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Sennheiser LBA500 NP-1 type replacement battery


Zoran Maksimovic

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Hello everyone! This is my first post here. Does anyone have experience with Sennheiser NP-1 type replacement batteries LBA500? Question is, are those good to power Zaxcom Fusion, Deva ...etc? I’m asking because it seems that there is different pin assigment, at least comparing to other manufacturers. I’ve searched this forum and internet and haven’t found any info. Thanks. Best!

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Well John Blankenship, did you find any answer on the qestions I asked? All that I’ve find (typing not only what you’ve suggested, but a little bit more thorough reaearch) are links to stores where to buy. It seems that there is no kind of manual for that battery, even for charger, not to speak about battery pinout and other things that might actualy lead to constructive conclusion. What I’ve found out so far is that these batteries would not charge on standard 14,4v li-ion NP-1 charger (charger is not “recognizing” the battery), and it seems that it is so because of different number and placement of battery contacts. What I want to know is would LBA500 power Zaxcom devices with NP-1 slot? If you have found that information on internet, would you be so kind to share it here, because mr. Google doesn’t work that way where I’m from. That information would be useful not only for me, but also for many others because Sennheiser just started to make these replacement batteries (meant to power their speaker LSP500 pro in a first place), and it would be nice to know if we can use them for our purposes, especially knowing that supply of NP-1 type batteries are pretty low here in Europe. Also if anyone had any experience using Sennheiser LBA500 battery with any type of gear we usually use in our location sound arsenal, please share? Thanks!

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Hi

i have a Sennheiser LSP500 and I have 2 NP1 LBA500 batts for it. 2 run the LSP500 for about 5 hours when using as VOG. Maybe less if there were constant music playing for example. 

 

I dont think I've ever tried charging the LBA500 in my IDX chargers but I can try over the next few days and report back. I have a feeling it won’t work in the IDX charger because of the lack of pins on the LBA500 battery. I’ve always charged the LBA500 in the LSP500 itself.  

 

I have used my IDX NPL7 batteries in the the LSP500 which works fine but does not show battery telemetry on the LSP500 like the LBA500’s do. This would. be because of the pin configuration. 

 

I have not tried using the LBA500 in my other equipment as I have no need to because I own 9 IDX NPL7’s. 

 

The LSP500 speaker itself is one of the best bit of kit I’ve ever bought. So easy to deploy on set  when running off batteries and the e500 series hand mic with configurable push to talk button is an excellent match. 

 

To answer your question, I reckon the LBA500 should work in other equipment. I’m not sure if there’s a stand alone charger for it so you better buy a LSP500 to use as a charger 😂

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Zoran,

 

No, I'm not going to do your research for you -- sorry.  However, if you explore further, you'll often find that sales sites contain information that can be correlated to inform more than you might expect.  You may even find one with a manual or information sheet. For example, with a real quick search, one site mentions that the unit will work with a standard NP-1 charger.  However, understand that may not include units that have specialty sensor pins -- or it may work and you might need to monitor heat manually. 

 

Sorry to give you the impression that I'm being dismissive, but from your initial post it appeared that you didn't delve any deeper than a cursory search. There's much Intel to be gained even from sales sites. 

 

 

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20 hours ago, Zoran Maksimovic said:

especially knowing that supply of NP-1 type batteries are pretty low here in Europe

 

It is? How did you come to that conclusion? In my own experience, it’s very easy to buy NP-1 batteries around here, most of them considerably cheaper than the Sennheiser one

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Nobody is asking you to do anyone’s job John Blankenship. You can ignore and do whatever you do, but you do not need to post non-constructive comments and assume things you are not sure about. Maybe some people are not doing their homework and posting stupid questions here, but to assume that is always the case is not really the best way to communicate with someone you do not know.

 

7 hours ago, John Blankenship said:

For example, with a real quick search, one site mentions that the unit will work with a standard NP-1 charger.  However, understand that may not include units that have specialty sensor pins -- or it may work and you might need to monitor heat manually. 

 

 

 

Btw this is not true because I’ve tried that personaly with two types of NP-1 chargers (IDX and Sony). Chargers are not recognizing LBA500 battery as I’ve said before.

