SxS and battery problems at DVinfo.net

Sami Sanpakkila · October 12th, 2008, 01:26 PM

Hi all,

Ive been starting to get some issues with my EX1, nothing major but still.

1) often when I insert my bigger battery it says "battery error" and I have to take it off and put it back again.

2) Also nowadays every now and then both my SxS card "need to be restored". Only takes a second and after that all works fine.

Just wondering if these are symptoms of something bigger?

Sami

Alister Chapman · October 12th, 2008, 01:59 PM

Cards needing to be restored can be the result of many things, such as removing the battery without switching off the camera, unplugging the USB cable without ejecting the device from Finder or Explorer.

The battery issue could be dirty contacts, but should be investigated further.

Steven Thomas · October 12th, 2008, 02:06 PM

Never seen (or heard of) a battery issue.

Phil Bloom · December 15th, 2008, 11:13 AM

one of my bp u60 is coming up with battery error every time. You press the check button and the lights flash continuously.

Paul Kellett · December 15th, 2008, 12:27 PM

Sounds like a battery issue, (which is better than a camera issue), i'd try someone elses battery to see if it still happens.
Easier to get your dealer or sony to replace a battery than a camera.

Paul.

Alister Chapman · December 15th, 2008, 01:50 PM

We should not be seeing battery issues. The cameras and Batts are all less than a year old and most people are using the Sony charger so they should not be failing, even if used heavily it is reasonable to expect a years use from a Pro Battery. I wonder if an early EX1 with the battery drain issue has damaged the battery by over discharging it. Li-Ion batteries can easily be damaged if over discharged.

Simon Wyndham · December 15th, 2008, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Li-Ion batteries can easily be damaged if over discharged.

That would make sense because the safety mech for shutting power off doesn't apply when the camera is simply sucking the power out even when it is turned off.

Quote:

Also nowadays every now and then both my SxS card "need to be restored". Only takes a second and after that all works fine.

One possibility is that you think the camera is off, but it isn't. So many times I have thought I have turned the camera off but that damn switch has actually gone into another mode. I used to get this message a lot on the EX1 I had for a while, and I'm sure it was because I was disconnecting the battery while wrongly thinking the camera was off.

Alex Dolgin · December 15th, 2008, 04:56 PM

Simon, it is true that Li-Ion batteries can be damaged by overdischarge. In order to prevent this, they have built in safety circuits, they disable the battery in event your camera or light it trying to drain it too low. The moment you place the battery on a charger, it is enabled again.

Simon Wyndham · December 15th, 2008, 05:11 PM

Alex, yes I know. That is what I was saying. However could still be possible for the battery to over discharge. Despite having safety circuits in my AB Dionics, if I accidentally leave the camera on, once the circuits kick in the camera turns on and off intermittently, which of course takes power from the battery. There is an indicator on the side of the Dionics that basically tells you you to disconnect the thing now and put it on the charger already! :)

So I think that it is still possible to damage the batteries even with the safety circuits. And we do not know how this applies with early EX1's that drained power continuously.

Alex Dolgin · December 15th, 2008, 05:45 PM

Simon, I still think we are talking about two different things :-) The camera has it's own voltage level below which it does not function, so it turns itself off, or can do the turn on/turn off thing as you said. The Li-Ion battery has it's own built in safety circuit breaker set at a slightly lower level than the camera. This is to protect the battery from damage. Once that circuit tripped, the battery is playing dead, there is no display on it, it is trying to preserve itself. It would be self discharging very slowly, for several month before it reaches really really low level and is is getting destroyed.

Alister Chapman · December 16th, 2008, 11:58 AM

Alex is correct that the battery should have a cut-off to prevent deep discharge. However if I leave a battery on my EX and it gets discharged for a few days it takes a lot longer to charge than a battery that has simply reached the cameras cut-off, indicating quite a deep state of discharge.

Sami Sanpakkila · December 21st, 2008, 05:34 AM

I wrote to my dealer and this is the response I got regarding the battery issue and possible replacement: "Thank you for your e-mail. Because batteries are a consumable item they carry only a 90 day warranty from Sony..."

Sami

Glynn Morgan · February 11th, 2009, 09:21 AM

My Charger makes a whining noise when recharging the BP-U30 (havent got a U60 yet). My EX3 is very new, it is on it's third charge...

Is this normal?

Oh and as the manual doesn't say, can we remove/add batteries to the charger with the power on?

Simon Wyndham · February 11th, 2009, 09:39 AM

There's no problem with the charger, it makes that noise normally. It puzzled me at first where the noise was coming from, and I was searching the room high and low to find the annoying *!$&, but eventually tracked it down to the charger.

Sami Sanpakkila · February 11th, 2009, 09:39 AM

Hey Glynn,

Yes, the whiny sound is normal although annoying. I've been taking the batteries on/off the charger while its plugged in the year I've had them, no problems. Or do you mean if the camera is on with AC? Yep, you can do that too.

