Topic: 722 battery

[ts]

So as far as "on unit" batteries go, is this one still the largest capacity/best deal/reliable performance?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/465330-REG/Impact_NPF975_NP_F975_Lithium_Ion_Battery.html

[thegreatgumbino]

I'd save some money & go with these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000K7EQPS/ref=dp_olp_2/105-3745974-8866049

Many folks are having great experiences with them.

Use your savings to pick up one of these:

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,85329.msg1217458.html#msg1217458

[db]

i'm sticking with the name brand. i had a female contact sleeve come out of a no-name variety. this is not scientific, as i'm sure the chassis was made by the same people, but it only takes one fuck-up for me.

[Craig T]

I had this happen on 2 "no names" and 1 Sony.  YMMV

i'm sticking with the name brand. i had a female contact sleeve come out of a no-name variety. this is not scientific, as i'm sure the chassis was made by the same people, but it only takes one fuck-up for me.

[terrapinj]

i'm sticking with the name brand. i had a female contact sleeve come out of a no-name variety. this is not scientific, as i'm sure the chassis was made by the same people, but it only takes one fuck-up for me.

i had a genuine sony die on my recently - i think most of the contact issues have been resolved with the generic brands, but its clear than neither is without some issues

[fozzy]

I had this happen on 2 "no names" and 1 Sony.  YMMV

i'm sticking with the name brand. i had a female contact sleeve come out of a no-name variety. this is not scientific, as i'm sure the chassis was made by the same people, but it only takes one fuck-up for me.

This has happened to 4 of my batteries, i now have two for traveling on airplanes that I have superglued the contact in place.  let it slide out a little, apply some CA glue and press the contact back in.  I have not had any problems using this method, when using these batteries i cycle through them and charge w/ an external charger.  

The packs i got are from 1800emart.com
http://store.1800emart.com/np-f970.html

The actual capacity is ~6800mah,

[thegreatgumbino]

I had this happen on 2 "no names" and 1 Sony.  YMMV

i'm sticking with the name brand. i had a female contact sleeve come out of a no-name variety. this is not scientific, as i'm sure the chassis was made by the same people, but it only takes one fuck-up for me.

This has happened to 4 of my batteries, i now have two for traveling on airplanes that I have superglued the contact in place.  let it slide out a little, apply some CA glue and press the contact back in.  I have not had any problems using this method, when using these batteries i cycle through them and charge w/ an external charger. 

Ditto.

[johnw]

I had this happen on 2 "no names" and 1 Sony.  YMMV

i'm sticking with the name brand. i had a female contact sleeve come out of a no-name variety. this is not scientific, as i'm sure the chassis was made by the same people, but it only takes one fuck-up for me.

This has happened to 4 of my batteries, i now have two for traveling on airplanes that I have superglued the contact in place.  let it slide out a little, apply some CA glue and press the contact back in.  I have not had any problems using this method, when using these batteries i cycle through them and charge w/ an external charger. 

The packs i got are from 1800emart.com
http://store.1800emart.com/np-f970.html

The actual capacity is ~6800mah,

Thanks fozzy. What is CA glue?

[boojum]

I bought the B&H and it works fine.  I have had the female connector pull out of the Amazon batteries.  I returned one.  I am not sure if I want to return another.  I suppose I should.  And I will super-glue (CA) the female connector in first thing.  B&H is less hassle. 

[ts]

i'm sticking with the name brand. i had a female contact sleeve come out of a no-name variety. this is not scientific, as i'm sure the chassis was made by the same people, but it only takes one fuck-up for me.

One of my generics, the case actually cracked. No problems with the sleeves

I think I'll go with the Impact from B&H. Assuming Impact is not generic. I think my charger brand is Impact.

[mmedley.]

I had this happen on 2 "no names" and 1 Sony.  YMMV

i'm sticking with the name brand. i had a female contact sleeve come out of a no-name variety. this is not scientific, as i'm sure the chassis was made by the same people, but it only takes one fuck-up for me.

