OT: Camcorder battery life...

GerryLeacock wrote on 5/17/2004, 3:07 PM
Learned something new...just wanted to share it. I have 2 batteries for my Sony TRV140 digital camcorder. A 10 hour and a 2 hour that came with the camera. The 2 hour one was seldom, if ever, used and subsequently has become a paperweight. I tried for a few hours to charge it and nothing happened. Talked to a local camera store. Fellow there suggested, since it was scrap anyhow and I have nothing to loose, to stick it in the freezer for a week. Did that. Completely drained it and now it's back to being able to hold a 2 hour charge!!!! So don't scrap that old camcorder battery just because you think it's turned into a doorstop. There's always a way to revive it! (now my wife thinks I should spend a week in the freezer myself!)

Comments

ADinelt wrote on 5/17/2004, 4:52 PM
Hi Gerry:

A couple of questions...

1) What type of battery was this? (NiCad, Nimh, etc)
2) Did the freezing process completely drain the battery or did you do that first?
3) Did you let the battery thaw before recharging it?

Actually, that was a few questions ;-)

Thanks in advance...
Al
GerryLeacock wrote on 5/17/2004, 8:01 PM
1) Sony part number NP-FM30, Li-ion.
2) The freezing must have completely drained the battery, because I didn't.
3) Didn't bother thawing it. Stuck it in the camera, plugged in the charger, and waited. After 9 minutes of seeing nothing happen, suddenly the numbers started going up. The camera has a display on the side showing how many minutes are left on the battery. After an hour or two, the minutes showed 119 with "FULL" showing beside that.
IanG wrote on 5/18/2004, 12:38 AM
Gerry - thanks for that, I've got a similar problem with my Canon batteries. I'll give it a go and report back.

Ian G.
Electromen wrote on 5/18/2004, 4:00 AM
One very cold notebook battery here, thanks
Chienworks wrote on 5/18/2004, 4:10 AM
Sorry, but i just have to ask ... did you get a full two hours of use out of the battery? It's possible that the remaining time indicator was malfunctioning because the battery was cold or damaged.
cbrillow wrote on 5/18/2004, 4:51 AM
I'd wonder the same thing -- did it actually act like a full battery in terms of usage?

I ask because my camcorder -- purchased just before Christmas -- won't run anywhere near as long as indicated on an ostensibly "full" charge. It may indicate that there are nearly two hours worth of current available, but it sure uses a faster countdown clock than mine, when running. Very disappointing run time, and getting worse.
GerryLeacock wrote on 5/18/2004, 8:27 AM
Ok, I turned the camera on and basically videotaped the inside of my lenscap for 2 hours (with a tape change half way). Got the full 2 hours out of a battery that, before yesterday, couldn't even be charged up at all. The LCD viewfinder was of course closed. Having it open would of halved the battery life. If anyone is interested in seeing 2 hours of the inside of my lenscap, I'll upload it to Chienworks site. :)
Chienworks wrote on 5/18/2004, 8:52 AM
Hey yeah! Make sure you encode it at 1fps and 1Kbps. That way the whole 2 hours should fit in only 0.88MB with no noticable degredation or artifacts! ;)
IanG wrote on 5/18/2004, 10:20 AM
How about adding 4'33" as a soundtrack?

Ian G.
dand9959 wrote on 5/18/2004, 7:21 PM
Finally, a video that MyDVD can handle well!