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DR 680 Battery Question


Hugh Palmer

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So I have recently purchased a DR 680 off a gentleman from this forum. My question is regarding the battery power. I am noticing that the batteries run really low really quickly (I had heard this is a problem with this particular unit) but when I pull them out and test them with a volt meter they all have well over 1.2v remaining. Some of them even up to 1.4... So what I'm getting is that the unit seems to think it's out of battery way before it is.

Is there any real work around for this? Or do I have to keep replacing hardly used batteries? I do plan on getting an np1 style rig as soon as I can afford it but in the meantime I am stuck with the batteries. 

Cheers,

Hugh

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Did you select the right chemistry for the batteries within the unit? It gives you the option of metering for alkaline and Nimh

 

You can also do i the old school way. Use rechargeable batteries or pick a brand of disposable batteries. Pop them in and time them until the unit dies. That is the best way to tell and just keep track of run time while the unit is in use.

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I used a DR-680 for a while.., (a 64 day shoot) great machine for the money, the preamps ain't the greatest but I used an SD  front-end for the booms, the rest were line-in wireless receivers.. BTW, the 680 is one of the few budget recorders that actually by-pass the (less than stellar) internal mic preamps. (don't know about the Mk-II)
Even w/o using Phantom Power, the eight internal AA batteries run down rather quickly (yes, even rechargeable Enloops). I used an external 72Wh 12V Li/on battery pack. I had two, but one was usually adequate for a full day.. if... you feel lucky... Another great feature is (intended or not), if the external power gets pulled for some reason, the machine seamlessly reverts to the internal batteries.
.Additionally, I would recommend installing the latest firmware; the file naming architecture has been changed .. I don't know if it was my recommendation, but I alerted Tascam to this issue when I used the recorder in 2012-13.

Addendum: The 8a/hr battery that Daniel spec'd, would likely run the 680 all day, but I would recommend having two... don't get caught w/ yo' pants down. The latest firmware:  http://tascam.com/content/downloads/products/43/dr-680_fw_v130.zip

Edited by Rick Reineke
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Did you select the right chemistry for the batteries within the unit? It gives you the option of metering for alkaline and Nimh

​Oh I wasn't aware this actually effected the run time. I was set to Nimh when they were actually Alkaline (AA).. Perhaps this is the problem.

get envelop pro rechargables and set the battery type to NiMh in the menu.

still doesn't give you ages of runtime but ok for occasional work. for long days, it's usually best to build an external battery pack.

chris​

I am currently looking at setting up a holster that holds two 6v lantern batteries in series to make a 12v battery. Not a long term solution but definitely a cheap one. I will probably couple this with some eneloop pro's as a back up.

Regarding long term solutions I think I will have to go an NP1 battery setup. Has anybody got any experience making one of these from scratch? As in the distribution cup? Or is Hawk-Woods the best option.

Addendum: The 8a/hr battery that Daniel spec'd, would likely run the 680 all day, but I would recommend having two... don't get caught w/ yo' pants down. The latest firmware:  http://tascam.com/content/downloads/products/43/dr-680_fw_v130.zip

​Thanks Rick, I'll make sure that it's running this firmware!

Thanks everyone for the info!

Edited by Hugh Palmer
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Hi mate,

I also used a DR-680 as my first unit before I was able to afford a 552, then moved to Nomad. Great little unit to start with. 

I can confirm that the battery gauge is less than accurate. If I remember well, the battery meter will start blinking empty LONG before it actually is. Unfortunately, that is one of the caveats of measuring Voltage only for state-of-charge. The discharge curve being inherent to each chemistry and model of battery, down to the individual units, it is simply impossible to get accurate readings for devices using third-party batteries (which makes calibration a guessing game)

I believe one of the few ways to accurately read state-of-charge is via coulomb counting (measuring the actual amount of current leaving the battery). Unfortunately, Coulomb counting means inserting logic circuitry into the supply line, which most manufacturers refuse to implement because of the many possible failures down the track (and maybe cost and complexity ?)

As posted above, a good way to do it is simply to monitor and remember the real-world run time of your batteries. I would encourage you to move to a NP1 system as soon as possible. Go see John Rowley at Sound Equip, he gets good prices on Swit batteries and Hawk-woods distro cups.

You should also consider V-lock batteries instead of NP1. I find them less practical in the bag, but they are more readily available from any photo/video retailer. One the biggest advantages of V-locks is that they are used by most Camos in Australia which can save your life if you run out of juice in the field.

Good luck to you anyway.

 

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I used a 680 exclusively for a couple years.  I happened to have a portable battery designed for computers/phones and gave it a shot.  It worked like a champ. It would usually last all day and I had a couple sets of eneloops as a backup.  I thought it was a pretty elegant solution for $80. 

LINK to amazon

 

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Thanks for that David. Speaking of inaccurate, the headphone amp had me so worried I was going to be dealing with some super noisy mic pre's. Until I got home and it all sounded way cleaner. 

A V-lock battery is definitely going to be a long term solution - one that I don't think I will be able to afford for a little while.

In the meantime that Anker looks like it could be an interesting fix. Thanks for that one Caycecole!

