TASCAM DR-680 portable 8-track Part 2

[Chadfish]

My desire is to have a battery for my EX1 that I can also use on my recorder. I just want to know if the battery posted for my camera will work on the 680. I don't know about the voltage stuff. I am aware I can buy a battery just for the 680.

[burris]

for 35% of the cost of the battery geek, you can get this 7200mAh:

Maybe a good option for the Tascam 680. It is designed to power LCD screens in the wild. For the price it looks like a decent deal.

http://www.adorama.com/MHMLCDB26.html?utm_source=gbase&utm_medium=Shopping%20Site&utm_campaign=Other&utm_term=Other

115 Watt-hours for $200 comes out to about $1.75/Watt-hour
26 Watt-hours for $70 comes out to about $2.70/Watt-hour

So one battery costs less simply because it has about 1/4 the total energy of the other but it is actually more expensive per unit of energy.  You can't just compare the capacity because a unit like the DR-680 has a switching regulator at the input and excess voltage is not wasted.  Also, both of those batteries have a regulated output which isn't necessary with the '680 because of said regulator.  So you're wasting around 8-20% of the energy contained in the cells dropping from 14.8V to 12V. 

Also, I think the 7.4 amp hour figure came from adding up the capacity of all the cells instead of only adding up the cells/batteries wired in parallel.  7.4Ah x 12V == 86Wh but they only claim 26 watt/hours.

Capacity when new is only part of the story.  Batteries don't last forever and can't be recharged an infinite number of times.  How long and how many times depends on the chemistry.  A LFP battery like the ones on the page below have 5-10 times greater cycle and calendar life, so over the lifetime of the battery it is much, much less expensive than any regular Li-Ion or Li-Poly battery like the two above.  Even if you consider that it doesn't come with a charger.  Also LFP is much safer because if damaged or shorted it won't burst into crazy unstoppable fire that will destroy your gear, fill the air with noxious smoke, and get tapers banned from the venue.

http://www.batteryspace.com/12-8v-lifepo4-battery-packs-from-3.3ah-to-6ah.aspx

The above batteries are even cheaper per Watt-hour than the batteries you guys are talking about, one is only $1.04/Wh.  Even when you don't consider calendar life, cycle life, or safety it is a better deal and remains so when you factor in a connectors and a charger.  It is definitely time to switch to LiFePO4 batteries!

[Todd R]

I thought quite a bit about those LiFePO4 batteries on batteryspace, and am just about to pull the trigger on some kind of new battery solution.  The LiFePO4 batteries have had me worried since they do not come with a pc board integrated to control charge/discharge and prevent over charging and over dis-charging.

Are those not worries for the LiFeO4 chemistry?  Do I need to be concerned that the batteryspace LiFePO4 batteries do not have the integrated PCB?  I'd love more input on this, I'm just not as familiar with the chemistry.

[burris]

No, all of the batteries on that page except for one have a PCB installed that protects against short circuit, over charge, and over discharge.  They say "with PCB" or "w/o PCB."  I can confirm that the ones that say they have a protection circuit do in fact have some sort of PCB installed under the shrink wrap.

[Chadfish]

I loke the looks / price of the Manhattan House Brand 12V linked above. If the thing lasts more than 6 hours I'd be happy. How long should it last with a 680 at full bore (6 phantom mics recording)? Those little batteries that look like Duracell wrapped in plastic look kind of sketchy but I'm ignorant about batteries. I just want some bang for my buck and long record times...

[burris]

Cells come in (at least) two types of packages, metal cans and plastic pouches.  The ones with plastic pouches require some external hard case and that is what the Manhattan House Brand battery is using (as do laptop batteries.)  The shrink wrapped batteries from BatterySpace are made from cells in metal cans and don't need another hard case.  The shrink wrap does seem a little thin though.  They sell shrink wrap, including really tough rubberized shrink, and I think you can have your batteries custom made that way or add more shrink yourself, it's not very difficult.

I recently replaced all of my batteries with LFP from BatterySpace/Powerizer but I have nothing to do with them.  If you find LFP batteries that are more to your taste somewhere else then you should go for it.  For all the reasons I mentioned above, however, you should only consider LFP chemistry batteries no matter where you get them from.

[Chuck]

When you guys get it figured out, I'd love to have a low cost powering solution.
I figure to get about another year out of my DVD "Wally" batteries. They are getting harder to find and are more expensive than they used to be.

I've made some battery packs to hold AA NiMH re-chargeable batteries. I'm happy to use those until a better power back-up comes along.

[burris]

Not all the BatterySpace batteries are shrink wrapped, this one comes in a metal box that is the same size as the 12V/7Ah lead-acid gel-cell bricks that we used to use in the 90's and is meant to be a drop-in replacement.  Due to the greater calendar and cycle life, this battery is actually cheaper than a $20 lead-acid battery over its lifetime!

http://www.batteryspace.com/lifepo426650battery128v66ah84wh25arateinaluminum-boxwithpcbandprewire.aspx

[NOLAfishwater]

DONT BUY the Manhattan LCD batteryThe battery was designed for the Manhattan LCD screens which draw 20Watts. However in this case according to Tascam confirmed that the draw is 9Watts with phantom engaged.
this is what I have come up with:

I determined what the Amps are using this calculator: http://www.jobsite-generators.com/power_calculators.html

Battery life calculator here: http://jamesrbass.com/batterylife.htm

[NOLAfishwater]

The Tekkeon MP3450 is rated as follows: Capacities Details: 10000 mAh @ 5VDC 8300 mAh @ 6VDC 6600 mAh @ 7.5VDC 5500 mAh @ 9VDC 4100 mAh @ 12VDC 3500 mAh @ 14VDC 3100 mAh @ 16VDC 2600 mAh @ 19VDC .

data taken from here: http://www.nextag.com/Tekkeon-MP3450-Mypower-ALL-550919311/specs-html

[NOLAfishwater]

TRIPLE POST MELT!

Another battery in question is the Batterygeek BG-9-12-130 which is rated at 14400mAh so taking into effect 70% efficiency the estimated battery life is: 13.44 hours. That is assuming that mAh rating is based on 12V (which it probably is not).

Tekkeon 4100mAh = $100
edit:
Manhattan 7200mAh = $68<<don't buy this one
BG 14400mAh = $250

if you buy two Manhattan for $136 you are saving $114 and have the same amount of runtime.

[Gutbucket]

Who's the batterygeek now? 

[NOLAfishwater]

well. the 26wh rating was from the manufacturer which means the manhattan battery sucks and will only make it a couple of hours.

[NOLAfishwater]

After look around here is another battery I found from Batteryspace

http://www.batteryspace.com/polymerli-ionboxbattery12v-132v74wh4aratewregulatorandlowbatteryalertsmartchargertrail-techplug.aspx

74Wh rating and comes with smart charger for $130

74watt hours / 9watts = 8.22 hours x 70% = 5.75 hours

[oleg]

I am not sure but the 14.4 seems to be on the high end of voltages.  If you consider that they will work on 9 volts which is 3 volts less than specified you might be able to guesstimate that it would work on 3 volts more than 12 which puts you at 15 volts.  Then again there is the worry about an over voltage situation which is much worse than an under voltage situation if you go to trial and error.

http://www.globalmediapro.com/dp/A296Q4/Globalmediapro-SC1-1-channel-Mini-Charger-2-x-Globalmediapro-DCU95-Battery-95WH-with-D-Tap/

much better option , 2 + charger , 190 watt total
good for ex and tascam