I purchased the charger when i purchased my hpx300. It stopped working and was sent for repair, replaced fuse and updated board.Two years later stopped working again. sent in for repair and then told " no longer stock parts to repair do i want it back or like to have us discard" $550 dosnt come easy for me and was not expecting that type of responce from a company with the repuation of AB the item is still being sold so does one purchase equipment assuming it wont be repairable especially a vital piece of gear seeing it not only charges battery but is my power source as well
anton bauer tandem 70
- Thread starter bgerber21
- Start date
I have to wonder what died that they couldn't fix it, it might just be a case of wouldn't fix it though.
Maybe this place? http://www.rathboneenergy.com/battery_chargers/battery_charger_repair.htm Never used them, but the first thing that came up with google. Would at least be worth contacting them.
Maybe this place? http://www.rathboneenergy.com/battery_chargers/battery_charger_repair.htm Never used them, but the first thing that came up with google. Would at least be worth contacting them.
Run&Gun
Veteran
Welcome to the NEW Anton Bauer(VITEC). I've been an A/B user and fan since I started doing this in the 90's. Let's just say I'm starting to look at other power options, now. Vitec is turning them into a prosumer equipment company with their primary concern on the bottom line instead of manufacturing equipment and supporting working production professionals and their needs.
I sent a few batteries in last fall for warranty service. One was barely a year old and one had about two cycles on it. They were gone for a month and when I called about them, they couldn't find anything on them. When I finally got them back, I wanted to know what was wrong with them and what they did. They "couldn't" tell me anything about the service that was done while they were there because they said they couldn't find any paperwork and didn't know which tech worked on them.
And several years ago a friend of mine had them make some custom battery plates for him to help solve a problem. I inquired about having some custom work done as well around the same time as my battery repairs and was basically told "No, it's not worth it to us to do custom work now".
Sounds like the philosophy of a large, bottom line oriented corporation to me.
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The same situation as well I had to call them to inquire about the charger and same responce no paperwork i had to supply them with fed ex track#
and serial number and then told any serial number 3200 or lower wasnt repairable. At this point i dont even think they checked to see what was wrong..i have emailed them with my disatification and no responce..RIP AB a company that used to care
and serial number and then told any serial number 3200 or lower wasnt repairable. At this point i dont even think they checked to see what was wrong..i have emailed them with my disatification and no responce..RIP AB a company that used to care
Greg Smith
Veteran
While in college in the mid-'70s, I became a student member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), largely so I could receive their excellent monthly journal. Anton-Bauer engineers were frequent contributors of major technical articles about battery technology, which mainly meant NiCd at that time. Reading their articles and looking at the graphs and so on taught me a great deal about the design, care and feeding of the batteries of that era. A-B was absolutely in the forefront then, developed and patented some novel ways to charge and recondition batteries, and was probably the first to adopt microprocessor control of their chargers to insure the fastest possible charges, highest availability, and longest lifespan of NiCd batteries. Their stuff was built like the proverbial brick and absolutely professional grade.
Therefore, I was totally thrilled when I bought my first "grown up" video camera in 1982, at the age of 25, and it came with a Gold Mount as standard equipment and two A-B batteries in the box. To me they represented the pinnacle of power technology at that time. Those batteries worked well for me for many years, and over time I added more, and some of the fancier chargers available back then.
I don't blame Anton Bauer's decline on the Vitec merger as much as on the general shift in battery technology over the last decade or so. They never quite "got" lithium-ion technology in the same way they had understood and pioneered NiCd batteries decades earlier. And with more and more laptops, portable devices and even electric cars adopting Li-ion, there has been an explosion in the number of companies making the cells and researching the optimum ways to design, manufacture, use, charge and care for them. A-B doesn't noticeably stand apart from these other battery developers now. The Dionic batteries are just fine -- but they're not that distinguished in performance, convenience or longevity from a number of products from many other companies now. A-B was also slow to adapt to the erosion of the once almost universal 14.4V standard, as smaller and more efficient equipment typically adopted 7.2V Li-ion batteries for power. I suspect they saw their market niche becoming narrower and narrower in the future, and the sale to Vitec was a reaction to this, not the cause of it.