Same here. The Impact batteries have been bulletproof for me. I got 2 Impact 7600mah, a 6600mah Sony, and a 4500mah that came with the 722. The Sony's blow (and don't fit because the pin sleeves are too shallow!), I am on my 2nd one of theirs and I get MAYBE 4 hours with phantom at 24/96 on the 6600mah, whereas the Impacts give me about 5.5+ hours minimum each.

[fozzy]

What is CA glue?

CA (cyanoacrylate) = super glue

Buy it at your local hobby store, you get 2oz for the price of .1oz at the hardware store.  as long as you keep it sealed it lasts for years

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXK283&P=ML

[johnw]

Thanks Fozzy!

FWIW, the amazon links to some batteries that are supposed to be 6900 mAH. I went with the cheapest model from Red Hot Buys and they ended up being only 6500 mAH. I'm going to keep them at only $25 each, but buyer beware.

[johnw]

Use your savings to pick up one of these:

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,85329.msg1217458.html#msg1217458

I got this and there are no instructions in the box. Does the 100% blink when fully charged or does it stay solid or turn off or something?

[Brian Skalinder]

I got this and there are no instructions in the box. Does the 100% blink when fully charged or does it stay solid or turn off or something?

Blinking = charging.  Not blinking = done.  The lowest solid block is how much it's charged.  For example, if the 50% block is solid and the 75% block is flashing, it's 50-74% charged.

Great charger, BTW.  Turns out my previous battery woes were related to the charger, not the batteries themselves.

[terrapinj]

alright guys - i got screwed by the sony brand batteries because they don't lock into place all the way. i was aware of this before but never considered it an issue. somehow my bag got kicked enough that it dislodged the battery from the 722. i assumed the battery died since it wouldn't power up after the show but after pulling the 722 out for a bit i noticed it had no battery connected and the sony was still in the bottom of my bag.

i was running a mountainsmith cairn instead of my normal lowepro magnum which would have help up against any kick. oh well - chalk one up for stupid taper mistake

file did not save at all, but at least there was another taper

i just ordered a couple of the initials off amazon - thanks for the link Matt

[mmedley.]

I put a piece of folded paper (post-it note) wedged into the battery compartment when using my Sony to ensure it doesn't fall out. Honestly, I pretty much quit using my Sony battery for this reason. I only use it for emergency purposes now (and those are few and FAR between).


Sorry to hear of your troubles.

[boojum]

The SONY I have fits fine and locks into place.  What is happening that yours do not lock into place?  I am lost.

[terrapinj]

The SONY I have fits fine and locks into place.  What is happening that yours do not lock into place?  I am lost.

if you really try to slide the battery out of place you can do so without depressing the locking button - it appears that the button pops up after you slide the battery in, but it doesn't prevent the battery from being able to be removed - all 4 of my genuine sonys have been this way, the contact holes are not deep enough

[boojum]

OK, thanks, now I understand. 

[stevetoney]

For what it's worth, I have an old Sony PC100 video camera and about 4 or 5 of the M series batteries...a couple of which are Sony Infolithiums.  I definitely like using the Impact 7600mah L-series the best since it has the best run-time, but I've had no problem at all with these M-series batteries working with the 702.  The post holes on the battery are nice and deep and seem to engage really nice with the 702 posts so that there's a snug fit, but not too snug.  Since the M-series batteries are shorter than the L-series, you want that snug fit because the pin isn't there to keep the battery from sliding off the posts if there's not a snug fit.  Anyway, I've had good luck with the M-series batteries...the main disadvantage is that since they're smaller they also have a smaller capacity. 

