Revolutionary Nano Lithium Ion Batteries

[sbove]

from 123systems...backed by the same guys who backed Google, Yahoo...

smart MIT people...

http://www.a123systems.com

Already IN PRODUCTION and productized:
http://www.dewalt.com/36v

watch the videos

look at the charger/battery blocks...

Pricing:

$159 for a battery
http://www.toolsonline.biz/001-228292-B000FNQYM0-DEWALT_DC9360_36V_Battery_Pack.html

$55 for a charger.
http://www.toolsonline.biz/001-228292-B000GEBV9E-DC9000_Dewalt_36v_Charger.html

$49 for a xenon flood light that runs 8 hours on a charge:
http://www.toolsonline.biz/001-228292-B000GEFMIK-DEWALT_DC509_36V_Floodlight.html

Fast recharge, killer cycle life, very high power density, reasonable price...
These are the best bet for lots of portable power for the RED...

[acrochordon]

I don't know anything about batteries. I looked on B&H and saw that batteries were either 7.2 or 14.4 volts. Would 32 volts fry the CMOS? I have no idea. If someone is an expert, please leave a post. I saw some 8 volt 4.2 amp batteries too. If I remember right from my physics classes, amps are what are dangerous, not so much the volts. I saw some 12 and 13.4 volt battrey belts and one 30 volt battery belt. 32 volts is not much more than 30. But the 30 volts is for lights, not cameras. But it can down convert to 13 volts. So if RED wanted to, I guess they could do something similar. It seems like a hack job. Something to experiment with. But I don't want to take cances with an expensive camera, and I think RED wants a more elegant solution than plugging a Dewalt battery into the back of their camera. They could repackage it and make it look nice. I do nature films so I am not so interested in 30 volts to power lights. I am interested in seeing what other have to say about your idea for cheap batteries. I was all caught up thinking about affordable lenses. Affordable batteries are important too. Some of the battery belts on B&H cost a lot. I wonder how many volts RED will run on. Has anyone asked the RED team about that yet?

[adolgin]

All the new smaller size cameras (DVX100, etc.) use 7.2V power (nominal). They accept 6V-8V using internal regulation. 12V and above would fry them for sure.
The links do not help in figuring out if this technology is relevant to the camera application as the descriptions are long on marketing hype and short on factual information. Is the battery pack 32V as a result of the smaller cells wired together? What is the individual cell voltage? Capacity? They promote high discharge current capabilities, which is very important to the power tools, much less important to the camera users.

[david farland]

The little I know on this , i suspect the higher voltage (36V) lets you deliver higher power without too much current being pulled. Not sure what the AH rating of this 36V battery is, but saw a figure of 2.4AH which if my high school math is right would deliver approx 90watts for an hour. So the link you gave showed a light with ~10W output, and for 8 hours, is probably in the ballpark. Lithium-ion is certainily the sweet spot for power to weight ratio. The trouble is they require quite sophisticated charges so you don't blow them up! You also have to make sure your battery array carefully matches your current drain. However quite a few people provide the basic battery/charger unit at much less cost than the film industry sells them for!. One place was, http://www.ocean-server.com/example_configurations.html (http://www.ocean-server.com/example_configurations.html) who does a lot with battery packs for portable pc's. Their 400watt/hour system costs a little over $500.
Dave Farland

[vidled]

The technology they use to make these CELLS has its main advantages in being SAFE, both regarding flammability and them being intrinsically safe. The fact that they can handle more charging cycles is also a big plus of course.
Cell voltage is pretty much identical to normal Li-ION cells, which is 3.3V nominal. (So any combo of 3.3V cells is possible. The 36V version probably uses 10 cells)

[david farland]

Nice to hear their safer, however a safety tip, no-one should simply string these cells together or they'll be asking for trouble.
DF

[acrochordon]

http://www.milwaukeetool.com/us/en/news.nsf/vwPressReleases/05B7EA8847B096A48625710A006F210D?OpenDocument

click on the link and then click on the link at the bottom of that page to watch the clip where "Jesse James and the Monster Garage re-power a 1962 Chevrolet Bel Air with Milwaukee V28™ Lithium-Ion batteries!"

[acrochordon]

They strung them together on the TV show and one guy almost electrocuted himself. Hey, it made for good TV. Jim, don't electrocute yourself. It is not worth it.