What is still pretty cool about A-B is that they provide a fairly universal solution to powering a wide variety of equipment from a single type of battery pack. But I've recently made the somewhat difficult decision to phase them out in my own operations, because that "universal solution" is still a large, heavy and expensive piece of equipment, that doesn't fit in with the lightweight and low-profile gear I'm using these days (most of which is 7.2V anyway). Their new "Digital" batteries, from what I've seen, are even bigger than the Dionics I have used for a few years -- that's heading in the wrong direction as far as I'm concerned. I need something that's lighter and smaller than what the camera manufacturers themselves offer, not a heavy brick weighing down my rig. I've also encountered some reliability and manufacturing problems with a few of my recent A-B purchases -- batteries that had a disappointing lifespan (in terms of months, not hours per charge), and in one case, a battery that fit so tightly on my various Gold Mounts it had to practically be pried off with a crowbar every time I went to change it. The downside is that I now have to maintain about four different types of Li-ion batteries and chargers to keep all my different equipment going (plus rechargeable NiMh AAs for a lot of the audio equipment), and that's a pain compared to having a single charging station and the ability to maintain a generous number of one basic type of battery.
So, a sad farewell to an old friend -- but my aching back and my pocketbook are happier for it.
- Greg
Therefore, I was totally thrilled when I bought my first "grown up" video camera in 1982, at the age of 25, and it came with a Gold Mount as standard equipment and two A-B batteries in the box. To me they represented the pinnacle of power technology at that time. Those batteries worked well for me for many years, and over time I added more, and some of the fancier chargers available back then.
I don't blame Anton Bauer's decline on the Vitec merger as much as on the general shift in battery technology over the last decade or so. They never quite "got" lithium-ion technology in the same way they had understood and pioneered NiCd batteries decades earlier. And with more and more laptops, portable devices and even electric cars adopting Li-ion, there has been an explosion in the number of companies making the cells and researching the optimum ways to design, manufacture, use, charge and care for them. A-B doesn't noticeably stand apart from these other battery developers now. The Dionic batteries are just fine -- but they're not that distinguished in performance, convenience or longevity from a number of products from many other companies now. A-B was also slow to adapt to the erosion of the once almost universal 14.4V standard, as smaller and more efficient equipment typically adopted 7.2V Li-ion batteries for power. I suspect they saw their market niche becoming narrower and narrower in the future, and the sale to Vitec was a reaction to this, not the cause of it.
What is still pretty cool about A-B is that they provide a fairly universal solution to powering a wide variety of equipment from a single type of battery pack. But I've recently made the somewhat difficult decision to phase them out in my own operations, because that "universal solution" is still a large, heavy and expensive piece of equipment, that doesn't fit in with the lightweight and low-profile gear I'm using these days (most of which is 7.2V anyway). Their new "Digital" batteries, from what I've seen, are even bigger than the Dionics I have used for a few years -- that's heading in the wrong direction as far as I'm concerned. I need something that's lighter and smaller than what the camera manufacturers themselves offer, not a heavy brick weighing down my rig. I've also encountered some reliability and manufacturing problems with a few of my recent A-B purchases -- batteries that had a disappointing lifespan (in terms of months, not hours per charge), and in one case, a battery that fit so tightly on my various Gold Mounts it had to practically be pried off with a crowbar every time I went to change it. The downside is that I now have to maintain about four different types of Li-ion batteries and chargers to keep all my different equipment going (plus rechargeable NiMh AAs for a lot of the audio equipment), and that's a pain compared to having a single charging station and the ability to maintain a generous number of one basic type of battery.
So, a sad farewell to an old friend -- but my aching back and my pocketbook are happier for it.
- Greg
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Run&Gun
Veteran
Greg, I too am feeling that my time as an A/B customer is coming to an end. Over the last 4-5 years, their batteries(Hytron 140's) have noticeably become more and more unreliable. At the beginning of the decline for me, I noticed as the batteries approached their three year mark, they would quickly fall-off while being used(they'd go from 40% to low batt warning in a matter of minutes), so at the first sign of that, I'd replace them(the warranty on them was three years anyway). Now, the last two sets(of three) I've bought, I've had batteries $*** the bed in less than a year and with only 2-3 cycles on it, respectively. And a few days ago I had one that is only two years old shut down at 50% on my 2700 with NO warning. Unacceptable. I just bought two of their new Digital 90's for my F55 and C300 and those may have been the last A/B batteries that I will buy, unless something turns around. As my current batteries reach the end of their lives(some are within months of hitting the 3 year window), I will probably replace the A/B's with something else. Time to start seriously researching alternatives(Pag, Switronix, etc.).
I agree that back in the day, they were the only real choice, but now they aren't. If a battery can't give me reliable, predictable performance, it's useless to me. I might as well be using an old 45 watt nicad with no display.
I agree that back in the day, they were the only real choice, but now they aren't. If a battery can't give me reliable, predictable performance, it's useless to me. I might as well be using an old 45 watt nicad with no display.
