Battery for 16mm Eclair ACL2

[Pavan Deep]

Mine is from the 1980's, personally I agree that it's probably not a good idea to use a higher voltage in an older camera. The battery mentioned; the Proaim Brick External Battery for Blackmagic Pocket Camera sounds perfect.

 

Pav

[Perry Paolantonio]

 

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 !?

 

I would be more worried about immediate damage. You're talking about a camera with nearly 50 year old components that were designed to run at 12V. Granted, there aren't a lot of electronics in these cameras, and what's there is relatively simple by modern standards. but I wouldn't chance it on my camera...

[Perry Paolantonio]

The other thing worth thinking about is just getting some ACL batteries and recelling them with new NiMH batteries. They're just Sub-C cells inside, so they're easy to find and not particularly expensive. A little soldering, a little wire, and you have a whole new battery, in the form factor that Eclair designed. You might need to rig a new charger up, but that's not so hard to do. You can buy a universal smart battery charger and stick a generic connector on your battery pack. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/TSD-Universal-Charger-7-2-12V-batteries/dp/B001DHC2LO

[lars preisser]

I already tried the batterybelt and it works fine, I ran it on a pretty long cable (3m) so may be that brought it down a volt or so but I actually don´t think so.

 

Also on page 1 of this thread there are several people talking about 13.2V as being perfecty suitable especially on those higher framerates.

So if there aren't any chances for damage in the long term it seems to be safe.

 

But if anyone actually had bad experiences with 13.2V of course I would also rather wanna be on the safe side and get another battery.

[Perry Paolantonio]

Also on page 1 of this thread there are several people talking about 13.2V as being perfecty suitable especially on those higher framerates.

For higher speed, you want more current, not more voltage. The battery you have may very well work. All I'm saying is that I wouldn't chance it with a camera that has 40-50 year old electronics.

When I was in college, I made the mistake of putting alkaline AA batteries in a Nizo 6080 Super 8 camera instead of nicads. Literal smoke pouring from it, and the camera was completely fried.

 

Edited February 26, 2018 by Perry Paolantonio

[Jean-Louis Seguin]

Oh yes, this was a very common problem on the 6080. Especially the early ones. I remember reading somewhere that the problem may have been resolved on the very last 6080s produced but I have no information whether this is true or not. Better to be safe: only use rechargeable AAs (1.2V) or the dedicated NiCd pack (7.2V).

[Pavan Deep]

If it works that's great, I know very little about electronics, but I'd still be worried about any long term damage this may do.

 

Pav

[lars preisser]

yes I am worried too now - where are the people that use 13.2V on a regular basis and have no issues whatsoever ;)

well I have to use the belt on a project now so lets just hope it keeps working but for the next project I might be able to sell the belt and get a 12V battery instead.