[fozzy]

For what it's worth, I have an old Sony PC100 video camera and about 4 or 5 of the M series batteries...a couple of which are Sony Infolithiums.  I definitely like using the Impact 7600mah L-series the best since it has the best run-time, but I've had no problem at all with these M-series batteries working with the 702.  The post holes on the battery are nice and deep and seem to engage really nice with the 702 posts so that there's a snug fit, but not too snug.  Since the M-series batteries are shorter than the L-series, you want that snug fit because the pin isn't there to keep the battery from sliding off the posts if there's not a snug fit.  Anyway, I've had good luck with the M-series batteries...the main disadvantage is that since they're smaller they also have a smaller capacity. 

i beg to differ, that is what the second spring-loaded pin is for.  Or am I totally off base, never used a M series

[stevetoney]

For what it's worth, I have an old Sony PC100 video camera and about 4 or 5 of the M series batteries...a couple of which are Sony Infolithiums.  I definitely like using the Impact 7600mah L-series the best since it has the best run-time, but I've had no problem at all with these M-series batteries working with the 702.  The post holes on the battery are nice and deep and seem to engage really nice with the 702 posts so that there's a snug fit, but not too snug.  Since the M-series batteries are shorter than the L-series, you want that snug fit because the pin isn't there to keep the battery from sliding off the posts if there's not a snug fit.  Anyway, I've had good luck with the M-series batteries...the main disadvantage is that since they're smaller they also have a smaller capacity. 

i beg to differ, that is what the second spring-loaded pin is for.  Or am I totally off base, never used a M series

Sorry about that...you're right Fozzy.  I didn't realize there's two spring loaded pins in there.  My mistake...the M-pin on my 702 is stuck in the down position so I never realized there was another one there!  

[ts]

The SONY I have fits fine and locks into place.  What is happening that yours do not lock into place?  I am lost.

if you really try to slide the battery out of place you can do so without depressing the locking button - it appears that the button pops up after you slide the battery in, but it doesn't prevent the battery from being able to be removed - all 4 of my genuine sonys have been this way, the contact holes are not deep enough

I only have one Sony battery but I never had the problem you are speaking of. As long as the button is working, it should be impossible for any battery to "slide" out. What you are describing is the battery is "lifting" or "falling" out, which means it would have to be tugged on. Right?

[terrapinj]

try to slide your sony battery off the 722 without depressing the release button

the pin holes aren't quite deep enough to fit all  the way on - it can't just slide off on its own but if you apply a little pressue it should slide off

[it-goes-to-eleven]

file did not save at all, but at least there was another taper

I specifically recall a 7xx promo video where John mentions that the 7xx power supply is designed to have enough reserve capacity to save the file in the event of a power loss.  So that seems like a bug.

In any case, the audio prior to the failure was on there and you very probably could have recovered with a tool like photorec.

[terrapinj]

file did not save at all, but at least there was another taper

I specifically recall a 7xx promo video where John mentions that the 7xx power supply is designed to have enough reserve capacity to save the file in the event of a power loss.  So that seems like a bug.

In any case, the audio prior to the failure was on there and you very probably could have recovered with a tool like photorec.

i haven't done anything to the drive since except plug it into the computer - it just shows a 0kb wav file - you think theres still a chance of finding it?

[it-goes-to-eleven]

You will almost definitely be able to recover that file.  Just don't hit record or write to the disk.

There are two ways wav size is reported. In the header and the size on disk.  If the header shows 0 bytes and the disk size is as expected, then you should be able to use pigiron's header repair tool after copying the wav off.  If the size on disk is incorrect then you will need to recover the file using a tool like photorec.  Scan the device with photorec (be sure and disable non-audio file types to prevent false matches).  PM me if you get stuck or have questions.

[terrapinj]

You will almost definitely be able to recover that file.  Just don't hit record or write to the disk.

There are two ways wav size is reported. In the header and the size on disk.  If the header shows 0 bytes and the disk size is as expected, then you should be able to use pigiron's header repair tool after copying the wav off.  If the size on disk is incorrect then you will need to recover the file using a tool like photorec.  Scan the device with photorec (be sure and disable non-audio file types to prevent false matches).  PM me if you get stuck or have questions.

awesome - i'll give it a try when i get home later

+T

[RobertNC]

I'm using a Sony NPF970, and honestly, I feel pretty confident I could not get the battery out without depressing the button or shearing off the pins.  I bought in Mar 2007, maye the design of either the battery or the 722 has changed?

