So I've got a pair of these Impact BPD-8000 Universal Portable Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery Packs to run my R-4:
(http://www.bhphotovideo.com/images/images345x345/480307.jpg)
And they serve me quite well. I've only had one major failure where the charge went from 3 bars to nothing during a show. I wrote that off to not charging it right before the show - and assumed it had just been a while since I last charged it. Last night though one of them showed a charge of 2 bars going into the opener. After the opener was done it showed 3 bars ??? FWIW I don't think it's the same battery I mention crapped out earlier - but I couldn't swear to it since I'm not 100% sure which one I marked to be able to tell the 2 apart after that issue.
Just to be safe, I switched to the other battery which had just come off the charger to be safe since the R-4 trashes the open file if it loses juice while recording :(
Anyhow, does anyone know why this might happen? TIA.
I've read that the charge indicators are unreliable and can drop out fast, and I've had the charge indicator on my bat jump up after a show also. Not the same battery maker, but same type of battery. I ordered a Y power cable from Ed @ Kind Kables and with it I can plug in two bats in at a time, or hot swap a battery with no power loss. Definitely the way to go.
If you check the meter under load, then again without a load it will give you a higher reading. Did you check while running, then again while deck was off?
JAson
Myco: thanks for the reminder. I keep meaning to do this.
Jason: I think I only checked it right before & right after. Is it an instantaneous change you think or would it take time to "recover" before showing a higher charge? I've heard/seen something like this I think in other battery applications and want to say it's the latter.
It is instant. As soon as you remove the draw on the power the meter will kick up a notch. It is possible that if it were barely charged enough to light at a certain level, it would not change enough to jump up, but the underlying cause would still be true.
It is easy enough to reproduce.
JAson