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Battery solution for Bolex EBM 16mm


Lewis Hart

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Hi guys just picked up a EBM with the 16-100mm, sadly didn't come with the power grip so im trying to find that 7 pin cable which seems to be nion impossible.

 

My question was regarding operating voltage of the EBM , says 12v online but can it take a V mount battery for example, fully charged around 16v I think and lowest dead around 11v? 

What is the voltage threshold for the camera as I can't seem to find any information on it, or anyones recommendation to a battery solution? 

does anyone have any advice on what to do re power, wanted to go for a belt clip solution ideally, with a v mount as I can get a D tap to X pin XLR easily but im concerned about the voltage being too high? 

Thanks a lot 

 

Edited by Lewis Hart
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I’ve had clients who use cheap D tap 12V regulated cables with no problems.

There are plenty of sellers, some will customise the power plug. As long as it’s rated over 2 Amps it should be fine with an EBM. The normal current draw is less than an Amp, max current is fuse protected at 2A.

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Just don't use the Lanparte D-tap voltage regulator. The current spike at startup of the motor is probably too high (even when during operation the camera draws less than one Amp) and the regulator just shuts down. This was the case when I tried it on my Aaton.

Edited by David Sekanina
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10 hours ago, Dom Jaeger said:

I’ve had clients who use cheap D tap 12V regulated cables with no problems.

There are plenty of sellers, some will customise the power plug. As long as it’s rated over 2 Amps it should be fine with an EBM. The normal current draw is less than an Amp, max current is fuse protected at 2A.

Yes ive got a nice d tap to 4 pin XLR on the way today, so would I be able to use a v mount battery? I have a few swit s batteries and they are 6.8ah but they are 14.4v. 

 

 

2 hours ago, David Sekanina said:

Just don's use the Lanparte D-tap voltage regulator. The current spike at startup of the motor is probably too high (even when during operation the camera draws less than one Amp) and the regulator just shuts down. This was the case when I tried it on my Aaton.

I see some guys using a 12v battery pack, theres one on eBay for the EBM at its 4.5ah 12v, looks like its straight into the 7 pin tuchel port. 


 

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3 hours ago, Lewis Hart said:

Yes ive got a nice d tap to 4 pin XLR on the way today, so would I be able to use a v mount battery? I have a few swit s batteries and they are 6.8ah but they are 14.4v. 

I wouldn’t use a 14.4V battery without a 12V regulator. It could be OK, but at full charge the voltage might be cooking components. As mentioned, there are D tap cables with in-line 12V voltage regulators available. 

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Hi Lewis, we've been communicating on eBay. While I sell ESM/EBM/MST cables there, I'll gladly share the wiring info for those comfortable making their own cables.

To plug directly into an EBM or ESM motor, you need a 7-pin male Tuchel (Amphenol T3475XXX). Pin-3 is ground and pin-4 is +12V. Without an in-line switch, the EBM always runs when plugged-in, as they assumed you'd use the PowerGrip switch. The ESM motor has an on/off push button on the front.

You can use V-mount batteries with the Juicebox Universal V-Mount Plate with 15mm Rod Clamp. It takes the 14.8V battery and provides 5V, 7.2V, 12V, and 14.8V outputs. There may be similar products without the 15mm rod clamp. You'd need a DC barrel plug to 4-pin XLR adapter (or make a DC barrel to Tuchel cable).

My brother tested his EBM yesterday before sending it for Super 16 modification. I asked him to make a quick demo video with the cable.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Thanks everyone for their replies. Struggling a bit to find a good solution still

I tried to run a few different setups, with 8 AAs to give 12v but noticed there was a 2v voltage drop / equiv in Amps whilst the motor ran, the red light on the back indicated low voltage; so I tried it with 10 aas to give 14 ish volts, that worked no red light, but it seemed to drain them really fast strangely and got really hot so maybe it was shorting not sure but it wasn’t the best setup. 

