Help with AC/Battery problem

[dvcrazy]

Hi,
I was informed that Greebe may be able to help me out on this one but, of course, if anyone else knows your help would be appreciated. Here goes.

I've got a Canon ZR DV camcorder. It takes BP608 Lithium Ion batteries which are 7.2 V. You can also use a coupler to use it with AC. There is a jack on the Canon charging unit which connects to the coupler which is inserted in the camera where the battery goes.

My problem is I have a non-Canon charging unit which doesn't have this extra jack so I have to use batteries all the time when I use the firewire at my PC. Big hassle. On top of that, Canon wants $140 for their charging unit.

I'm thinking no problem. I'll just get a AC/DC Converter with an output voltage of 7.2V, connect the output to the coupler and I'm done. Saved myself $140. Not so fast. I went down to Radio Shack and talked to the guy there who seemed to know what he was talking about. He told me that the battery may be 7.2V but I need to know the operating voltage of the camera since that is normally higher than the battery voltage. That is the voltage I need for the converter. After finding all the information I could about the camera everything said that the camera was 7.2V 800ma. No mention of any operating voltage anywhere.

In the meantime, my brother had a charging unit from a Fujix camera that he bought in Japan which had a similar configuration to the Canon. Charging unit with the extra jack. The only problem is all the specs and documentation were written in Japanese. However, the voltage displayed on the camera was 7.2V 800ma. I thought I would give it a try. I connected his charging unit to the Canon coupler and it worked, sort of. The display on the camera came up but it wouldn't start moving the transport for the tape. I decided to stop there.

At this point I have the feeling that I may need special circuits to use the coupler with the camera which is why Canon is charging $140 for their charger.

Can anyone give me some info on the characteristics of these batteries and camera or an inexpensive work around. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks for listening.

[Greebe]

Is that a Canon CA-900 charger?

That person at RS is totally incorrect. If the battery outputs less voltage than the amount needed by the camcorder then it would either not run or as the battery discharged the power on life expectency would be much less than claimed.

The reson the chargers cost so much is for a couple of reasons... one because if you want the genuine thing it's name brand, but also because the specified charging rate for Li-ion batteries is different that that of Nicad or NiMH type batteries

But mostly because they can get away with it.


None the less if I'm not mistaken, all Canon camcorders operate on 7.2vdc whether it be from a powersupply or battery. If the camera states 7.2volts then that's exactly what it is (as does my Canon ES6000 Hi8)

[Greebe]

However, the voltage displayed on the camera was 7.2V 800ma. I thought I would give it a try. I connected his charging unit to the Canon coupler and it worked, sort of. The display on the camera came up but it wouldn't start moving the transport for the tape. I decided to stop there.

The reason it didn't fully work is due to that PS not having ample enough current in it's spec. Try a higher current (at least double ie 1600ma) model and it will work.

Many photograghy mags (etc) carry aftermarket universal charger/PS for these at a much lower price... I'll look up some more details as to where ... just hang tight

[Greebe]

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F004%5F001%5F001%5F000&product%5Fid=273%2D1675

It may be 7.5vdc out and have some uneccessary adapters, but should work fine... still looking for a specific/better unit tho. (would be easier for me to make with parts I have right here!)

Here's another

WD1C1500XXX 7.5VDC 1500MA WALL EI-48 $18.00

http://www.powerkit.com/psac1.html#1

... still looking ...

[dvcrazy]

The charger/PS which comes with the camera is the CA-600. There is a CH-900 accessory which is the dual battery charger.

[Greebe]

Here's the other problem with attempting this... the dual charger has a hockey puck type of "fake" battery which connects the chargers DC supply to the camera. Do you have a means of replicating this? If you had a dead battery it could be converted with some modifications and soldering required.

[dvcrazy]

Yes, i have it. I got that from Canon for about $5. They call it a coupler.

[Greebe]

Connect that to...

WD1C1500XXX 7.5VDC 1500MA WALL EI-48 $18.00

http://www.powerkit.com/psac1.html#1

or similar (observing polarity) and it should work