Andrew Stone
Veteran
The new A/B batteries, the digital ones, are a serious problem for a lot of video professionals. Changing the form factor was a huge mistake. People have battery cases designed to fit the Dionic size, steadicam sleds have been tooled to use these batteries with close tolerances. What were they thinking?...
If you are going to try to salvage your investment I would abandon the Tandem charger and buy a more robust charger on eBay. Lots for sale at a good price.
If you want to keep your Gold Plate/P-Tap investment but leave the A/B fold then I would look at Batteries4Broadcast or GlobalMediaPro as alternative vendors.
I am still using A/B stuff but I am taking a wait and see approach. They have said they will be producing limited runs of their Dionic HCs each year particularly for steadi operators but I think many of us are curious about the QC of their products now the company has been bought out.
If you are going to try to salvage your investment I would abandon the Tandem charger and buy a more robust charger on eBay. Lots for sale at a good price.
If you want to keep your Gold Plate/P-Tap investment but leave the A/B fold then I would look at Batteries4Broadcast or GlobalMediaPro as alternative vendors.
I am still using A/B stuff but I am taking a wait and see approach. They have said they will be producing limited runs of their Dionic HCs each year particularly for steadi operators but I think many of us are curious about the QC of their products now the company has been bought out.
I'll say again, our IDX batteries have lasted very well, most exceed the 3 year mark before replacement. That said, most of ours do not get run to minimum regularly, our students just don't shoot that way when they go out for projects, but 4 times a week during the Spring semester they do get cycled heavily and down to less than 50 percent each day. The company has also been great to deal with on the two times I've had to deal with them in the past 12 years. I know it's a different form factor, but might be worth considering a change. I'm hoping to make it through year 4 on the Vmounts and replace during the 2016/2017 budget year (September to September). I'll probably stay at 70Wh since we get about 3 hours run time or 2.5 with cheap LED top light on the cameras. 2 batteries go out each time for about 6 hours run time, way more time than the 90 minutes worth of record time for the cards provided.
Run&Gun
Veteran
You can still buy the HC's(I have two, still). As much as I dislike the new design, and because I didn't HAVE to have the old form factor, I couldn't see paying almost double the price for an HC(90-91watts/10A) over the new Digital 90(90 watts/10A). And trust me, I did think about it for a while.
Now is the new Digital up to snuff? Where did they save money to cut the price in almost half? We will see. They have a warranty and at the first sign of trouble, they will go back.
Now is the new Digital up to snuff? Where did they save money to cut the price in almost half? We will see. They have a warranty and at the first sign of trouble, they will go back.
Run&Gun
Veteran
I know guys that went with IDX years ago and liked them, but IDX is V-mount only. Not really an option for me, since I'm heavily entrenched in Gold Mount. I'd have to swap mounting systems on five currently used cameras(well the F55 may not count since it's native V), three audio bags, three Lite Panels, two small Pannasonic field monitors and then lose the ability to use 3 Tandem power supplies and five chargers(14 slots) I believe I've read that the Switronix batts will charge correctly on A/B chargers as long as they are Li compatible(Dionic) chargers. I'll have to double check on the Pags. I know I've experienced first hand weirdness with Inik batteries and A/B chargers(would charge on my 17-18 yr old charger, but not newer ones), so just because it's a Gold Mount battery, doesn't necessarily mean it will work with a Gold Mount charger.
Andrew Stone
Veteran
I was told the manufacturing is done in Mexico. I haven't heard if the new ones, like the Dionic series, can be recelled.
Yeah, that's the problem with getting into a new system, all the other stuff that needs to be upgraded. And that's where Vitec knows it will win, few people will want to fully convert to a different battery. At $125 for the mount plate, plus time to change them, a pile of money for chargers, etc., they have you right where they want you.
Not sure why IDX doesn't make AB mount batteries, probably some gentleman's agreement, but it seems like there is a market to be had for good solid batteries in that mount.
Not sure why IDX doesn't make AB mount batteries, probably some gentleman's agreement, but it seems like there is a market to be had for good solid batteries in that mount.
Andrew Stone
Veteran
I know a few Steadicam Operators who use batteries Gold Mount batts from Batteries 4 Broadcast without an issue. They are powering Alexa's and the reports are all good. The mounts must be solid and the power must be good or they wouldn't use them. They sell kits that include a bunch of batteries and a charger. Cost is in the ballpark of purchasing new A/Bs. Something to consider.
Run&Gun
Veteran
Just looked on one of my new Digital 90's: "Cells made in Japan, further processed in Mexico".
Run&Gun
Veteran
Definitely a market there. Even Pag started making their batts available in Gold Mount last year.