[terrapinj]

perhaps, i just wanted everyone to be aware of the potential problem - if you have a generic battery as well perhaps put them both on and see how much the locking button comes up and if you can slide either off

again the sony still takes some pressure to get it off it won't just slide off on its own but it can apparently be done with a few kicks to the bag as well

[terrapinj]

I ran Photorec and it recovered 3 wav files

however none of the 3 files were the track that was lost and 1 or 2 seem to be several months old and files that i already have fully intact - appears i have lost the PBS set unless anyone has any other suggestions?

i also tried pigeron's wave header repair utility
i copied the t320.wav in question to a new folder on the desktop then put the fixwave.exe file and the .bat file in the directory but it says it cannot read the wav header - should I try to put the .exe and .bat on the 722 directly?

[boojum]

should I try to put the .exe and .bat on the 722 directly?

I would not.  You have no idea what the program calls or what resources it needs.  It might just hurt your SD.   You can do the same job with the file on your PC in isolation from your SD.  It is exactly the same file in both places.  I would never try to recover a file or manipulate it in any way on the SD.  As the IBM manuals say, "Results are unpredictable."  We do not like unpredictable, do we.   

[terrapinj]

should I try to put the .exe and .bat on the 722 directly?

I would not.  You have no idea what the program calls or what resources it needs.  It might just hurt your SD.   You can do the same job with the file on your PC in isolation from your SD.  It is exactly the same file in both places.  I would never try to recover a file or manipulate it in any way on the SD.  As the IBM manuals say, "Results are unpredictable."  We do not like unpredictable, do we.   

thats what i figured, i just wanted to make sure i was using the utility properly - looks like a lost cause at this point

[it-goes-to-eleven]

Repeat - do not write or record to the 7xx.  That includes copying anything to it.

Your audio IS on the disk.  If you never delete files from your 7xx and only format (as it should be), it should be the next sequential blocks on the disk after t319.

How large is the t320 file you copied from the 7xx?

You might call SD up and ask them.  They have advertised that this isn't supposed to happen. You shouldn't lose more than a few seconds of audio when power is lost.

[terrapinj]

Repeat - do not write or record to the 7xx.  That includes copying anything to it.

Your audio IS on the disk.  If you never delete files from your 7xx and only format (as it should be), it should be the next sequential blocks on the disk after t319.

How large is the t320 file you copied from the 7xx?

You might call SD up and ask them.  They have advertised that this isn't supposed to happen. You shouldn't lose more than a few seconds of audio when power is lost.

the t320 file is 0kb - took a matter of seconds to copy it off the 722 drive which wasn't right

i'll try to give SD a call if I can today - i've got a show im archiving for tonight so unfortunately i will have to write to the drive tonight

[it-goes-to-eleven]

I am surprised photorec did not find the audio...

Do you have any linux capability?  I'd suggest using dd to grab the raw blocks off the drive starting at the beginning of the empty file and continuing for approximately however long it should be based on the sample rate&depth. You could also take an image of the entire drive but that would be 40gig.

[terrapinj]

I am surprised photorec did not find the audio...

Do you have any linux capability?  I'd suggest using dd to grab the raw blocks off the drive starting at the beginning of the empty file and continuing for approximately however long it should be based on the sample rate&depth. You could also take an image of the entire drive but that would be 40gig.

no linux - i thought for sure photorec found the file until i listened to what was actually recovered

how long would taking an image of the drive take? i'll have about an hour when i get home before i have to leave for the other show - and i've got plenty of space on my other HDD in my computer

thanks for the suggestions

[it-goes-to-eleven]

Unfortunately the full 40gb will take a long time, probably a couple hours.  It would take a lot less time if the drive was directly connected.

You might have more luck with photorec with the 'keep corrupted files' option. I doubt the firewire interface is a problem.