October 12th, 2008, 01:26 PM	#1
Sami Sanpakkila Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Finland Posts: 317	SxS and battery problems Hi all, Ive been starting to get some issues with my EX1, nothing major but still. 1) often when I insert my bigger battery it says "battery error" and I have to take it off and put it back again. 2) Also nowadays every now and then both my SxS card "need to be restored". Only takes a second and after that all works fine. Just wondering if these are symptoms of something bigger? Sami

October 12th, 2008, 01:59 PM	#2
Alister Chapman Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Bracknell, Berkshire, UK Posts: 4,957	Cards needing to be restored can be the result of many things, such as removing the battery without switching off the camera, unplugging the USB cable without ejecting the device from Finder or Explorer. The battery issue could be dirty contacts, but should be investigated further. __________________ Alister Chapman, Film-Maker/Stormchaser http://www.xdcam-user.com/alisters-blog/ My XDCAM site and blog. http://www.hurricane-rig.com

December 15th, 2008, 11:13 AM	#4
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	one of my bp u60 is coming up with battery error every time. You press the check button and the lights flash continuously. __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

December 15th, 2008, 12:27 PM	#5
Paul Kellett Trustee Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Bristol UK Posts: 1,273	Sounds like a battery issue, (which is better than a camera issue), i'd try someone elses battery to see if it still happens. Easier to get your dealer or sony to replace a battery than a camera. Paul. __________________ Round 2 GH5,FZ2000

December 15th, 2008, 01:50 PM	#6
Alister Chapman Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Bracknell, Berkshire, UK Posts: 4,957	We should not be seeing battery issues. The cameras and Batts are all less than a year old and most people are using the Sony charger so they should not be failing, even if used heavily it is reasonable to expect a years use from a Pro Battery. I wonder if an early EX1 with the battery drain issue has damaged the battery by over discharging it. Li-Ion batteries can easily be damaged if over discharged. __________________ Alister Chapman, Film-Maker/Stormchaser http://www.xdcam-user.com/alisters-blog/ My XDCAM site and blog. http://www.hurricane-rig.com

October 12th, 2008, 02:06 PM	#3
Steven Thomas Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gilbert, AZ Posts: 1,896	Never seen (or heard of) a battery issue.

December 15th, 2008, 04:56 PM	#8
Alex Dolgin Contributor Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Lexington, Ma Posts: 286	Simon, it is true that Li-Ion batteries can be damaged by overdischarge. In order to prevent this, they have built in safety circuits, they disable the battery in event your camera or light it trying to drain it too low. The moment you place the battery on a charger, it is enabled again. __________________ Alex Dolgin Dolgin Engineering Camera DC Power accessories, Fast 4 position Battery Charger http://www.dolgin.net

December 15th, 2008, 05:11 PM	#9
Simon Wyndham Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malvern UK Posts: 1,931	Alex, yes I know. That is what I was saying. However could still be possible for the battery to over discharge. Despite having safety circuits in my AB Dionics, if I accidentally leave the camera on, once the circuits kick in the camera turns on and off intermittently, which of course takes power from the battery. There is an indicator on the side of the Dionics that basically tells you you to disconnect the thing now and put it on the charger already! :) So I think that it is still possible to damage the batteries even with the safety circuits. And we do not know how this applies with early EX1's that drained power continuously.

December 15th, 2008, 05:45 PM	#10
Alex Dolgin Contributor Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Lexington, Ma Posts: 286	Simon, I still think we are talking about two different things :-) The camera has it's own voltage level below which it does not function, so it turns itself off, or can do the turn on/turn off thing as you said. The Li-Ion battery has it's own built in safety circuit breaker set at a slightly lower level than the camera. This is to protect the battery from damage. Once that circuit tripped, the battery is playing dead, there is no display on it, it is trying to preserve itself. It would be self discharging very slowly, for several month before it reaches really really low level and is is getting destroyed. __________________ Alex Dolgin Dolgin Engineering Camera DC Power accessories, Fast 4 position Battery Charger http://www.dolgin.net

December 16th, 2008, 11:58 AM	#11
Alister Chapman Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Bracknell, Berkshire, UK Posts: 4,957	Alex is correct that the battery should have a cut-off to prevent deep discharge. However if I leave a battery on my EX and it gets discharged for a few days it takes a lot longer to charge than a battery that has simply reached the cameras cut-off, indicating quite a deep state of discharge. __________________ Alister Chapman, Film-Maker/Stormchaser http://www.xdcam-user.com/alisters-blog/ My XDCAM site and blog. http://www.hurricane-rig.com

December 21st, 2008, 05:34 AM	#12
Sami Sanpakkila Major Player Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Finland Posts: 317	I wrote to my dealer and this is the response I got regarding the battery issue and possible replacement: "Thank you for your e-mail. Because batteries are a consumable item they carry only a 90 day warranty from Sony..." Sami

February 11th, 2009, 09:21 AM	#13
Glynn Morgan Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Australia Posts: 119	My Charger Whines My Charger makes a whining noise when recharging the BP-U30 (havent got a U60 yet). My EX3 is very new, it is on it's third charge... Is this normal? Oh and as the manual doesn't say, can we remove/add batteries to the charger with the power on?

February 11th, 2009, 09:39 AM	#14
Simon Wyndham Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malvern UK Posts: 1,931	There's no problem with the charger, it makes that noise normally. It puzzled me at first where the noise was coming from, and I was searching the room high and low to find the annoying *!$&, but eventually tracked it down to the charger.