I did use a v Mount 95wh and plugged it into a battery plate using the 12v out port which ran perfect, just was so heavy, and mounting it on the rear on some 15mm rods the battery was in the way so I couldn’t get my eye on the viewfinder cup, so trying to figure out a lighter / better solution 

if anyone has any better solutions, do chime in ?

 

thanks again 

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I was considering trying to get a small v Mount plate, small rig make one that’s really well, small lol. 

was going to use the d tap on a v Mount Battery itself, 14.4v out, d tap > wire to a 12v voltage regulator >  then to the 7 pin tuchel into the camera so it’s getting a nice 12v.

basically I assume the wiring inside the battery plates with the 5/7,4/12v outs etc.

basically eliminates the large battery plate as they are often much taller than the batteries and it’s getting in the way of the eyepiece.

would this work?

0EE3981F-2107-4A21-A6E6-D2424A9C50FE.jpeg

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  • 3 months later...

Hi there,

I’m looking for a similar solution for my Bolex EL. I already have a cable from male-XLR to Tuchel for plugging into the Bolex. Previously I’ve fiddled around with extending it to a Bescor battery, but now I’m looking into a more steady solution, so I can mount the battery to a rig (and no loose battery packs around my waist ?

I recently picked up a rig that already had a V-Mount plate + Nikon F batter adapter + NP-F970’s. These batteries are 7.2V each, with 8600mAh. I assume together they’re outputting 14.4V?

I was wondering if I just could use this set-up with a 12V D-tap regulator cable to XLR, like this one:
https://indiprotools.com/products/12ptifb

Then I would have the following set-up:

- 2x NP-F970 on V-Mount with D-tap
- D-Tap 12V regulator cable > female XLR
- Male XLR > Tuchel into Bolex EL. 

Does this work? I know there might probably more easier out-of-the-box solutions, but I’m trying to find the best way possible without spending lots of extra money and use what I already have.

Thanks for the help! 
 

 

 

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According to the EL manual, the camera can accept up to 16.5V without damaging the electronics, although 10.5V - 13.5V is the recommended range for all functions to be guaranteed.

The operating current is 0.8 - 1.2A, which is fine for those small in-line 12V regulators (they tend to be rated for up to 2 - 3A), but there is a momentary start-up surge of up to 10A which may be too much for them. So maybe you could just run an EL straight from the 14.4V battery. Even fully charged it shouldn’t exceed 16.5V once a load is put on it, though it will be close. 

Then again I guess it’s better to blow up the 12V regulator than the EL electronics. Best solution would be a 12V regulated cable with a higher current rating.

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Thanks Dom. So I should be able to plug them in directly. I always thought the Bolex EL could only handle 12V max. Good to know, although I don't want to take any unnecessary risks. Mmm. ?
 

I find it hard to find the right 12V regulated cable with a higher current rating (to be on the safe side). Do you have any tips on where to find those? 
 

Thanks again for your help. 

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Just a heads up: I decided that I don’t want to take any risks re voltage and go for a different route altogether. I settled on a Smallrig V-Mount plate with dedicated regulated 12V DC output: https://www.smallrig.com/smallrig-v-mount-battery-adapter-plate-with-adjustable-arm-3204.html. Powering it with a small FXLion Nano One. 

For this, I’m using a 12v DC > XLR cable and using the XLR > Tuchel cable that I already have (later I can always solder on a Tuchel connector to the DC cable).

In case I’m missing something, please let me know. Thanks!

 

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  • 1 year later...

Hi All! 

 

Just thought id reply to this thread as I recently successfully adapted the 7pin tuchel cable to dtap for vlock power. This thread was super useful but here is what I learned. 

You cannot use the 12v regulator (as someone above said) it limits the start up power surge and doesn't allow the motor to start moving. I just cut this out and then paired cables together and then it started up!

Now onto the cabling.. I paired the red wire (dtap side) to the black wire (tuchel side) and white to white and soldered these together. Worked a treat and is now running off vlock happily! 

 

Hope this is of help to some of you. I used this on an MST motor for the Bolex h16 rex5 not the electric ones but I didn't see the need for adapting to XLR, just directly paired the two cables and was running! 

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