If you had enough CF then you'd be able to keep the drive intact..

[nedstruzz]

Will this sucker work with the 722/744's?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/465330-REG/Impact_NPF975_NP_F975_Lithium_Ion_Battery.html

[terrapinj]

Will this sucker work with the 722/744's?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/465330-REG/Impact_NPF975_NP_F975_Lithium_Ion_Battery.html

yeah - looks like its 7600mAh which is a larger capacity than the typical 6600mAh as well

i just bought a couple of these from amazon for about $30 each - slightly smaller capacity but I still got two for less than that 1 battery

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000K7EQPS

[nedstruzz]

Heres a 7800mAh but it says replacement for 970/B.  Any ideas on if this works?  I like the idea of gettying two smaller amp batteries for the same price though. 

http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/lenmar-lis970p-72-volt-7800mah-batterybrrechargeable-lithium-ionbr-replaces-sony-npf950-npf960-and-f970b-p-1255.html?SP_id=&osCsid=e5mvh6hf2q45s33mfn09gb9qb2

I guess my real question should be, how long will a 6900mAh battery run a 744 using four channels and how long will a 7800mAh batter run a 744 recording four channels? 

Any ideas?

[terrapinj]

Heres a 7800mAh but it says replacement for 970/B.  Any ideas on if this works?  I like the idea of gettying two smaller amp batteries for the same price though. 

http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/lenmar-lis970p-72-volt-7800mah-batterybrrechargeable-lithium-ionbr-replaces-sony-npf950-npf960-and-f970b-p-1255.html?SP_id=&osCsid=e5mvh6hf2q45s33mfn09gb9qb2

they all say replacement if they are not genuine Sony's - that one looks like it will work as well though

[cfox]

http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/lenmar-lis970p-72-volt-7800mah-batterybrrechargeable-lithium-ionbr-replaces-sony-npf950-npf960-and-f970b-p-1255.html?SP_id=&osCsid=e5mvh6hf2q45s33mfn09gb9qb2

I got this battery, I can run a complete show + plus latenite with the same battery...

[boojum]

I have the same battery.  I use it when I am not sure the regular 3.5 - 4.0 hour battery will last.  Looks like it could do 6.0 or more hours.

[mmedley.]

Do those Lenmars come with a warranty? I still dig the Impacts since they have a 1YR warranty. If the Lenmars have a warranty I would consider the change to save $15.

Nevermind...I see 3yr warranty. Damn! That is nice.

[RobertNC]

Will this sucker work with the 722/744's?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/465330-REG/Impact_NPF975_NP_F975_Lithium_Ion_Battery.html

I just picked one up.  Have not had time to give it a workout as far as runtime performance.

As far as physical compatibility, no problems.  Pulled it in and out of the unit a bunch of times.  Makes good contact.  Based on the general feel of resistance it feels like just a slightly little more snug fit than the branded Sony NPF970 I've been using. But really slight difference.

At this point I feel pretty confident that most importantly it does not feel so tight to worry about any damage to the unit side male pins, and also does not feel like it will require the commonly mentioned cyanoacrylate reinforcement to keep the female receptacles on the battery side in place either.

Will get back after Ive gotten the time to setup to do a couple of run time evaluations, but at this point so far, so good ....

[Bdifr78]

About how long should a 6900mAH battery run a 722, when not using phantom power?

Thanks,
Joe

[fozzy]

About how long should a 6900mAH battery run a 722, when not using phantom power?

Thanks,
Joe

6-7 hours

[manitouman]

I wonder....I have a dummy cell that I connect a RC Battery pack via tamiya connectors to power the 702. If I got two of these li-ion batteries, could I modify them so that they each have tamiya connectors? So I would still use the dummy cell and these li-on battery packs would connect via tamiya connectors. Can that be done and would it be a good option? Would the AR-7 accommodate both batteries in the bottom of the bag? I'm just thinking out loud actually. Time to get off this machine.

http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/lenmar-lis970p-72-volt-7800mah-batterybrrechargeable-lithium-ionbr-replaces-sony-npf950-npf960-and-f970b-p-1255.html?SP_id=&osCsid=e5mvh6hf2q45s33mfn09gb9qb2

I got this battery, I can run a complete show + plus latenite with the same battery...