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The 680's HP amp is somewhat underpowered (50mW x2), but better than many of the other budget portables, (around 25mW).
In my case, I used it with my 302's much better HP amp. In addition, the 302's ext. battery voltage gauge gave a decent indication of remaining time, since both the recorder and mixer were fed from the same source. In tests with my particular set-up, I would get about a half-hour (or so) of run-time left when all the batt. LEDs were extinguished (obviously VMMV).  In actual on-set usage, I changed batteries mid-day.

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The 680's HP amp is somewhat underpowered (50mW x2), but better than many of the other budget portables, (around 25mW).
In my case, I used it with my 302's much better HP amp. In addition, the 302's ext. battery voltage gauge gave a decent indication of remaining time, since both the recorder and mixer were fed from the same source. In tests with my particular set-up, I would get about a half-hour (or so) of run-time left when all the batt. LEDs were extinguished (obviously VMMV).  In actual on-set usage, I changed batteries mid-day.

​re HP amp: underpowered is how it feels - not too bad till 12 o'clock and then it just turns into a pumpkin (horrible). i used to use mine with a 302 but use a single p48 pre amp and RMs with line out now. I disagree a little about "other budget portables" that i've tried, my experience of roland recorders (for example) has been the HP amps were much better than dr680.

dan

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I use one of these Anker 20,000mah external batteries with my 680. I also power my UCR211 Rx with it, and the lowest i've ever seen at the end of a solid day was 45%. It has it's own LCD that shows the remaining power available.  

http://www.amazon.com/Anker-20000mAh-Aluminum-Multi-Voltage-Technology/dp/B005NGLTZQ/ref=sr_1_1?srs=2528932011&ie=UTF8&qid=1433365791&sr=8-1&keywords=anker+20%2C000

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I used a 680 exclusively for a couple years.  I happened to have a portable battery designed for computers/phones and gave it a shot.  It worked like a champ. It would usually last all day and I had a couple sets of eneloops as a backup.  I thought it was a pretty elegant solution for $80. 

LINK to amazon

 

​Just noticed my recommended battery was already suggested! Glad I'm not alone! Good luck. 

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Hold on a second. IDX lists their NP-1 as 4.6Ah (4600 mAh). Does that mean that that Anker battery holds four times the charge at 20,000 mAh? If so, why aren't we all using them?

The IDX NP-L7S is listed as a 68Wh battery which is considerably more than the Anker. Here is the website - http://idxtek.com/products/np-l7s/

The IDX is definitely a better, "professional" battery. However, the Anker is ready to go out of the box. 

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Many of the consumer type rechargeable batteries I've seen in ads have multiple voltage settings (3, 5, 9, 12V), so the manufacturer states the greatest mAh (at the lowest voltage w/o saying so naturally). To get a more universal comparison (assuming the manufacturer is not lying to begin with), convert to watt hours.

E = mAh × V / 1000 = Wh.

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You shouldn't be using 12V in this calculation at all. You need the voltage that the manufacturer is using for their calculation, which according to their website is 3.7. (Q14 on this page: http://www.ianker.com/support/79AN7906-BA).

A curious number to use for a 5/9/12V battery, probably dreamed up by their marketing department. So really you're talking about a 74Wh battery, subject to additional losses in useful capacity because of its integrated voltage conversion (20-30% according to Q6 on same page). Still not a shabby number!

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A Naztech PB15000 is a cheap ($75) and reliable battery that can power the 680 for many hours.  I've used them with my 788 with no problem.  I get a good 3-4 hours running 8 channels, so you should do at least as well.  Keep the battery compartment full for easy switches.  Naztech includes tips that work fine with the 680.

 

corbin

Edited by thunderbolt
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  • 1 year later...

An old thread, but wanted to reply as I've been pondering this same question with my new (secondhand) DR680 mk1. Thus the info will be available for others who follow this same path as mine. 

Well....Solved!!!  :-D I hope. As I remembered I had this battery pack: http://www.camotionllc.com/external-battery-nebula-4000-p-124.html

As I got it together with my purchase of a secondhand Nebula 4000 Lite last year. So I hooked up that external battery with the DR680 and it starts up without a problem :-D  Yay, now I won't need to have 24+ AA batteries per shoot day!   :-o

Thus my plan is to buy one more of these, so I'll have two in total:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Feelworld-FW4600BP-Rechargeable-one-Battery-Pack-12V-4600mAh-for-Camera-Monitor-/141802274265

The great fact about them is they've got a test button on them and LEDs, so you can see how much charge is remaining! I'm kinda guessing two of them will be enough to get me through a production day most times (by my calculations they will together last 14hrs! :-o ), but as an extra safety measure I'll get this battery as well as a final back up (which could probably just by itself last me a whole day! i.e. 10hrs apparently):

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/5V-15000mAh-9V-8500mAh-12V-6500mAh-3-in-1-DC-Rechargeable-Li-ion-Battery-For-CCTV/32646219344.html

Now I still have the looong task ahead of me of learning and understanding the many many menus and submenus of the Tascam DR680! :-o     :-D 

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A 4.3 A/hr battery should get you at least a haft day. I did a 64 day shoot with a 680 in 2013 and consistently got 12 hrs out of a 6.8 A/hr batteries I also discovered some caveats of the machine to be aware of and should of interest. I don't recall if I posted them here or elsewhere. Firstly I would install the latest firmware.

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  • 4 weeks later...

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