Multi-battery-type external power

M. Gilden

M. Gilden

Canon DSLR Moderator
Hey guys- just wanted to share this idea I was playing with for using various batteries I have lying around to power my little Sony cameras.

Its based around those little standard Chinese battery chargers that have different tops for each kind of battery:
713OCeJYJLL._SY355_.jpg

I realized that I happen to have a bunch of these, at least one for each type of battery in my arsenal (Canon, Panasonic, Sony, etc). And they're actually all identical, aside from the top part, which is actually just a plastic plate for each specific battery type which can be popped off and swapped with other charging bases. I started thinking- instead of buying a battery plate for each type of battery I'd want to use, why don't I take one of these extra charging bases I have, gut it out and turn THAT into a battery plate? Then I could simply replace the top part with whatever battery type I happen to have available at the moment. Heck, these things are so cheap, even if you only intend to use one type of battery, it's still more cost effective than other battery plates.

I mentioned this on some Filmmaking groups and got a lot of questions and requests to explain in more detail, so I threw together the following video. Decided to share with you guys and see what you think too.

Sorry the video was rushed, I should have spent more time to open it up and show how it works instead of rambling on. But you get the idea. :)
 
Nice little hack, but I would make one suggestion. That cable is rather long. It would be easy enough to source the appropriate socket that you could mount into the hacked charger, and then the dummy battery could plug directly into it. If you wanted to really go cheap you could just stick the female end connector inside that charger box and then hot glue / rubber cement the crap out of it. A little stripping of wires and you're in business. I have a thing about wires hanging all over the place -- drives me nuts.
 
Mitch Gross said:
Nice little hack, but I would make one suggestion. That cable is rather long. It would be easy enough to source the appropriate socket that you could mount into the hacked charger, and then the dummy battery could plug directly into it. If you wanted to really go cheap you could just stick the female end connector inside that charger box and then hot glue / rubber cement the crap out of it. A little stripping of wires and you're in business. I have a thing about wires hanging all over the place -- drives me nuts.
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I hear that. If dangling wires bother you, that's totally an option that would look cleaner. Personally, it doesn't bother me as there is going to be that aspect of it no matter what; The dummy battery will always dangle, and I have more than one of those in my bag for multiple cameras. This also isn't any more obtrusive or dangle-y than a wall-wart charger or AC adapter.

Remember, this was ridiculously simple to put together with parts I already had in front of me. I didn't need a glue gun or to buy a socket to mount inside there. There was a hole where the DC input on the charger used to be, and the rubber stopper from the AC adapter fit snugly right into that groove. Inside, all I needed to do was literally twist the black and red wires to the corresponding ones from the adapter, and cover with electrical tape. I later found some wire nuts and used that instead, but that probably isn't even necessary because the rubber stopper holds the wire in place- there is no movement or stress on the connections inside.

If I'm mounting the battery further from the camera, such as on a tripod leg or the like, having that extra slack to reach is too useful to go out of my way to remove. But I like the way you are thinking and would love to see someone do that!

Ben Scott said:
The plates.. I know you can replace them but I wouldn't trust them on a shoot.
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Interesting. I have a whole bunch of them, some dating back to my DVX100, and I've never had one break yet! They are just plastic and two metal pins. Maybe some battery types have flimsier plates than others? Which ones broke?

The giant Sony ones (P970) seem like they might be a bit too heavy to hang on to the little plastic pins, so I usually either mount them on top of the cage so gravity is working in my favor, or use a slightly smaller Sony battery (5,000mah instead of 7,000). But the truth is, they hold on to the rear of these cheap LED lights with just those little pins so I always assumed I'm being neurotic. Either way, on a critical shoot, a little piece of gaffer's tape goes around it and whatever it is mounted to for extra protection. Al4video's adapter actually piqued my interest because he mentioned it has velcro straps. Truth is, it wasn't what I was picturing (looks like it is for attaching to something like a tripod leg, not for securing the battery), but I like the idea of having something to help lock the battery in place so it doesn't get jostled loose.

To be fair, I came up with this initially for long event shoots when I want the ability to leave the camera running attached to an external recorder for hours at a time. The camera wouldn't be moved around very much so there was little danger of anything going wrong. I have since used it on a shoulder rig, monopod, and other events that required a lot of movement and haven't had any trouble. Yet. I hope that I can look back at this in the future and still confidently say that. :)

So far, so good!
 
al4video said:
I have never had a problem with those plates. I have since purchased this one. Solid build with a velcro strap and a 1/4 20 socket built in for monitoring options.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006733DB2?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00
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I like this one. If I weren't up to building my own, I'd go for this probably.
However:
1) Its only for one battery type. I like that I can swap my plate out for some of my other batteries in case I'm running short on my P970s. I prefer those usually but they sometimes get used in other equipment (LED lights, Ninja Recorders, etc). I happen to still have some ginormous Panasonic batteries from my DVX100 days, and that flexibility is pretty cool.
2) The velcro would be better suited, IMO, where it would be accessible on the top to hold the battery in place so it doesn't wiggle free if that is a concern. On larger batteries it might be. That's something I might plan on future revision of my adapter.
3) The cheap chargers are actually less money, and some of us already own a few that we can part with for this project (FREE!).
4) This is silly, but I have a sense of pride in using DIY projects on jobs. I've used more sugru on camera accessory hacks/tweaks than I care to admit. Its a high for me to tweak and modify these kinds of things.:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG):beer:
 
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