Stephen
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Post by Stephen on Apr 10, 2014 11:58:47 GMT -5
Bit of a change away from Micro 4/3 or film, a decent little digital compact camera, bought on Ebay, manufactured from 2006, the 6meg 3x zoom compact from Panasonic, originally £200+. Seems a bit limited on spec, all auto modes etc, but the camera sports a Leica designed lens, and the Leica system of image stabilization, moving aspheric elements inside the lens itself. Mainly metal body, and made in Japan, not China. Very small, but it has a 2.5 inch screen  I needed back up to an Olympus compact, which has issues with the lens covering doors. Camera only, not even a SD card, so needs a battery charger, SD card and the data lead etc., all ordered on Ebay. I tested it on the power lead, and all works fine. Really bright LCD with adjustment and booster, and neat non-complex menus!! Best part.....£10.50...... As soon as I have the proper charger it will be given a longer test session. Stephen |
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Apr 10, 2014 16:23:08 GMT -5
They're good lenses on the Leica-Lumix range.
We bought one of the cheap chargers for one model. It works fine.
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Post by philbirch on Apr 11, 2014 3:06:24 GMT -5
A bargain. I bought one of those 'universal' battery chargers I can charge anything in it by moving the pins My Nikon, both Pentaxes, Sony, Panasonic, even phone battery.
I like this type of camera, no nonsense, just gets on with the job - even my wife could use it.
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Apr 11, 2014 4:37:57 GMT -5
A bargain. I bought one of those 'universal' battery chargers I can charge anything in it by moving the pins My Nikon, both Pentaxes, Sony, Panasonic, even phone battery. We've got one of those too -automatically adjusts its voltage and its polarity. Foolproof - if only I could find it. |
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Stephen
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Post by Stephen on Apr 11, 2014 7:59:09 GMT -5
The Charger came by return post, ordered yesterday late, and came today! Yes most chargers are the same as long as the correct pins are identified, but a word of caution, the lithium batteries can overheat on some chargers, especially types claiming a fast charge. No lithium's will be harmed by a slower charge, but the smaller phone batteries of lower capacity can draw too much current on some chargers.
The universal chargers (movable or settable pins) have a basic regulator set to delivery a safe current. One thing never to do is charge lithium on a type suited to lead acid....they overheat.
Most Lithium batteries contain a voltage/current regulator chip anyway, but not all.......
The rule of charging anything is the exact current required must be delivered, the voltage does not matter as long as high enough to get current flowing, and then make sure it does not go above the advised limit in amps.
I use a Farnell bench power supply with an external Amp meter, it goes from 0 to 25volt, with current limitation at any voltage, or you set the current by adjusting the voltage. Any cells can be charged in safety
More tests on the camera delayed as it needs a smaller than 2gig card, and I have none to hand. I expect larger SD cards would work, but not format. Used to have a lot of lower value, but now lost or put aside.
Stephen.
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Stephen
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Still collecting.......
Posts: 2,718
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Post by Stephen on Apr 11, 2014 11:23:57 GMT -5
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Apr 12, 2014 0:53:34 GMT -5
As expected, it does produce good results.
That is only true within certain limits for the voltage. Try putting a substantially higher voltage across the contacts and see what happens. Most things will just draw the current they require. The mains (in Britain at least) is capable of supplying around 65 amps. Lead-acid batteries will adjust what they draw themselves as their charge alters. There are still dangers though in terms of gas buildup if the charging rate is too high for the amount of gas that can escape. Explosions are not that uncommon it just needs a spark, and not of genius either.
The overriding thing with all things electrical is that neither voltage nor amperage matters within the safe limits of what is being used. Batteries can be overcharged. That said, the universal charger never quite gave a full charge to some batteries. Its automatic system would shut the charge down too early. I suppose the theory is that it is better to be (ultra)safe rather than sorry.
For AA and AAA batteries I use a Sony charger that I bought in Tokyo. It's the best by far I have come across. They didn't seem to market it over here, heaven knows why.
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Stephen
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Post by Stephen on Apr 12, 2014 6:53:10 GMT -5
On charging, the applied voltage can remain unknown if the current is monitored from 0v to the charging current advised by the maker. Mainly of use when testing and charging an unknown lithium battery, and making sure the current remains at about 250ma or less for ni-cads or lithium.
You can apply higher than rating voltages, say 100 volts, as long as regulation of the current is used to keep well within the advised current limit.(trickle charging).
Charge time is full capacity in amp/hours divided by the current, and can be estimated as long as safety is borne in mind, and a smaller current is used than actually needed.
The bain if all of this is we want to cut charging time, such as in model aircraft or boats, where dramatic charge currents are used with water cooling, or electronic monitors.
What is wasteful is the amount of phone batteries and camera batteries that are assumed worn out, when a good charge discharged cycle will revive them.
Both nicads and lithium can be pulsed charged, the RMS value is used to estimate the current, or if at high frequency direct monitoring on a suitable meter to ensure the current is way less than full charging rates. A multivibrator running at 200cps, supplying variable output by mark space variation, will restore Lithiums that appear near dead.
Stephen
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Stephen
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Post by Stephen on Apr 12, 2014 7:05:25 GMT -5
By the way, I trained on telephone exchanges with 1.5megawatts RR diesels that were used to charge huge lead acid batteries at 50 volts, and you should have seen the main fuses!... usually the units were mains trickle charged.
At the other end I use stripped down Lithiums from phones to power micro peanut scale electric R/C aircraft, under 8 inch wingspan. These are charged fast by 100% overload for a strictly timed charge.
Stephen
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Stephen
Lifetime Member
Still collecting.......
Posts: 2,718
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Post by Stephen on May 5, 2014 16:07:36 GMT -5
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