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2 hours ago, Zoran Maksimovic said:

Nobody is asking you to do anyone’s job John Blankenship. You can ignore and do whatever you do, but you do not need to post non-constructive comments and assume things you are not sure about. Maybe some people are not doing their homework and posting stupid questions here, but to assume that is always the case is not really the best way to communicate with someone you do not know.

 

 

Btw this is not true because I’ve tried that personaly with two types of NP-1 chargers (IDX and Sony). Chargers are not recognizing LBA500 battery as I’ve said before.

 

As a forum newcomer you might do better to begin with less arrogance and without the chip on your shoulder. 

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I’m sorry if you find me arrogant John, but it wasn’t me who started it. If this is about newcomer (although I’m not that new as it might appear) traditional “welcome” or whatever, then ok I’ll take it.

 

Anyway, I’ll try to use Sennheiser LBA500 battery to power up my Zaxcom Fusion as soon as I get one of those and let you guys know about the outcome. Thank you all!

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12 hours ago, Zoran Maksimovic said:

 (legal limitations of transporting li-ion batteries).

 

 

I am not sure there are legal limitations to transporting Lithium batteries, but it has become more difficult. Some companies like UPS and DHL are not transporting lithium based batteries anymore, but others are, like FedEx - with an extra fee. 

You could buy these batteries yourself directly, somewhere in Europe. There is Hawk-Woods for example, in the UK, and of course Audioroot in France. They may not ship by plane, or they might, but it shouldn’t take too long either way. I mean if Sennheiser can get their batteries to Serbia, other should be able to, too, right? 

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Well that is true, but even Senn official distributor can not import because of those regulations (at least they say so). There are also other ways to get them, of course. The point is, if those LBA500 batteries could be used in equipment made by other manufacturers besides Sennheiser and their speaker LSP500, that it would be very cool and great move by Sennheiser. As a matter of fact, I started this topic so we can inform ourselves and not make a mistake and buy those batteries if it turns out unusable for intended purpose.

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As I promised, here’s the report: 

1. Sennheiser LBA500 battery is NOT powering Zaxcom devices with NP-1 type slot. I’ve tried with my Fusion/Deva recorder using two fully charged LBA500 batteries, so possibility of battery malfunction is excluded.

2. NP-1 chargers can NOT charge Sennheiser LBA500 battery. I’ve tried two chargers by different manufacturers that normally work with other li-ion NP-1 type batteries. Charger is not even recognizing battery.

Bottom line: Whatever they say on their website, Sennheiser LBA500 battery is NOT NP-type compatible.

Bad move by Sennheiser!

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I have a Swit battery that will only charge in my cheap Axcom charger and won‘t in my expensive IDX charger,  and I have a IDX battery that will only charge in the expensive IDX charger and won‘t in the cheap Axcom charger, and I have a cheap no-name battery that will charge in the expensive IDX charger and in the cheap Axcom charger. 

All can power most devices, though, especially since I am using them with an NP-1 shoe and cable from it to the devices

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I also have cheap no-name batteries that power up whatever device you put it in, but the point is that this particular Sennheiser LBA500 battery is not. I’m saying this because those are new item from Sennheiser gama and there are not many informations you can find on internet (especially false claims that those are NP-type compatible - NOT true).

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So I got around to trying some different things with NP batteries. 

 

My IDX NPL7’s do actually show battery telemetry in the Sennheiser LSP500 speaker. Not sure why I thought they didn’t in my earlier post however I rarely use the NPL7’s in the speaker since it usually goes long enough on the LBA500 batts. 

 

I didn’t try charging the NPL7 in the speaker though. 

 

Heres the interesting bit. 

 

The LBA500 seems to charge in my old IDX JL2 Plus charger, the beige color one. The red charge LED indicator lit up however I didn’t leave it on for a full charge as I had to pack up. 

 

The LBA500 did not charge in my newer IDX JL2 Plus charger, the blue one. 

 

Next time I’ll try the LBA500 in a Hawk Woods NP cup to see if it powers my bag. 

 

Hope that helps for now. 

Thanks 

Peter 

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