[fozzy]

I wonder....I have a dummy cell that I connect a RC Battery pack via tamiya connectors to power the 702. If I got two of these li-ion batteries, could I modify them so that they each have tamiya connectors? So I would still use the dummy cell and these li-on battery packs would connect via tamiya connectors. Can that be done and would it be a good option? Would the AR-7 accommodate both batteries in the bottom of the bag? I'm just thinking out loud actually. Time to get off this machine.

http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/lenmar-lis970p-72-volt-7800mah-batterybrrechargeable-lithium-ionbr-replaces-sony-npf950-npf960-and-f970b-p-1255.html?SP_id=&osCsid=e5mvh6hf2q45s33mfn09gb9qb2

I got this battery, I can run a complete show + plus latenite with the same battery...

This is similar to what I do,.  You will need a special li-ion charger for the modified cells.

[Bdifr78]

About how long should a 6900mAH battery run a 722, when not using phantom power?

Thanks,
Joe

6-7 hours

I just tested overnight.  Half way through the night my V3 battery died so there was no longer any signal going to the 722.  If there is no signal coming in, but the device is still recording, would this still give me a accurate test of the run time with this battery?  Or does lacking an input signal make for much longer run times?

The reason I am concerned is that this 6900mah battery was still running and recording on the 722 at the 10.5hr mark. This seemed odd to me.

Joe

[mmedley.]

About how long should a 6900mAH battery run a 722, when not using phantom power?

Thanks,
Joe

6-7 hours

I just tested overnight.  Half way through the night my V3 battery died so there was no longer any signal going to the 722.  If there is no signal coming in, but the device is still recording, would this still give me a accurate test of the run time with this battery?  Or does lacking an input signal make for much longer run times?

The reason I am concerned is that this 6900mah battery was still running and recording on the 722 at the 10.5hr mark. This seemed odd to me.

Joe

I would imagine yes. That would make a difference if there was no load on inputs. It will also depend greatly on your bit depth and sample rate. Higher rates obviously = more writing to HDD which leads to decreased battery performance. Not sure if you mentioned your setup previously either. Are you running digi or analog out of the V3? Backlight on? Bright meters? CF or INHDD? Being REALLY conservative I can see you getting 10hrs at 16bit or 24/44.1 with the backlight off, meters on lowest brightness setting, running line in. OR you could just have one of those 1 in a million everlasting batteries.

[manitouman]

http://thomasdistributing.com/shop/lenmar-lis970p-72-volt-7800mah-batterybrrechargeable-lithium-ionbr-replaces-sony-npf950-npf960-and-f970b-p-1255.html?SP_id=&osCsid=e5mvh6hf2q45s33mfn09gb9qb2

I got this battery, I can run a complete show + plus latenite with the same battery...

I bought one of these from Buy.com for $53.99 and that included shipping. Ran a test yesterday...hooked into the 702 and charged from there took ~3 hours. Ran with all the lights going and writing at 24/96 with phantom power to the MBHO's and I got ~9 hours of runtime. Does that sound about right? I didn't think I would have gotten that long out of it, but am amazed.

[manitouman]

Is there a proper way to store these batteries when not in use? I probably won't tape with the open rig until a month from now. Should I store completely drained or charge for about a half hour or so just so it has a little bit in it?

Thanks for any info!

EDIT: Found my answers...Never drain completely (whoops!) and store at 40% capacity.

[boojum]

Sound Devices site publishes usage rates of electricity.  A 722 at 24/48 and phantom power draws ~1 amp per hour.  The battery you got should give ~6 hours with a HD to run.  A 702 would run correspondingly longer.  I'd guess you could get close to 8 hours.  Try it and let us know.