to re-cell my 2nd onboard battery and want use the same battery cells but can not find them (the re-cell guy does not respond to emails). All I can find is 1.2v min 2100mAh. Can I use 2100mAh batteries instead? Is it important that they are High Temperature?

Please let me know if anybody has good suggestions where to find these batteries, preferably in the US.

Thanks

Bjarne

 

 

GP NiMH Battery

High temperature

160 AFHT 1.2v min 1600mAh

17mm x 42mm

Standard charge 16 hours

 

IMG_9042.jpg

IMG_9043.jpg

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You can use different capacity cells, as long as they are not so small in capacity that they won’t run the camera. 2100mAh would be fine, a slight improvement even. They don’t have to be high temperature. 

The limiting factors are the size, which is dictated by the housing, and the chemistry. Sticking to NiMH will help match the voltage (1.2V cells) and utilise the same charger. The size of the ones you want to copy there is 4/5A, find cells that have solder tabs so you can join them together easily. 

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Re. Bolex H16 EL

Can someone supply me with a picture of the 4 pin Amphenol connector on the 12V lead showing the polarity of each output? on the feed side the connectors are female. I have wired up the connector according to the numbered pins showing in the H16 EL Manual but I would just like to make sure. it is not clear on the drawing if what is shown is camera body side or feed cable side.

John Adderley FRGS

Kinematographer London

www.adderley.net

www.theracetocinema.com

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Hi John,

The 4 pin male Tuchel power socket on the camera should have the two left pins +12v and the two right pins ground or negative. The manual diagram states it is “seen from the outside”. The power cable female plug should therefore be the reverse, as seen from outside, with the two left pin holes ground (negative) and the two right pin holes +12v (with the locating key at the bottom).

This recent thread has pictures of the manual drawings:

 

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Hi Dom

many thanks for confirming that for me. It is very helpful. I had made up the Tuchal connector correctly but I was afraid to apply it to a friend's camera until I was cast iron sure.

The Connector is, for anyone's future reference... from eBay £17.09

Amphenol-Tuchel T3301 001 SOCKET, FREE, C091-U, 4WAY 

181883171626

Sold by PETELOX 

It came very quickly and it is a bit of a mission to wire it up.

John Adderley FRGS

Kinematographer London

www.adderley.net

www.theracetocinema.com

 

 

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I can confirm that these connectors will fit but I'm still searching for the same in an angled, "L"-shaped version to make the wiring more compact.

After almost one year, I'm very happy with the NiMH recelling of the original battery pack that fits to the camera.

This makes the camera (with detached lenses) fit in a Lowepro inverse 200 aw bag that I take on long hikes and can even be strapped to my handlebar.

One of the two metal parts that connect the cell to the camera got lost though so I'd be happy to buy one of these or an old EL battery if someone has this.

 

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  • 3 months later...
On 8/14/2018 at 5:19 AM, steven jackson said:

I've never done a re-cell and am looking for advice on what batteries to buy, soldering tips, wiring from anyone that has experience in re-celling a battery pack for a Bolex EL. In particular, are the aH cumulative or does each battery need to be, say, 2000 ah.?? I haven't broken open the case yet but am expecting to find a bunch of AA batteries wired together. I want to go back with NiCad type batteries so I can use the original plug and charger.

 

I'm handy with repairs but don't want to start a fire or have anything blow up in my face! hah.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

Steven -

In case you or others on this thread are still in need of re-cell help, I wanted to chime in and say I'm here as a resource both offering re-cell service and also to help answer questions you may have.

I run a small repair business called THT Battery based in New York, and we've taken over for many of Ritter Battery's former customers after they closed down back in 2020. Please don't hesitate to reach out or reply here with any unanswered questions!

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  • 2 weeks later...

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