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V-Mount shorts


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I've had trouble twice now, with V-mounts that don't quite fit snugly into light controllers, and when they move around they create a short that ruin the battery, and in this most recent case, the controller:

https://www.tendrile.com/2020/8/5/pzwfzl077owncvntqsdlqo51k61vey

This $150 battery is now toast.  The mangled lead you see actually melted enough to pull the sleeve away from the controller with it.

My question is "How have others dealt with this issue?"  The best I can come up with is to gaffe-tape the hell out of it so it doesn't move around.

 

Edited by Rick Gates
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I don’t know much about V mounts powering lighting, but that doesn’t look good. Never seen that with cameras. Are you sure it’s not too much current rather than the battery moving? Does the controller specify certain battery types, ie high capacity, 15A rating? Maybe 2 batteries required unless at half output etc?

The battery would have to be really loose to lose contact and arc (it can’t short circuit just by moving in the mount). This looks more like the connector couldn’t handle the current. If the battery specs match what the controller needs I would check the actual current draw in case there’s a fault somewhere creating resistance. 

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What Dom said.

I see no evidence that's a short circuit, that's just too much current flowing through a high-resistance joint. The high-resistance joint shouldn't be there, of course, but V-mount has never been a great design in my view. Some modern lights make extremely large demands of batteries. There are 300W lights out there which will run from two batteries, and even if the batteries remain at 15V for most of their discharge cycle - which they won't - that's still ten amps each. Many of them are theoretically rated to do that but I take a very dim view of it, even with the best batteries. If that's a $150 battery, it is far from a top-flight one. One wonders about whether the contacts on either the battery or the mounting plate are properly to spec, but either way - ouch.

I'm not sure there's much that can be done other than ensuring the spring leaves on the light side of the mounting plate are properly springy, and replacing the mount if not.

P

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The current on the battery is listed as 12 amps.  It's a 14.8V battery, which is what the DC specs for the light says.

Got a new light (Falcon Eyes 18TD) and new battery coming.  The second I see it flicker I'm going to gaff tape it in place.

Thanks guys.

Edited by Rick Gates
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