Topic: 722 battery longevity?

[Mitch]

I have used a 7800 mAh NP-F970 (Assia brand) that I got on ebay, 2 for $75.00 shipped.

I got approx. 4+ hours at 44.1 kHz, !6 bit.  Light off.

I now use an external 12 V, 4 Ah, sealed lead acid battery which I tested at 96 kHz, 24 bit, light on, and got 5.5 hours.

I paid $13.00 for the battery, and had a Battery Minder charger which I use for charging. I made a F 4 pin XLR to 2 M 4 pin XLRs Y cord.
The Y cord facilitates a seamless change of external batteries while recording. I also picked up a 7 Ah sealed lead acid battery for $13.99!

Check out NP-F790s here:

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2F&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=np-f970&category0=

Also....when in a hostile enviornment, I put my 722 in a gallon Ziploc bag, and tape the zipper closed over the mic & power wires. I then tape the bag in such a way so the front panel of the 722 is clearly visible. Transport and level controls are accessed easily with the bag in place.

[fozzy]

I have used a 7800 mAh NP-F970 (Assia brand) that I got on ebay, 2 for $75.00 shipped.

do you mean 6800mAh?

I get 6+ hours w/ my similar battery w/ light on and Phantom to the MBHOs

[Mitch]

I have used a 7800 mAh NP-F970 (Assia brand) that I got on ebay, 2 for $75.00 shipped.

do you mean 6800mAh?

I get 6+ hours w/ my similar battery w/ light on and Phantom to the MBHOs

No.  What sample rate, and bit depth were you using?

[ts]

I have used a 7800 mAh NP-F970 (Assia brand) that I got on ebay, 2 for $75.00 shipped.

do you mean 6800mAh?

I get 6+ hours w/ my similar battery w/ light on and Phantom to the MBHOs

Me too. 6+ hours with phantom and lights on at 24/96

[Trevor A]

do you mean 6800mAh?

I get 6+ hours w/ my similar battery w/ light on and Phantom to the MBHOs

I got over 10 hours with a no name 6800mAH at 24/96 with
phantom to my km140's and no lights. Using the stock
battery, I got almost 5 hours with phantom and no lights.

I prefer the stock battery because it is smaller. I would
rather use 2 of them than 1 of the 6800mAH batteries. It is
a tight fit going into my inside jacket pocket with the
6800mAH battery.

[fozzy]

24/96, to HD, Lights & LEDs on (dimmest setting), Phantom. 

I have one of these http://www.keybattery.com/product_info.php/products_id/11267
I originally got 3, 2 for me one for Rick, but I broke one of them b/c I didn't have the release button properly depressed.  These state that they are 5500mAh but my li-ion charger says they are actually ~6000mAh [The Astroflight 109 charger tells you how much it fed to the battery].  The cells do not have any numbering but they look like they are made of 6 2000mAh 18650(4/3AF) cells. 

As far as I know the 18650 cells are only available in 1.4A(4.2A in a 6 cells 7.2v pack), 1.8A(5.4A in a 6 cells 7.2v pack), 2A(6A in a 6 cells 7.2v pack), 2.2A(6.6A in a 6 cells 7.2v pack) and 2.4A varities.  A true NP-F960 must have 2400mah LG 18650 cells(light grey).  They are the only ones on the market rated @ 2400mAh.  6 of these calculates to 7200mAh @ 7.2V. 

these 18650 li-ion cells generally contain 10-15% more power than the specs state, some manufactures account for this in their advertisement of assembled packs. 

I remember reading somewhere that the 722 w/ lights & phantom consumes roughly 1amp per hour, thats what my experiense shows.  When I run my 14.4ah festi pack I get between 14hr45min and 15hr30min. 

[Mitch]

I will run a test, and get back with the results. Just because the label on the batt. says 7800 mAh, doesn't make it so.

BTW...I have a 80 GB, 5200 RPM HDD in my 722.

[Mitch]

The bar in the battery display is not an accurate indication of percent time remaining (maybe not intended to be).

The battery display is an indication of Voltage, not percentage of battery life left. 

[Mitch]

Apparently the 7800 mAh rating on my battery is BS!

Recording, light on, LEDs dimmest, 96/24, phantom on.

I noticed low power flash at 3:45, power down at 3:53.

[fozzy]

Apparently the 7800 mAh rating on my battery is BS!

Recording, light on, LEDs dimmest, 96/24, phantom on.

I noticed low power flash at 3:45, power down at 3:53.

yea you should get at least 6+ hours from a full charge. sounds more like a 4000mAh battery

[WiFiJeff]

yea you should get at least 6+ hours from a full charge. sounds more like a 4000mAh battery

I just tested my 722 with an Audio Technica mic taking 4mA phantom power draw, a 7000 mAh rated Power 2000 battery lasted just under 6 hours.  No back light but meter lights on. 

Jeff

[Mitch]

If we're going to compare battery run times, we need to have a standard for everyone to use to compare their batts.

I suggest this:

Sample / bit  96/24

light on

meter LEDs dimmest setting

phantom on

mediia: HDD

unit actually recording with some input signal

If we all use the same parameters for testing, the comparisons will have more meaning.

I ordered two new batts.. I will test 'em when I get 'em, and report the results.

[Mic D]

BTW...I have a 80 GB, 5200 RPM HDD in my 722.

Would'nt the bigger HDD give you shorter run times?

[fozzy]

BTW...I have a 80 GB, 5200 RPM HDD in my 722.

Would'nt the bigger HDD give you shorter run times?

no.  If the drive was slower like a 4200rpm drive you would get better run times, a 7200rpm drive would get less.  SD states that the slower drives are adequate for recording.

[Mitch]

BTW...I have a 80 GB, 5200 RPM HDD in my 722.

Would'nt the bigger HDD give you shorter run times?

no.  If the drive was slower like a 4200rpm drive you would get better run times, a 7200rpm drive would get less.  SD states that the slower drives are adequate for recording.

 

FYI:

I had a 4200 rpm, 60 GB HDD in my 722, which had a bunch of recordings on it, and I got slow drive indication, and the 722 stopped recording.