Topic: Canon Vixia HF10/HF11 off of Wally World?

[mblindsey]

I know there is a thread around here somewhere with this info, but my search foo is off today.

Wallyworld DVD battery is 9V.

Canon Vixia HF10/HF11 have 8.4V DC in.

Is it harmful to plug 9V battery into a device expecting 8.4V?  Will the extra 0.6V just be given off as heat?  If the answer is "I wouldn't do it", what's the best contraption to build/buy to step down a measly 0.6V?

Thanks,
Michael

[phanophish]

Michael,

I found this....

http://www.codectest.com/productreviews/canon-vixia-hf11-camcorder.html

Check out the last paragraph regarding external batts.  More useful for the low end of the safe voltage scale, but worth knowing.

I might make up a cable with the correct polairty and go to best buy and "test" it in one of their Canon's.  I'd be surprised if it did not work.

[mblindsey]

I don't know if this brings any info to light, but the battery packs that snap in are 7.2V, while the DC coming out of the power brick is rated at 8.4V.  I've never looked at any other electronics to see if this type of thing is normal...but, could this thing be regulating the voltage to whatever it really wants internally?

[mblindsey]

I just got home from work and tested some charged Wally Worlds.  They read 9.03V and 9.09V, so they are pretty true, even after sitting on the shelf for a while.  I was hoping they might be a little closer to 8.4V...

--Michael

[phanophish]

What does the Canon AC adapter actually output?  Sometimes they push more voltage than they are rated for....

[mblindsey]

What does the Canon AC adapter actually output?  Sometimes they push more voltage than they are rated for....

And the answer is:  8.36V

[mblindsey]

Found the thread I was thinking about when I posted originally:  http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=121155.0

[stevetoney]

Found the thread I was thinking about when I posted originally:  http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=121155.0

I no longer have the camera, but I ran a HD camera off a Wally World battery for a good while and it ran like a champ.  The only problem I had was that the connector wasn't the tightest so if the cable tugged a little it would lose connection and the camera would automatically power off. 

I'm no electronics expert, but I'm pretty sure that the energy rejected in the form of heat is a non- issue when there's less than one volt difference on a device that draws a fairly low current, such as this.  With higher current draw and higher voltage differences (between what's supplied and what's consumed), well yeah then you have a higher wattage of heat that needs to be dissipated because there is more energy that isn't consumed by the camera.  As a precaution, you can always feel if either the battery or the camera are getting warm.

EDIT:  Consider this...batteries that you buy at the store (AA, D cells, energizers, etc) are nominally rated at a certain voltage, but if you check the actual voltage they supply you'd find that they often supply as much as a full volt more than the nominal rating.  Reach your own conclusions, but I never hear anyone worrying about heat generated by excess voltage on a AA battery operated device.

[mblindsey]

Found the thread I was thinking about when I posted originally:  http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=121155.0

I no longer have the camera, but I ran a HD camera off a Wally World battery for a good while and it ran like a champ.  The only problem I had was that the connector wasn't the tightest so if the cable tugged a little it would lose connection and the camera would automatically power off. 

I'm no electronics expert, but I'm pretty sure that the energy rejected in the form of heat is a non- issue when there's less than one volt difference on a device that draws a fairly low current, such as this.  With higher current draw and higher voltage differences (between what's supplied and what's consumed), well yeah then you have a higher wattage of heat that needs to be dissipated because there is more energy that isn't consumed by the camera.  As a precaution, you can always feel if either the battery or the camera are getting warm.

EDIT:  Consider this...batteries that you buy at the store (AA, D cells, energizers, etc) are nominally rated at a certain voltage, but if you check the actual voltage they supply you'd find that they often supply as much as a full volt more than the nominal rating.  Reach your own conclusions, but I never hear anyone worrying about heat generated by excess voltage on a AA battery operated device.

Thanks for the response.  My gut tells me the same, and admittedly, I am being overly cautious.  My V3 running off of the same batts gets pretty warm, and Grace themselves say, "it's fine".  I just don't think my canon's are as well built, so I had to ask.

--Michael

[mblindsey]

Okay.  Unscientific at best.  I plugged a Wally World 9V into my HF10 for 45 minutes.  It got "warm".  So, I unplugged it.  I let it sit for a while until it was "cool". I then plugged in the AC adapter, 8.4V, for another hour.  It got "warm" again.  Camera still works. 

For the record, probably ~65-70% of the people I asked said, "no problem".  The rest said "probably no problem".  Here goes nothing...if something breaks, I'll update this thread.

If someone can put my question to rest with absolute authority...please do.  Otherwise, off to the races!

--Michael

[mblindsey]

Perfect!  Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

--Michael