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I recently bought some 190Ah batteries from Globalmediapro for our RED One and was quite disappointed to see that the camera would not boot up with them, while older, weaker batteries both from Globalmediapro and other manufacturers worked flawlessly. After Globalmediapro did not reply to my e-mail, I set upon finding out what was wrong.

Finding the Problem

Hypothesis I: The batteries are DOA

Both batteries charged up without fault in the charger (an IDX charger with display; a battery geek’s dream), and they performed also fine on our Sony DSR-570. So: No.

Hypothesis II: The batteries don’t have enough troughput

I fixed up a little cable that would put both batteries in a chain (effectively a 380Wh battery!), again, only the display of the R1 would light up, but it would still not boot.

I fetched an old V-lock battery that had been dead for years. I istalled this battery on the R1 and used my previously built cable to daisy chain it with one of the new 190Wh batteries. And voilá: The camera would boot up nicely. I thus concluded:

Final verdict: Something must be wrong with the internal wiring of the battery

Next I took my trusty voltmeter and compared how the different pins were powered, and compared it with the other batteries I had. It turned out that one pin on the “faulty” batteries was powered, which did not have any power on the other batteries.

First I tried taping over the “faulty” pin, but this did meant that none of the other pins would make contact. So I had to go inside the battery and clip the corresponding cable. And to my delight, this did fix it.

Here comes a more detailed description on how you can fix your battery yourself.

Fixing the Problem

Tools needed: Small Phillips screwdriver, tape, something to clip a cable.

First I put a little tape reminder as to which cable to clip. It is the third one from the left, here shown with an ‘x’. You have to unscrew the 4 main screws, but also the 3 screws that hold the V-lock thing.

Next you have to push the sides and wiggle the top off the case. This may take some patience, as the inside is taped with some double-sided sticky tape. Once you do get the case open, the three small nuts may have stuck to one of the tapes. Make sure that you don’t lose them – or that they get lost inside the case.

Next job is to isolate the one cable that carries the unwanted power. Use the previously made tape mark for guidance.

Clip off that cable and tape off both ends to avoid short circuiting. (I tried soldering off the cable, but had the impression that the plastic would melt before the metal.)

Now you can put all together again, remember to put those three nuts into the right place, so that you can screw back the V-lock thingy.

So, enjoy your RED One with a much improved running-time.